Retailer Woolworths says its online sales grew by 9.3% for the full-year ended 25 June, contributing 8.3% to the group’s turnover and concession sales from continuing operations.
Including South Africa, Woolworths also operates in Australia and New Zealand.
In a statement, Woolworths says it continues to make progress across its fashion, beauty and home business. However, it was the food business that recorded significant gains.
Online sales in the food business increased by 28.5% and contributed 3.8% of South African sales, supported by the further rollout of the Woolies Dash offering, it reveals.
Woolies Dash is the company’s on-demand same-day shopping service.
Overall, the food business grew turnover and concession sales by 8.5% and 6.3%, respectively, on a comparable store basis for the full year.
Woolworths Group CEO Roy Bagattini comments: “It has been a transformational year for our group. I am very pleased with the progress our teams have made in executing against our strategies, delivering a strong set of results and the highest earnings per share in the history of our group.”
According to the retailer, turnover for the period under review was up 7% to R85.7 billion, with profit before tax up 29.5% to R6.7 billion.
The earnings per share for the total group, which includes the profit on sale of David Jones, grew by 42.2% to 551.0cps, compared to 387.4cps for the prior year, it states.
Headline earnings per share (HEPS) and adjusted diluted HEPS increased by 29% and 35.6% over the prior year to 514.7cps and 508.3cps, respectively.
In terms of its Country Road business, Woolworths says sales grew by 12%, underpinned by strong growth from the Country Road, Politix and Witchery brands.
Within this segment, online sales contributed 27.1% to total sales, compared to 31.6% for the prior year, while trading space reduced by 3.9% during the year.
Speaking about the group's outlook, Bagattini notes: “We are confident in our ability to deliver against our strategies, notwithstanding the challenging macro backdrop.
“We have a robust balance sheet and a simplified group structure post the sale of David Jones, and are well-positioned to leverage our strengthened foundation to not only optimise and grow our businesses, but to permanently change the value creation profile of our group.”
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