Wesfarmers CEO Richard Goyder has rejected claims the group is moving too slow with its transformation of the Coles Group, which it acquired in November for $18.3 billion.
Speaking to the Australian-Israeli chamber of commerce in Melbourne, Goyder said Wesfarmers had taken concrete steps to address “chronic underinvestment” by Coles’ previous managers, The Australian Financial Review reported.
He said Wesfarmers had upheld its commitment to cut more than 1000 above-store positions from Coles supermarket and liquor divisions as part of a top-down structural review to improve efficiency and transparency.
“We expect it to take five years to deliver the substantial transformation required,” he said.
Wesfarmers shares were trading at $32.25 at 2:00pm today, compared to $34.71 seven days ago.