By James Atkinson
Coles Liquor has made early progress in implementing its long-term transformation plans, parent company Wesfarmers said yesterday.
Wesfarmers said Coles Liquor had a challenging first half, but key priorities were progressed including the clearance of excess and inactive stock, range rationalisation and the first stage of price reductions to provide better value for customers.
Early progress was also made in reshaping the store network, with 38 liquor stores opened and 16 liquor stores closed.
Food and liquor sales grew 5.3 per cent at Coles, which increased EBIT 7.1 per cent to $895 million for the period on overall sales growth of 2.8 per cent.
“Coles’ performance was driven by another good result from supermarkets,” said Wesfarmers managing director Richard Goyder.
There sales might improve if their buyers picked up the phone and spoke to suppliers!