Australia's Coles down as UBS cuts EPS estimates on lower liquor sales

Woolworths

04/05/2026 03:20

Updates

** Shares of Australia's Coles COL.AX fall as much as 2.3% to A$22.4

** UBS cuts FY26 earnings per share estimates for COL by 1% due to low liquor sales

** Retains "buy" rating due to strong execution at supermarkets division

** Coles on Friday posted a 3.1% rise in third-quarter total group sales revenue to A$10.70 bln ($7.71 bln), near 4% drop in liquor sales

** Analysts at Citi say co's supermarket like-for-like sales gap with larger peer Woolworths WOW.AX to mostly close in Q4

** Citi leaves target price unchanged at A$23.00/shr, retains "buy" rating

** Expects oral format GLP-1 drugs to further reduce liquor demand for Coles' already struggling segment, says "difficult to see material rebound in liquor consumption"

** YTD, stock up nearly 5%, including day's moves

($1 = 1.3883 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Shivangi Lahiri & Rajasik Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Edmund Klamann)

 ((shivangi.lahiri@thomsonreuters.com))