By Mike Cherney
SYDNEY--Australia's Coles, one of the country's major supermarkets, said annual net profit rose on a normalized basis as it contended with a rise in competition from non-traditional rivals and increased regulatory scrutiny.
Coles said its reported net profit in the 2025 fiscal year, which ended in June, was 1.08 billion Australian dollars (US$700 million), a rise of 2.4% if the impact of a 53rd week in the prior year is removed. On a similarly normalized basis, group sales revenue rose 3.6% to about A$44.3 billion, Coles said.
Coles declared a final dividend of 32 Australian cents per share, bringing the full-year payout to 69 cents. That was slightly above the prior year, when the full-year payout was 68 cents.
Coles said sales revenue on a normalized basis grew 4.3% in its main supermarket division and 1.1% in its liquor division. It said it booked a roughly 15% decline in revenue tied to a product supply arrangement with Viva Energy, due largely to lower tobacco sales.
Australia's supermarkets are among the world's most profitable but are facing a challenging backdrop. Regulatory scrutiny and attention from politicians has increased amid concerns that the grocers were reaping hefty profits at a time when consumers were struggling with cost-of-living challenges. That has put pressure on grocers to keep prices low.
Some analysts have said that rivals such as hardware chain Bunnings, Amazon and Chemist Warehouse are hurting sales at a time when the supermarkets are also losing revenue because of declining tobacco sales.
Despite the challenges, Coles shares have risen 9.7% so far this year, following a 17% gain in 2024.
Write to Mike Cherney at mike.cherney@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 25, 2025 19:28 ET (23:28 GMT)
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