Woolworths this week announced full year sales of $51.7 billion, a $2.1 billion or 4.2 per cent increase on the previous year.
Woolworths chief executive officer, Michael Luscombe was pleased to report a $2.1 billion or 4.2 per cent increase in sales across the group in what had been a challenging year for the retail sector.
“Our business-wide strategy to deliver optimum value for our customers has resulted in solid sales at a time when consumers are doing it tough and tightening the purse strings,” he said.
“In particular, our supermarkets division has responded well to customer demand for value and has further enhanced its position in the market.”
Australian food and liquor sales for the year were $34.7 billion, an increase of $1.7 billion or 5.1 per cent over last year with comparable sales for the year increasing by 3.3 per cent.
Twenty-six new Australian supermarkets were opened during the year, with eight opening in the fourth quarter of 2010, bringing total Australian supermarkets to 823 stores. Woolworths also opened 18 new Dan Murphy’s during the year taking the total number of stores to 122.
Sales for the full year for Big W were $4.2 billion, a decrease of 1.7 per cent over the previous year. Comparable sales for the full year declined 3.2 per cent.
Categories that have performed well for during the year include footwear, womenswear and office. There were six new Big W stores opened during the year taking total stores to 161.
Total consumer electronics sales grew by 3.4 per cent over the previous year. Sales for the full year were $1.5 billion, a 0.5 per cent decrease on previous year, with comparable store sales decreasing by 0.9 per cent.
There were 24 Dick Smith stores opened during the year, 19 Dick Smith and 25 Tandy stores were closed during the year and 40 Tandy stores have been rebranded as Dick Smith, taking total stores to 416 (394 Dick Smith and 22 Tandy).