Woolworths Group’s 1Q25 sales saw a 17 per cent boost for the new W Living business unit with the Petstock acquisition making itself known. The Australian Food business was up 3.8 per cent to $13.6 billion but new CEO, Amanda Bardwell, tempered expectations, saying the group expects Australian Food earnings for 1H25 to be below its forecast.
Bardwell said the group’s focus on delivering more value to customers did improve sales momentum, it also led to a lower margin sales mix. Unexpected strong eCommerce growth in the quarter also impacted margins.
“While the key Q2 trading period remains ahead of us, Australian Food EBIT for the first half is forecast to be below our previous expectations. We currently expect H1 F25 EBIT, including $40 million of incremental supply chain costs, to be within a range of $1,480 million to $1,530 million compared to $1,5951 million in H1 F24.
“Looking ahead, we expect customers to remain extremely value-conscious with cost-of-living pressures to continue for the remainder of F25. Our key focus for Q2 will be to provide our customers with great value, convenience and inspiration as we head into the crucial Christmas and holiday trading period,” Bardwell said.
Woolworths Supermarkets (store-originated) sales were $11 billion, up two per cent excluding tobacco. Metro (store-originated) sales increased by 4.3 per cent to $422 million, primarily due to new store growth.
WooliesX sales increased by 21.7 per cent to $2.56 billion with eCommerce growth up 23.6 per cent to $1.95 billion, and Digital & Media, Rewards & Services and HomeRun revenue increasing by 16.1 per cent.
Own and exclusive brand sales grew six per cent, with Long Life Own Brand sales up eight per cent due to growth in Pantry, Frozen Foods, Snacking, and Household Care.
Fresh sales increased 5.8 per cent.
Weekly average traffic to the group’s digital platforms reached 28.9 million, up 16.1 per cent on the prior year, driven by increased traffic to the Woolworths and Everyday Rewards apps.
Weekly average traffic to Food and Everyday digital platforms reached 20.8 million in Q1 F25, up 19.6 per cent and weekly active users of the Woolworths app increased 27 per cent.
Everyday Rewards & Services platform sales increased 17.7 per cent, with Everyday Rewards membership growing to over 10 million active members in the quarter. Roughly 200,000 new members joined since Q4 F24 and 800,000 new members since Q1 F24.
Member engagement also continued to strengthen with weekly Everyday Rewards active app users increasing to over 2.1 million, up 17.4 per cent.
