Australia's Woolworths drops to 5-month low on weak FY26 start

Woolworths

27/08/2025 01:25

** Shares of Woolworths WOW.AX fall as much as 12.7% to A$29.17, their lowest level since March 27

** Woolworths, the country's top supermarket chain, posted weak 2.1% growth in sales at Australian Food segment in start of fiscal 2026, missing Visible Alpha consensus forecast of 4.1% for first six months

** Sales growth lagged a nearly 5% growth in smaller peer Coles COL.AX reported on Tuesday in its supermarkets division for first eight weeks of current fiscal

** WOW reported FY underlying profit down 19% to A$1.39 billion ($903.22 million)

** Stock marks worst intraday pct drop in nearly three decades

** Stock down ~4% this year, including the day's move, vs a 4.4% decline in the consumer staples sub-index .AXSJ

   ($1 = 1.5389 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru)

 ((shivangi.lahiri@thomsonreuters.com))