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Highlights

  • Coles Group is an Australian retailer which offers everyday products like fresh food, groceries, financial services and liquor.
  • In FY23, the company registered 5.9% YoY growth in group sales revenue.
  • Under the liquor and supermarket segment, the company aims at opening new stores and upgrading existing stores.

Coles Group Limited (ASX: COL) is a leading retailer in Australia that operates around 2,500 outlets nationally and its online platform. The company offers everyday products including financial services, liquor, groceries, and fresh food.

In the financial year 2023 (FY23), the company delivered 5.9% YoY growth in group sales revenue to AUD 40,483 million. During the reported period, the group’s EBITDA and EBIT increased by 3.8% and 1.8% YoY, respectively. However, the yearly profit dropped by 0.3% to AUD 1,042 million.

The company said that the yearly performance was backed by the Smarter Selling benefits and a decline in direct Covid-19 costs over the previous corresponding period.

Here’s the historical financial trend of COL.

Top 10 shareholders of COL

The top 10 shareholders of COL have nearly 21.34% shareholding in the company, while the top four have around 13.59% stake. The Vanguard Group, Inc. and State Street Global Advisors Australia Ltd. have the highest stake in the group, with a shareholding of ~4.99% and ~2.99%, respectively.

Recent business update

Through an ASX release dated 14 September 2023, the company informed about the retirement of Paul O’Malley from the board on 31 October 2023. He joined the board in October 2020 and has significantly contributed to Coles as he extended support in reshaping the business and positioning it for the next growth phase.

Outlook

The company aims to undertake innovation and value campaigns across its brand portfolio to address customer demand. Under the supermarket and liquor segment, the company intends to open new stores and upgrade the existing ones.

The company is committed to tapping opportunities via loyalty programs, enhanced fresh offerings, improved productivity, launch of automated CFCs and ensuring consistency in customer experience.

Share performance of COL

Shares of COL closed 0.83% down at AUD 15.6 apiece on 21 September 2023. With this, COL’s share price dropped by 6% in the last 12 months and fell by 15.08% in the last three months.

The 52-week high of COL is AUD 18.85 apiece, recorded on 12 April 2023, while the 52-week low is AUD 15.675 apiece, recorded on 13 September 2023. Today’s closing price is only 0.48% higher than its 52-week low.

 

Note 1: Past performance is neither an Indicator nor a guarantee of future performance.

 

Note 2: The reference date for all price data, currency, is 21 September 2023. The reference data in this report has been partly sourced from REFINITIV.