Woolworths Group is winning the war against Coles.
Comparable food sales jumped 5% at the Australian supermarket chain in the fiscal second quarter, compared with just 1.3% at Coles, the chief rival owned by conglomerate Wesfarmers.
Woolworths’ supermarket business generates the bulk of the company’s profits and first-half earnings jumped 38%.
Transformation Plans
As food sales grow, Chief Executive Officer Brad Banducci is also making his supermarkets more profitable, while profit at Coles fell in the first half.
Under his tenure, Banducci has cut prices and jobs, and slowed the pace of store openings and on Friday he said there were “early signs” of a transformation.
News by Bloomberg, edited by ESM. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
