Coles Myer profits boom
Full year profit up 29 per cent for Australian retail giant
September 19 2003
Cole Myer, Austraila’s biggest retail group, saw full year profits rise by 29 per cent in the year to July 27, with profit after tax up to A$455.6m.
Sales rose by 6.1 per cent to A$27bn for the group which operates retail chains including the Coles and Bi-Lo grocery brands, department store group Myer Grace Bros, discounter Kmart, clothing chain Target, stationer Officeworks, and furniture and electricals store Megamart.
Cole Myer has been working to expand its share of food and liquor sales, where it is number two in the market, as well as restore flagging sales across other chains.
Coles Myer CEO John Fletcher said: “This result is a major step forward in Coles Myer’s five year turnaround program. With the right team and the right strategy we are beginning to deliver on our
promise to be Australia’s number one retailer in all our brands, providing the best offer for our customers and acceptable and sustainable returns for our shareholders.”
The year saw margin expansion across all businesses, with food and liquor earnings growing faster than sales. There was substantial earnings growth at Kmart and Target and a return to profitability at Myer Grace Bros.
Last month, Coles Myer appointed former Asda marketing Steven Cain as managing director of its food, liquor and fuel arm.
In the first seven weeks of the new financial year, sales across the group increased by 10.8 per cent, including te recently launched Coles Express fuel business.
Fletcher said: “The outlook for the group remains positive, despite intense competition across
all of the markets in which we operate. While industry statistics indicate that growth in the food and liquor sector is slowing, we expect our Food & Liquor business sales growth to continue to show progressive improvement.”
