Woolworths New Zealand has announced an EBIT decrease of 12.5 percent in its F22 report. The company fell from $361 million last year to $316 million in F22. Total sales grew by 5.8 percent, and net profit after tax now equates to a profit of 1.8 cents per $1 spent with Woolworths.
A common theme from the year was cost increases in dairy and key imported food lines. Butter and margarine costs, in particular, were up 11 percent compared to last year. Cheese increased 15 percent, frozen fruit 30 percent, toilet and tissues up 24 percent and flour up 19 percent.
"The year has been marked by materially high commodity prices for locally grown and produced goods like meat and dairy - high international prices which are reflected in what we pay here at home - and compounding this, many of the products our customers rely on are also imported from overseas, such as bananas, flour, pasta and toiletries. All of these impacts flow down into the price on the shelf," said Spencer Sonn, Woolworths NZ Managing Director.
Covid, supply chain disruptions, price competition and ongoing inflation pressures contributed to the report's results.
"We're deeply committed to all our communities across New Zealand, and that includes our customers, our team and our suppliers. Price competition across the retail food sector is robust, and we remain committed to delivering the best value possible. We understand the genuine cost pressures suppliers are under, and we also want to do the right thing for our team in terms of increased wages. We're building more new stores, more sustainably, and upgrading our existing ones; we're strengthening the distribution network, and we're continuing to innovate in areas such as digital and eCommerce to meet our customers' need for greater convenience."
Woolworths' online sales grew by 19.7 percent due to the lockdowns. The channel reached a new high of 14.1 percent of total sales.
“We have proudly been part of the New Zealand community since our first store opened in Wellington in 1929, and we’ve continued to invest in F22, including into new state-of-the-art distribution centres in Auckland and Palmerston North, the new Hilton meat plant in Auckland, and New Zealand’s first 4 Star Green Star supermarkets in Richmond and Waiata Shores," said Brad Banducci, Woolworths Group CEO.
