WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED — Call Transcript 2026

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today for Woolworths Group's half year results for the 2026 financial year. I'd like to start by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet today, their own country, and I'd like to pay my respects to elders, past and present. Joining me this morning are Stephen Harrison, our Chief Financial Officer, Annette Karantoni, Managing Director of Woolworths Retail, Amitabh Mall, Managing Director of Group eComX, Sally Copland, Managing Director of Woolworths New Zealand, and Dan Hake, Managing Director of BIG W. I will start with an overview of the group's performance in the first half, then provide an update on our medium-term strategic priorities. Steve will cover our financial performance before I conclude with an update on current trading and the outlook for H2. Turning to Slide 4, we took deliberate action to rebuild customer momentum during the half through investment in the areas that matter most to our customers, including value, fresh, and convenience. We are seeing greater stability across the group following key leadership changes and structure changes that are better aligned to our priorities. Our execution in the half has progressively improved. However, we know we have more to do to deliver the best experiences for our customers. Turning to our financial performance for the half, group sales in H1 increased 3.4%, with all businesses growing sales on the prior year. Group EBIT, excluding Significant Items, increased 14.4%, with solid EBIT growth from all of our reporting segments, supported by CODB reductions. Excluding the impact of industrial action in Australian Food in the prior year and supply chain transition costs, Group EBIT would have increased by 7.9%. In August, we spoke about taking action to reposition the Group for long-term sustainable growth, and we laid out our strategic priorities. While a key focus in the half has been on rebuilding momentum in the short term, we have a clear strategic agenda and have made good progress on these priorities. We also said that we expected to deliver mid to high single digit reported EBIT growth in Australian Food for the year and an improved result in New Zealand Food and BIG W. We remain on track to deliver this in F26. Turning to Slide 5. Customers remain value-focused. We have seen value-seeking behaviors continue in an increasingly competitive retail environment. Broader cost of living pressures continue to weigh heavily on our customers' household budgets. Price remains the top priority for Australian customers when choosing where to shop, with quality and freshness and range also critical. After signs of tentative improvement in customer sentiment towards the end of last year, persistent inflation and the prospects of interest rate rises have seen customers again prioritizing ways to save. They are telling us that compared to last quarter and a year ago, they are buying more products on special, comparing prices across supermarkets and cooking more at home. Turning to Slide 6. We're clear in quarter one that the sales momentum in Australian Food was below our aspirations, and in response, we invested to improve our offer in value, fresh, availability, and convenience. We upweighted our rewards and e-commerce offers, as well as increased weekly promotions on key family lines like bananas, nappies, and chicken breasts, to provide customers with more value and more reasons to choose Woolworths first. We also added more than 350 new products to our lower shelf price program, with over 800 products now part of the range. We know that fresh is the gateway to the supermarket shop. We invested more team hours across key fresh categories to ensure the best offer was consistently on show and to improve freshness and the customer experience. We also remained focused on improving our retail execution. We held more stock weight on key promotional lines to improve availability for customers and increased the number of store deliveries over the weekends, helping to support an improvement in out-of-stocks Voice of the Customer, which is up 10 points compared to the prior year. In December, we unlocked 1 million more online and delivery pickup slots to provide our customers with even more flexibility and convenience in the lead up to Christmas. We also provided highly competitive offers to new customers. Turning to Slide 7, the actions that we've taken have seen improved momentum in quarter two relative to Q1, with a stabilization in market share. Excluding the impact of industrial action in tobacco, Woolworths Food Retail sales increased 4.7% in Q2, driven primarily by item growth. We have seen this momentum continue into H2. Woolworths Food Retail VoC NPS ended up 10 points compared to the prior year, showing a strong recovery from the impacts of industrial action in the year. In addition to out of stocks, which I've mentioned, value for money scores have also improved consistently over the last 12 months, up 8 points on the prior year. Turning to Slide 8. We're also transforming our digital experience to deliver the best shopping experiences for our customers. The number of customers using our digital tools to improve their shopping experience is increasing. Whether this is to make the shopping experience more seamless, get the best value, or track their spending. We already have over 1 million customers using digital lists to shop each week in store and online. During the half, we launched Snap and Shop, which converts handwritten shopping lists into digital lists. It uses AI technology to match the items to the product the customer has bought before. I'm also delighted that Olive, our much-loved digital shopping assistant, is set to take a major step forward over the coming months through our extended partnership with Google. As part of this, Olive will transform into a market-leading conversational shopping companion, moving beyond a search and Q&A tool. Through agentic AI, Olive will bring together the shopping journey for customers, making the weekly shop easier in store and online. Olive will be able to tailor menus based on customer preferences, identify specials, and boost products, as well as build faster, more predictive baskets. Customers can interact with Olive in different ways, like sharing a photo of a handwritten recipe or using voice to build your shopping list. Turning to Slide nine. As convenience continues to increase in importance for our customers, our large store network and leading e-commerce business remains a key differentiator. A modern, well-located store network is critical to maintaining our lead in an increasingly competitive space. During the half, we continued to invest in our store network to provide the best experience for our customers looking to shop in store, pick up via Direct to Boot, or order a Woolworths on-demand or Milkrun rapid delivery. Direct to Boot is now available in around 70% of our stores in under two hours, and has rolled out to a further 60 stores in the half, and Milkrun to a further 135 stores. We also finalized a new partnership with DoorDash, which will be rolled out in H2. On-demand options are our fastest-growing propositions as customers seek more convenience, with under two-hour e-commerce sales growing at a compound rate of over 80% over the last two years. Moving to the next Slide. While our primary focus has been on rebuilding momentum in the short term, we have also continued to progress our longer-term strategic priorities. We know we have world-class assets across the group, which give us a unique, enduring competitive advantage and significant potential. If we deliver our strategic potential, I have great confidence in our ability to deliver long-term sustainable growth to shareholders. By delivering sustainable growth in Woolworths Retail, ongoing improvements in New Zealand Food and BIG W, supplemented by higher growth from our complementary businesses and services, our ambition is to deliver mid to high single-digit EBIT growth over the medium term, supporting our double-digit total shareholder return aspiration. Turning to our first strategic priority in Australian Food. Our ambition is to be the first choice for customers in our cornerstone food business. Food is what we're famous for. A thriving food business provides a strong platform for the group's long-term success. We're making meaningful shifts for our customers to put us first. We're determined to win in fresh, convenience, and range, while delivering meaningful value and executing consistently well. We've made good progress during the half. There is more to do. This work will continue in H2. I will call out a few highlights from the half across five key areas. The Fresh Food People promise means delivering the best quality and fresh varieties for our customers. During the half, we progressed our strategic sourcing program to increase our direct supply of fruit and vegetables from our best quality producers, with a review complete for around half of our fruit and vegetable sales volume. We know we need to improve our range and value across our everyday needs categories, like pet and baby, and we have been slower than we should have been to respond to this heightened competitive environment. In response, we've already taken action to address range and pricing gaps, as well as enhanced promotional activity to provide more value to customers. We are relaunching our Little Ones' nappies and wipes in baby, and in pet, we've refreshed our own brand pet food ranges, including Baxters, Smitten, and Petstock's own Billy Bowl, which will be rolled out to stores. We have progressed our long-term strategy refresh in these categories, with more to come in H2, and we remain committed to improving performance across our broader everyday needs categories. I have already spoken about our progress in expanding our e-commerce network and increasing our capacity to meet customers' demand. However, we've also made good progress on e-commerce productivity agenda, helping to deliver a 93% increase in eComX directly attributable profit. These initiatives include team picking algorithms and the rollout of improved temperature zones in vehicles. With the increase in profitability also supported by mixed benefits from strong growth in higher margin on-demand propositions. Value remains critical for customers, and we remain committed to lower prices for customers and restoring a more balanced mix of everyday low prices and specials. We also rewarded our customers' loyalty by providing more value through Everyday Rewards, with new campaigns to drive member sales and a high single-digit increase in value returned to customers through points earned. Our retail execution has continued to strengthen, with solid improvements in productivity delivered in the half. As of today, exit gates have been added to over half of our store network, supporting improved stock loss rates relative to H2 FY25. We also remain focused on managing costs through the delivery of our productivity agenda and our commitment to becoming a lower-cost retailer. Moving to the next Slide, New Zealand Food and BIG W. On our second strategic priority, that is to improve the returns in New Zealand Food and BIG W. Both businesses reported solid growth during the half, supported by their transformation agendas, but this momentum needs to be sustained to return to the double-digit returns over the medium term. In New Zealand, we completed the rebranding of the New Zealand store network to Woolworths and rolled out a new store team operating structure to improve the team and customer experience. We have continued to improve our own brand range to differentiate our offer and launched over 280 new products across a number of key categories, which are resonating well with our customers. In H2, we're focused on building customer momentum in a challenging and highly competitive market, while continuing to progress our transformation over the medium term. We know that we can further differentiate our offer for our customers through our focus on fresh, range, convenience, and everyday value. In BIG W, a more favorable sales mix, supported by better execution of seasonal ranges and availability in clothing, led to margin improvements in the half through a higher mix of full-priced sales. New and improved ranges have supported own brand growth of 8% in H1, which gives us confidence we're taking the right steps to reposition our range to provide better quality and more affordable options. The rollout of RFID technology will also deliver improvements in stock flow and availability. BIG W Market's expanded range continues to resonate with customers, with sales more than doubling compared to the prior year, and BIG W's growth transaction value, including BIG W Market, increased by 5.8%. We are confident the performance of BIG W can continue to improve, but we will also ensure that BIG W has the appropriate foundations to be successful. Work has begun to separate the business from the group's systems, which will enable BIG W to operate on a platform appropriate for a discount department store, as well as providing the group with strategic optionality. Moving to Slide 13. Moving to our final strategic priority, which is to grow our complementary businesses and services. These include PFD and Petstock, as well as group-wide service businesses such as Cartology, Everyday, and Primary Connect. Collectively, these businesses contributed around one-third of the group's EBIT growth in the half, with PFD, Petstock, and Rewards and Services making the strongest contribution. In H1, we saw strong sales and double-digit underlying EBIT growth in Petstock and PFD. Petstock completed a value reset during the half, investing in key products to improve customer value perception, as well as launching a new Pet Cash loyalty program to complement its Everyday Rewards membership. While PFD growth remained strong, a highlight was the retention of key customer contracts in the QSR channel to support continued growth. We also secured 3 new sites and commenced construction of a new facility in WA to expand our national network. Rewards and Services sales increased by 8.6%, with mobile and insurance combined customers up 6% on the prior year. Cartology also continued to drive margin accretive growth to the group. PC Plus delivered double-digit earnings in the half through higher customer volume and better utilization of warehouse facilities. Turning to Slide 14. To deliver our strategy, we know we need to get the basics right by providing the retail excellence our customers expect from us. We also need to be a simpler business and increase accountability. Last year, we made significant management changes with a more consolidated and focused leadership structure. We now have key leadership in place and embedded a new Australian Food leadership team, including in key commercial roles. We are committed to retail excellence and making every dollar count. We have delivered our AUD 400 million run rate cost savings target by December. This has helped us to deliver a reduction in CODB as a % of sales in the half, as well as fund investment in customer value. Key areas of savings included support office roles, goods for not resale, and marketing and IT spend. This has helped us reset our cost culture as we restore an always-on, low-cost discipline across the group. However, we recognize that for productivity improvements to be sustainable, they need to be driven by improving our processes and reducing work for our teams. Our leading AI foundations are already helping us do this, which I'll talk about more on the next Slide. On Slide 15. Over the past decade, we've established strong foundations to leverage AI through significant investment in digital and data capabilities. We have integrated capability into every part of our business and are now focused on unlocking the next phase of AI to deliver better experiences for customers, team members, and to transform our operations and internal processes. This Slide shows some of the areas where AI is already making a difference. We're delivering market-leading customer experiences through customer chatbots, which has helped us to automate over 60% of customer service contacts, freeing up our team to focus on more complex customer inquiries. Our personalization engine is already delivering millions of tailored offers to our customers every week. I've spoken about our extended partnership with Google to transform Olive, our digital shopping assistant. In our operations, we've leveraged AI to optimize e-commerce fulfillment for over half a million weekly orders, including shortening pick paths for our team members and optimizing last mile delivery routing. We rolled out Gemini for Workspace to our support office team almost two years ago. The adoption has been incredible. Today, two in three of our support office team members are using AI tools multiple times a day to unlock greater efficiency. What excites me most is how AI is helping our store team. Tools like Quick Assist are already being used by over 6,000 store team members every week, helping them to prioritize the most critical actions for their upcoming fortnight, delivering a better experience for our teams and our customers. Finally, moving to progress against our sustainability initiatives. Last year, we celebrated a decade of partnership with OzHarvest, and we reached an incredible milestone during the half, providing 100 million meals to Australians in need over the last 10 years. In December, we achieved 100% renewable electricity across our operations in support of our net zero goals. We are also on track to achieve our Scope 1 and 2 emissions reduction targets by 2030. Finally, restoring soft plastic recycling services to our stores has continued, with a market-leading 600+ stores across the network now offering this service again for our customers. I will now hand over to Stephen, who'll cover our financial results in more detail. Thank you. Thanks, Amanda, good morning, everyone. I'll start today on Slide 19 with the H1 2026 results summary for the group. As a reminder, these results are for the 27 weeks, ending January 4, 2026. Group sales for H1 increased 3.4% to AUD 37.1 billion, with all trading segments reporting growth. Group e-commerce sales increased by 14.6%, with Australian Food, New Zealand Food, BIG W, and Petstock e-commerce sales all growing in the double digits compared to the prior year. Group EBIT before Significant Items was AUD 1.7 billion, up 14.4%, with the group EBIT margin increasing by 43 basis points. EBIT margins for all trading segments were up on the prior year. There are some one-off impacts that impact the comparability versus last year. Primarily, the impact of industrial action in the prior year, which we estimate had a AUD 240 million impact on sales and approximately a AUD 95 million impact on EBIT in H1 F25 in Australian Food and supply chain transition costs. Normalizing for both these impacts, group EBIT growth would have been 7.9%, which includes the benefits from our strong cost and productivity focus in the half. Group NPAT attributable to equity holders of the parent entity before Significant Items was AUD 859 million, which was up 16.4%. This reflects higher EBIT, a modest increase in net interest costs in the half, somewhat offset by higher income tax. Group basic EPS before Significant Items was AUD 0.704 per share, also up 16.4%. Including significant items, NPAT attributable to equity holders of the parent entity declined by 49.4% to AUD 374 million, with EPS also down 49.4%. Turning to Slide 20 in our group trading performance. In Australian Food, total sales for H1 were AUD 27.6 billion, an increase of 3.6%. Excluding the impact of the industrial action in the prior year, Australian Food sales growth in the half would have been 2.6%. In Woolworths Food Group Retail, which incorporates stores and e-commerce, sales were meant to improve in Q2, with growth of 3.2%, excluding industrial action, compared to 2.1% in Q1. This was driven by an improved customer offer and strong execution, particularly over the key Christmas trading period, leading to improved in-store item growth and strong e-commerce growth. WooliesX sales increased 14.2%, driven by e-commerce growth of 15.3% and 8.6% growth from media rewards and services. Australian Food EBIT increased by 9.9% in the half, excluding the estimated impact of industrial action of AUD 95 million in the prior year and the incremental supply chain commissioning and dual running cost. normalized EBIT would have increased by 3.5% in the half. Gross margins rose eight basis points to 28.6%, primarily reflecting the mixed impact of an ongoing decline in tobacco sales. Excluding tobacco, the gross margin declined by 14 basis points on the prior year, with growth in our higher-margin complementary businesses, offset by investments in lower shelf prices, livestock inflation not fully passed on, and supply chain transition costs. CODB, as a percentage of sales, declined by 24 basis points, with productivity initiatives and above-store cost savings helping to offset wage inflation and higher online mix. There was also a rate benefit due to the impact of industrial action in the prior year. WooliesX DAP and EBIT was up 78.8% in H1, with E-commerce and media rewards and services delivering improved profit. The increase in E-commerce DAP of 93% reflected solid customer growth, double-digit sales growth, mixed benefits from growth in higher-margin propositions, efficiency benefits, and cycling both the industrial action and cold chain investments in the prior year. In Australian B2B, H1 sales increased 4.9%, driven by strong PFD, PC Plus, and export meat sales. EBIT increased by 14.6%, with double-digit growth from both PFD and PC Plus, the latter benefiting from increased volumes and better utilization of warehouses. New Zealand Food sales for H1 increased 2.8% in NZD, driven by E-commerce growth of 13.9%. Sales in Q2 were more subdued as market growth slowed. EBIT increased by 22.4%, benefiting from a combination of higher sales, supply chain efficiencies, and productivity and cost-saving initiatives, partially offset by store wages and D&A growth. Total BIG W Living sales increased 2.7% in H1. EBIT was up 186%. BIG W sales increased 1.8%, with BIG W GTV, including BIG W Market, up 5.8%. BIG W EBITDAR increased by 12%, driven by a higher mix of full price sales and strong cost control. EBIT increased by 122%, with depreciation below the prior year, following the F-25 impairment. Petstock sales increased 13.1%, and EBIT increased by 49.6%, supported by the inclusion of pet food and accessory businesses acquired in H2 last year and network expansion. Underlying performance was solid, with comparable sales growth of 5.8%, E-com sales growth of 24%, and double-digit EBIT growth. The other segment includes group functions such as property, group overheads, and Woolworths Group's investment in Quantium. The segment recorded a loss before interest and tax of AUD 124 million, an increase of 16.3% on the prior year, largely driven by lower gains from property disposals and a rebuild of the short-term incentive provision. In the half, the group recorded Significant Items before tax of AUD 698 million, largely related to a one-off cost associated with the remediation of award-covered salary team members following the Federal Court decision on the 5th of September. This includes interest, superannuation, and payroll tax, and is within the previously disclosed range of AUD 450 million-AUD 750 million. Moving to Slide 21 and our key balance sheet metrics. Average inventory days of 31.2 were in line with the prior year. Australian and New Zealand Food and Australian B2B were down on the prior year, offset by growth in Petstock and higher average inventory holdings in BIG W, which pleasingly ended the half below last year. Average payables declined by 2.4 days to 41 days, reflecting lower tobacco purchases in Australian Food, a reduction in BIG W purchases, as we reduced stock levels over the half, and payment timing impacts. ROFI, which is a 12-month rolling measure, was 15.2%, up on the prior year and F-25, largely reflecting group EBIT growth in the half. Australian Food ROFI declined by 80 basis points, reflecting the decline in H2 F-25 EBIT last year, and a modest increase in funds employed due to the acquisition of The Kitchary and our investment in supply chain automation. Moving to Slide 22 and our capital management framework. The group generated strong operating cash flows in the half, which were invested in sustaining our assets, funding our dividend, and investing in growth. I'll provide some more color on the following pages. The group generated on page 23, operating cash flow before interest and tax of AUD 3.2 billion for H1 F-26, an increase of 4.5%. This was driven by solid EBITDA growth before CGV items of 8.5%, offset by a modest working capital outflow. The net working capital outflow was largely driven by a payables timing in New Zealand Food, with an additional payment run prior to the end of the half, and a reduction in non-trade purchases reflecting our above store cost-saving initiatives. Compared to the prior year, there was also an outflow related to the cash settlement of provisions for redundancies and team member remediation. Net interest increased by 2.7%, with non-lease interest up 13.3%, driven by higher average debt, partially offset by lower floating interest rates. Tax paid declined by 35% due to lower F-25 tax paid in the first half of F-26, and lower tax installments in the current year. Cash used in investing activities of AUD 1.2 billion, primarily reflects the group's capex spend, which I'll talk to on the next Slide. The prior year number was a lot lower, as it included AUD 383 million of proceeds from the sale of our final tranche of Endeavour Group shares. The group also paid AUD 92 million for the purchase of equity interest in subsidiaries, principally reflecting the acquisition of the remaining interest in MyDeal to facilitate its restructuring and closure. Dividends of AUD 553 million, declined by 53.5%, with the prior year, including a AUD 0.40 per share special dividend, reflecting a return of capital to shareholders related to the sale of Endeavour Group shares. Finally, our cash realization ratio was 95%, modestly below our ambition of over 100%, due to the working capital outflow and cash tax exceeding the income tax expense in the P&L. Moving to Slide 24, operating CapEx for H1 F-26 was AUD 913 million, AUD 88 million lower than the prior year. A reduction in sustaining capital reflected lower spending on store renewals due to initiatives to lower the cost per store in the half. This was partially offset by an increase in new store investment, as reflected in the 13 net new stores opened in the half. Investment in digital and e-commerce, which includes our investment in automated CFCs. Gross CapEx increased by AUD 97 million, reflecting higher net property development spend, which can be lumpy. For the full year, we still expect operating CapEx to be approximately AUD 2 billion, stable with spend over the last couple of years. Moving to Slide 25. Covering dividends and funding. The board today approved a final dividend of AUD 0.45 per share, an increase of 15.4% on the prior year, broadly in line with the increase in earnings. After payment of the interim dividend, our franking credit balance will be approximately AUD 1.2 billion. Turning to our balance sheet settings, the net debt to EBITDA ratio was 2.7 times, modestly lower than F-25. Remaining well within our leverage thresholds. We remain committed to solid investment-grade credit ratings and have significant headroom under our current ratings of BBB from S&P and Baa2 from Moody's. In H1 F-2026, the group completed AUD 1.2 billion of debt financing, with transactions focused on extending debt tenor and reducing refinancing risk for the group. With that, I will now hand back to Amanda. Thanks, Stephen. On Slide 27. In summary, as we look ahead, our focus remains on continuing to provide value to our customers, rebuilding customer trust and maintaining sales momentum while making further progress on our strategic priorities. I'd like to thank and recognize our team for their incredible efforts, and in particular, for helping us deliver a fantastic festive season for our customers during the half. We are determined to get back to the level of retail excellence and performance our customers and our shareholders expect of us. I'm confident the steps we're taking will lead to an improved performance. I look forward to sharing further progress on our strategy at our upcoming Investor Day in May. I will now turn the call over to the operator for questions. To give everyone a chance, can I please ask that you limit yourself to one question per person and then rejoin the queue with any follow-up questions. Thank you. Thank you. If you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to cancel your request, please press star then two. If you're using a speakerphone, please pick up the handset to ask your question. The first question today comes from Shaun Cousins from UBS. Please go ahead. Thanks. Good morning, Amanda and Steve. My question is just around price trust. You noted in August that that was the greatest priority for Woolworths. Just curious around how that's improved during the half, and maybe if you could discuss that with reference to some of the activity you've done on pricing, the more of the rolling EDLP under lower shelf prices, and then you've been quite active with more impulse at gondola ends and off locations, and then what you've done with ranging. We've noticed you've introduced a sort of a black and white entry-level private label offering, sort of there as well. Just curious where price trust is at and how you've improved that in the first half, please. Yeah, thank you. Thanks, Shaun. Firstly, let me just say that we totally understand and are extremely focused on this question of price trust. It's so fundamental to customers choosing Woolworths as a place to shop regularly, and we have put a lot of focus on that, rightly so, in the half. If I just start by talking about the action that we've taken, first and foremost, if you look at our performance when it relates to the value for money scores, you know, if you look at that this time last year versus where we are now, they're up eight points and have progressively improved across quarter-to-quarter. Whilst I would say we still have more work to do there, we've certainly seen a progressive improvement. There's things that we've adjusted during that period, as you know, like the introduction of lower shelf prices. Now, that program is very much focused on recognizing that customers are looking for good value, but they also want reliable value each and every week that they're shopping. What we've seen with that program is it's on the big products that really matter to families' baskets, and we've seen that customers have really engaged with that lower shelf price program very strongly. We're pleased to see unit growth as a good way of, you know, of course, measuring that engagement continue to increase, both across our own brand products, but also in the branded products that have participated. In own brand, for example, in lower shelf prices, it's sitting in that sort of mid to high single-digit unit growth, but for branded products, it's actually in the lower double-digit numbers, and so strong participation there, and we see that that has certainly matched an increase in customer perception on value. Across the half, as you know, we did adjust our promotional programs as well. To reflect that what we're seeing from customers is certainly a search for even more value, so an uptick from what we've seen in previous periods prior to that. When we look at value in that regard, promotional participation has increased. Customers adding more specials to their baskets and participating more in those programs. One of the big shifts that we made there was, again, it relates to trust, making sure that when customers visit our stores, those products are on the shelf. As you had highlighted to us, as many others had, we had an opportunity in that space, and so that's a mix of having the right promotions, but also making sure it's available. I think that's contributed to an improved perception. When we look at Everyday Rewards, we adjusted the program across the half there just to give more members more value, actually, and recognize their loyalty, which has resulted in an even stickier member and some greater uplifts that we've seen in member sales across that period. I don't think there's any one thing that we've done there. I would say there's a mix of value levers that we've been really focused on, that each one of them play an important role, and together, they've created an improved momentum for us, both in terms of sales, but also in terms of items in baskets and transactions through Woolies. We've got more work to do, and the more work is particularly in the everyday needs categories, and then, of course, when we're looking at range. We have made some changes on range, but there's certainly more to come. Thanks, Shaun. Thank you. The next question comes from Adrian Lemme from Citi. Please go ahead. Good morning, Amanda and Steve, congrats on the result. I was interested in the turnaround in the GP momentum within Australian Foods, this half up 8 basis points year-on-year, while last year we saw it down about 30 basis points. I know you've broken down the factors, but the tobacco benefit was about 20 basis points benefit in both periods, and you also talked to Cartology and services income, but that also helped last year. I was just interested if you could kind of talk to the actual delta. I assume stock loss was a positive factor this half, but were there also better buy in terms of other factors, please? Yeah, thanks, Adrian Lemme. I'll give an overview and then Steve will add to it. Yeah, an 8 basis point improvement in GP, as you rightly say, the cigarettes decline does have that sort of mechanical adjustment that you need to apply as you've called out. We're really pleased when we look at the GP results, the contribution from the complementary businesses, so it's Cartology, Everyday Rewards, really contributing substantially to our performance in Australian Food from a profit perspective. And so that's certainly assisted in the half. Yes, it has been a very promotionally intense period, and the team, from a commercial perspective, has on balance, managed that very well, you know, when we look at how that played through. There's some pressure in the red meat categories, which, you know, no doubt we'll come to later in the discussions that we've had to absorb there, so that includes the absorption of that. From a supply chain perspective, I didn't call it out in the opening comments, but supply chain delivered a really strong result for us in the half. Yes, we had obviously strong volume uplift, but aside from that volume uplift, the productivity that the supply chain team delivered was very strong, so that was helpful. On the stock loss numbers, yet again, relatively flat on last year. We had that increase in H2, and certainly we've seen an improvement on those exit rates across the half. That was the sort of big drivers. I'm just check with Steve. Any other things you'd add to that, Steve? No, I think they're the main ones. On stock loss, actually, we were largely stable this year on last year in the half, but certainly an improvement on our second half performance of last year. Overall, you know, it is a underlying reduction in GP reflecting the investments that we've made, but the team has worked hard to balance the levers within margin so that it isn't as bigger impact on earnings as it was the same time last year. Thank you very much. Appreciate the call. Thank you. The next question comes from Thomas Kierath, from Barrenjoey. Please go ahead. Morning, guys. A pretty strong cost result, which is great to see. I assume that's from the cost out initiatives that you've announced kind of a year ago. I was just thinking about whether there's any extension of that and whether as you kind of, I guess, look more closely at the cost base, whether there might be another target or just how you're kind of thinking about the cost base more broadly going forward, please? Yeah. Thanks, Thomas. You know, as we called out, as you say, 1 year ago, we're really determined to build a low-cost culture across Woolies. That was why we came out last year. We're really clear, both internally and externally, on the need to reduce our costs. We want to be a lower cost retailer. That is what's helped us in the half, certainly deliver better value for customers, but also see an improved result for the business overall. You should expect to see from us an always on focus. We haven't called out anything particular in terms of a new program per se, but it is our strong focus going forward to continue to look for ways to reduce costs. What was pleasing in the half was we saw strong productivity, as we usually do, from our stores, and from supply chain, but it was complemented with the improved cost performance out of our support areas, no doubt. Within our cost lines, of course, need to take into account, we've also seen a substantial increase in e-commerce, which just from a mix perspective, does put some extra pressure into the, into the cost lines. I'll just hand to Steve, because he does like to talk about cost, a lot. Any other add, Steve? I think, yeah, going back to Thomas's first point, it was a strong performance on cost in the half. If we look at the group, costs grew by 2% across the group. You know, we've got a business that's growing volume, where we've got inflation that we need to cover. We've got mixed headwinds. The ongoing focus on frontline productivity is incredibly important, and we saw that delivered in each one of the businesses. Equally, you know, we talked to the cost-saving initiative to try to take out AUD 400 million of above store and support costs on a 12-month run rate basis. Actually, the team we announced that a year ago, and the team worked very hard on that, actually, at the back end of last fiscal and really front-loaded a lot of initiatives, into, you know, the end of 2025 and the first quarter of F26. We delivered roughly half of that 400 in the half across the group. Clearly a key contribution to being able to have cost growth below sales growth, actually in each one of the trading businesses across the group. Yeah, a good result, but it needs to be always on, and that's really where we're shifting our focus. Great. Thanks, Steve. Thanks, Amanda. Thank you. Thank you. The next question comes from Michael Simotas from Jefferies. Please go ahead. Good morning, everyone. I've got a related question to the one on costs, and particularly around in-store labor. I mean, your execution has improved. A lot of the feedback in the industry is that you've put labor into the stores. It's not obvious when we look at the P&L, the labor investment, because your branch expense growth was much lower than your admin expense growth. I would have thought the cost out program was reducing admin expense to fund in-store. Can you give us a little bit of color around your store labor, as well as how those costs are moving through the P&L, please? Thanks, Michael. I'll kick off, then I'll hand to Steve. If I just start with store labor as the starting point there. Yes, we did invest more in store labor, we were also very targeted in terms of where would it make the most difference. So when we looked at improving availability, for example, you know, there were targeted adjustments that we made in terms of time of day across particular days of the week. So it wasn't across our entire network. Then just looking at. Then we also invested in fresh, in particular. We continued to assess that across both the quarter and, of course, into this year as well, as to what is making the most difference in terms of customer experience. Ultimately, that's how we're measuring the performance. Yes, we did invest, but we invested in a way that was quite targeted, and then continued to monitor that as we moved through. I'll hand to Steve, and then, Annette, if there's anything you want to build on. I think, Michael, just part of your question on the change in admin expenses, that does include the Significant Items expense in the half, that's why you see that cost growing. If you actually strip that back on an underlying basis, admin expenses went backwards, which is consistent with what we would have expected, given the focus on that area of our cost base. Great. Thank you. That makes sense, and it looks like it's working, so well done. Thank you. The next question comes from David Errington from Bank of America. Please go ahead. Good morning, Amanda. Good morning, Steve. It really is a good morning, I'm really happy to give that greeting. Amanda, what really pleases me with this result is it's been a fantastic result with cost savings. You've really driven productivity, which is fantastic. What really stands out for me is that you've nailed the execution. Slide 6 and Slide 5 are the Slides I please if we could refer to. Slide 6 is just phenomenally positive. It seems to me, where my question is, I remember talking to you at the end of August, one thing that concerned me is that you were very slow to re-respond to changes in the marketplace. You were very slow, whether it be picking up trends or you picked up the trends, you were too slow to execute. You seem to have been able to turn that around, whether the data is better, like I was really encouraged to see that you seem to be on top of what the customers really want. Whether your data input is better, but you seem to be responding better and quicker into the stores. Can you spell out what you've done there? Is it the supply chain benefits that you've done that's coming through? It's just a wonderful achievement to get such an improvement in the voice of the customer when you've driven productivity, and following Michael's point, when you've driven labor harder, when you've driven your costs and your efficiencies, yet to still get such a great pickup in your Voice of the Customer, it's just a great result. Can you go into how you've been able to achieve that? Last August, I was a bit concerned because you were talking about how you were too slow to respond. It just seems to a phenomenal turnaround. Can you go into those details, please? That'd be really appreciated. Yeah. Thank you, and thanks, David. As you know, you know, we're always focused on what we can do better as well. If we just go back to that period, I'd start by saying that we made very significant people and leadership changes at multiple levels across Australian Food during that period and just prior to that trading period. The level of disruption, which was a combination of the work that we were doing to reduce our costs, but also our focus on how do we consolidate and simplify the structures within the group, and then appoint the right leaders into those critical roles, whether that's the leadership roles across Australian Food, where we have, you know, Annette leading Woolworths Retail and Amitabh leading E-commerce, or the commercial roles that sit across each one of our key categories and areas. At multiple levels, we made changes, and there's no doubt that there was a high level of disruption and distraction, and I, in no way, want to make any, you know, any excuses for that. But I do think that that was the biggest determining factor around our performance during that period. What I've been very pleased to see is how the team now, once they're in role, focused, and they're focused on delivering across multiple horizons. Yes, we put a lot of focus, as you say, on addressing what is it that customers are needing and wanting from us right now, how do we improve transaction growth and item growth, items in particular? There's very much that focus on trading the business today, but also on building the future and getting clearer around how we want to evolve the proposition of our supermarkets and our retail propositions in e-commerce going forward. Whilst also being really clear with the team that we do need to be a lower-cost retailer, and that we should be proud about that, and we should be focused on it because it enables us to deliver better value to customers and build a better business together. It was a disruptive period. We've got a highly focused team right now. We're very pleased to see improving momentum. We still think there's more for us to do in terms of work across our categories and our offers, but we're focused on building now on the momentum that we have. Yeah, you're doing very well. Well done. As I said, You seem to be using data a lot better, than what you were, so really pleasing to see. With AI coming in, yeah, it's promising. Yeah. Thank you. Oh, thank you. Thanks, David. Thank you. The next question comes from Bryan Raymond, from JPMorgan. Please go ahead. Morning, all, mine's just a follow-on, actually, from David's question, just around. You mentioned, Amanda, some personnel changes there. I just want to focus in on Australian Food. Annette appointed Peter McNamara to lead the long life part of the business from a buying perspective at the start of the financial year. That preceded, from what we've heard from the supplier base, a strategic pivot towards impulse categories in store, particularly on promotion and gondola ends, et cetera, at the start of the second quarter. I'd just be interested as to how much that's impacted your sales results, that you're seeing better uplifts, maybe in some of those impulse areas where you've been a bit underweight in the past, from a, from a store positioning perspective, and now that's really come back to the fore from what we've heard. I'd just be interested as to how much that's important and whether that's got a bit further to run, going forward. Thanks. Yeah, thanks. Thanks, Bryan. Look, what I would say is that we focused on what is it that will make the most difference to customers, and how is it that we drive item growth. We knew that we had customers still shopping in our stores, I just want to, you know, come back and say this: Yes, we've seen a substantial improvement in our grocery performance and across, as you say, some of those impulse categories. That's, I would say, primarily driven by a more disciplined execution. We've also seen strong fresh growth, which we're very pleased to see, 'cause it's a key part of our strategy overall. We have a team that's very focused on 1 customer plan, we talked about a lot of the structural changes that we've made and leadership changes. That's also been about bringing together, a much more disciplined approach to the way that we go to market with our one customer plan across commercial, customer, loyalty, operations, and into the supply chain. We're just seeing now, you know, the start of the team getting into the right rhythm and flow, which really matters in retail, as you know. We have run sharper promotions, no doubt. So I'm just looking at Annette, and I know you've been deeply involved in activating a lot of these. Do you want to add some color there? Thanks, Amanda. I think that's right. We've done a lot, really focusing back on listening to the customer, listening to our store teams, and really building that momentum through great offers, great lower shelf prices, and a very strong focus on planning, right from planning right through to execution. What that's helped really shape is some of the things we've just talked about, which is good availability in stores, particularly on some of the categories that you've just mentioned in categories like impulse through promotional activities, where customers may not have thought they were going in to buy something, but saw something on the shelf that they were interested in. It was broader than impulse. I mean, we have seen great growth in our drinks categories. The team have been doing a fantastic job, particularly through some of this hot weather that we've had through the half, but also through pantry essentials, through our meat business. It really has been a really strong focus on retail discipline, end-to-end, that has really driven those opportunities. I would say, and, I think Amanda, you've called it, there is still a lot more to do, and so we're seeing some slightly better results in some of our everyday needs categories, but that is, of course, another area of focus. I would say, we have a lot of work to do to make sure we're getting consistent delivery across the business. More to see in the next half. Thank you. Thanks. Thank you. The next question comes from Nicole Penny, from Rimor Equity Research. Please go ahead. Good morning, thank you. In light of the previous comments regarding the cost of doing business reductions in the Australian Food business. Could you perhaps comment on the timeframe over which any potential benefits of consolidating the New South Wales operations at Moorebank will provide further benefits, please? Just another one, Australian B2B showed some encouraging operating leverage there. How much capacity has this business got to continue to grow earnings ahead of revenue, please? Thank you. Great. Thanks. Thanks, Nicole. Yes, we've been very focused on the work to transform our New South Wales supply chain, and I'll just hand to Steve to talk through the implications of that as that flows through. Yeah, thanks, Nicole. We have really been spending most of the last 12 months ramping up the NDC, and so we're now doing around 2 million cartons a week. We're not fully transitioned all the volume in there, but actually we're starting to see results in line with what we'd expect out of the National Distribution Center. We're very much still in ramp-up mode in the RDC, so nice to be able to take many of you through that facility pre-Christmas. I think we were at 60-odd stores pre-Christmas. I think we're at about 120 stores now. Last couple of weeks, we've been doing about 1 million cartons, bearing in mind we anticipate, you know, at maturity, getting that to 2.5 million-2.8 million cartons. There's still quite a bit of ramp-up to go. I think when we've talked about this in the past, we still do expect commissioning and dual running costs to continue from through F26 at similar levels to F25 and equally into F27 as we start to go live with the Sydney Chilled and Fresh DC, which will go live in actually F28. We do, though, expect some of those commissioning and dual running costs to start to be offset by benefits. They will progressively ramp up over the next couple of years. you know, and really be at maturity. I think we talked about this in December when we had many of you at Moorebank around 2028, 2029, when they start to reach maturity. You know, we are, but we are encouraged by what we're seeing, but we do recognize they are gonna take some time to flow through the P&L. Then on B2B, I'm happy to take that question actually, 'cause, you know, within there, you know, the two main businesses are PFD and PC Plus. Actually, both had strong results in the half. It is just worth being clear that the PFD result does include an extra week in the current year that's not in the comparative, as we've just lined PFD's reporting periods up with the rest of the group. We have disclosed in the notes the adjustment that would've made to earnings in the half if you just normalized it. In fact, both delivered strong double-digit earnings growth in the half. We would consider there being a lot more runway in both those businesses to continue to grow earnings above sales through the medium term. Thank you, Steve. Thank you, Amanda. Thank you. The next question comes from Craig Woolford from MST Marquee. Please go ahead. Good morning, Amanda. Great to see the momentum improving across the group. Can I just ask a question about that sales momentum, particularly on the food segment? I guess there's two parts to it. One is there any guidance you can give on what the strike impacts may have been in the first 7 weeks from a year ago? Is that still having an effect on reported results? More fundamentally, I'm interested in, you know, what you see going forward on price and volume. The price inflation is dropping away a little bit, which is good news for consumers, but might make it harder to maintain sales momentum. Yeah. Yeah. Yes, thanks. Thanks, Craig. Just when we look at those first seven weeks, it is important to know, as you point out, that we were recovering from the industrial action last year. When we certainly look at the seven weeks, we didn't last year call out a specific number, and we didn't do that for two reasons. One is, you know, supply chain was back up and running, and we were in flow in terms of delivering to our stores and to customers. We also didn't want to create, to be frank, just excuses for ourselves. We're very focused on just building the momentum as we moved forward. We don't have a number to specifically call out, but it is important to note that that is a factor, particularly if we look at, to give you a sense, you know, Victoria. Victoria, for us, you know, was and continued to be very softer and lagged the rest of the states across really the last 12 months. And certainly as we've come into now these first seven weeks, you can see that Victoria is performing particularly strongly. There's no doubt there's some cycling benefit there. When it comes to your second part of the question around just this price and volume, you know, we've been really clear that for us, it's about driving unit volume, and that's what we're focused on doing. You'll see from the average selling prices that we've shared that, yes, there has been a moderation, in that. I'll just hand to Annette to talk a little bit more because there's some color as we just look at the different categories within that, Annette, that might be just worth talking through. Thanks, Amanda. Just, from a general perspective, yes, the number of price increases coming through from suppliers have slowed since the peak in July and August. They're still, of course, coming through, but they have a different shape and a different, a different ask, and it is category specific. Yes, we're still seeing some come through in some of the food categories, but as you alluded to earlier, Amanda, that some significant shifts in the livestock, particularly in red meat and, of course, weather impacted in fruit and veg. It's a little bit difficult to kind of pinpoint, but you are still seeing some inflation in certain categories within fruit and veg, like capsicums and strawberries, that are all very weather dependent. Yes, it's slowed, it definitely slowed from Q2, Q1 into Q2. I think it will be a strong watch out for us as we get into this half. Yeah. Thanks, Annette. Thank you. The next question comes from Ben Gilbert from Jarden. Please go ahead. Morning, Amanda and team. Just wanted to sort of dig into the seven weeks and then a little bit more on how you think about the rest of the year, notwithstanding sort of the guidance. It feels like you've just traded the business a lot harder, and you're a lot more off locations and impulse, et cetera, which is great, and seems like it's really resonating. I suppose the two parts to the question: one, is how profitable is that growth? If you had to dip into your own pockets, your run rate obviously would suggest you can print an even number higher than what you sort of tightened that range up to. The second part is, I'm just interested in how you're going to capitalize to try and drive a broader halo of that across the rest of the business, and particularly into those everyday needs categories. Interested in the anecdotal comment you made, that you are seeing some improvement in that as well. Question. Yeah, thank you. I think we've demonstrated in the half that through a really strong commercial discipline, that we've been able to deliver a solid GP result in the half. Certainly as we move forward, we would see it being broadly consistent as we move into the second half now. In terms of that question, I just want to come back and say it hasn't. This result has been driven by a series of factors. Yes, we've been more competitive than we said we would be. It's also been driven by improved availability, genuinely better experiences in our stores. Our customers are telling us that with the ratings and the feedback that they're providing to us. Certainly we've been more competitive, but this result is not primarily driven just by that, and we see it as being something that is sustainable on the go forward. That's because it's a balance of levers that we've been using. Our lower shelf price program is absolutely delivering value back to customers in a way that is good for customers, consistency, reliability, but also good for us in terms of our supply chain and the efficiencies and the way in which we manage that. The promotional program, we have been more competitive and have certainly had more market-leading offers over the last six months. But we've managed that within the right commercial frameworks through both ourselves and our suppliers working with us. Then when we think about the role Everyday Rewards plays, you know, we just broadened that out to have a lot more above the line, more visible opportunities for customers to earn value, and that's something that is sticky. That's not about a short-term, sales, or sugar hit. That's about building long-term growth with our customers and rewarding their loyalty. We've really been very thoughtful about how it is that we manage all of that, so that we can deliver more value for customers. We can manage our responsibilities around profitability of the business and the sustainability of it going forward. When we look at, your question around everyday needs, you know, again, fresh was very strong for us. Grocery was strong, and everyday needs, we saw a gradual improvement. I'll throw to Annette to talk more about this, but particularly in those key categories of baby and pet, where we needed to see improvements, we took a series of actions there. We've still got more work to do in the personal care category, I would say, it's the one that we haven't seen as much traction. Annette, do you want to just add a little bit of color of what have we seen on everyday needs and what some of the actions that we've taken there? Yeah, I think you've caught out the key categories, Amanda. In it, you know, again, it's very much looking at multiple horizons. In the near term, just holding that competitiveness in an incredibly and growingly competitive market, unit price is very important, bulk packs are very important. You saw some changes in the way that we approached some of those items within the pet category. We also introduced a new range in pet food in the dog category. 95 new products came into the range with a real focus on the balance between branded products, again, the bulk items where we thought it was required, and of course, some really good own brand products leveraging the relationship and the partnership we have with Petstock. Billy Bowl Back did some great things, came in in the pet category. You'll start to see some shifts as that rolls through. It's actually rolling through right now. Pets, starting to see some. They're minor. I mean, we've got a lot of work to do in the category, but we're starting to see some very small shifts. In baby, again, multiple horizons, working short term on making sure we've got the right value offers for our customers. We've done some work to reset quality of our own brand Little Ones products. They will start to come through. The wipes have come through now, but the nappies will start to come through over the course of the next couple of months. Earlier in the half, we introduced Millie Moon, which was a fabulous own brand product that now has a high single-digit share of that category. Again, you're seeing shifts within the baby category. Beauty, again, very different to the previous two. It's all about being on trend. We launched some very good products during the half. Billie got a lot of attention. The video that launched Billie had 20 million views, which is extraordinary, and just shows the nature of how customers are interacting with innovation and new categories. 50% of the customers that came in to buy Billie were new to the category, so we're seeing new customers come in, and there were a lot of new brands that launched through that beauty category in the half. We're seeing very different in those three categories, in everyday needs, you know, different plans, but on multiple horizons. Amanda, if you don't mind, I would also say, just back to the start of the question, we're also seeing a lot of growth in the way our customers are eating and what they're serving at home. At-home consumption has been a very strong trend that we've seen continue to grow. Yes, impulse has been very important through the quarter, but so has some of the biggest moves in things like coffee. You know, we've seen growth in coffee, from, in particular, cafe brands like Campos Coffee and Grinders coming into that category, and we're seeing some really strong, very, very positive double-digit growth. You know, yes, it's in some of those impulse categories, but it's actually right across, whether it's protein, yogurts. It's actually, it's more broad than just the impulse categories, for sure. Yeah, great. Thanks. Thanks, Annette. Just to come back to the top of your question, then, you know, when we look at the guidance that we've provided and that move to an upper single-digit profit growth, important just to look at that in the context of everything that we've shared today in terms of customers are looking for more value. It is a very, very competitive market, and so we're very mindful as we look forward, that we expect, you know, customers to continue to seek value, competition to continue to increase. We've provided the update that we have with that context as well. Fantastic. Very helpful. Thank you. Thank you. The next question comes from Caleb Wheatley, from Macquarie. Please go ahead. Morning, Amanda and Steve, and echo the congratulations on the results. I just wanted to come back to this price-trust discussion, and particularly revisiting some of the prior comments you've made on sort of price perception issues rather than actual pricing problem. Are you able to just talk through some of the quantum of reinvestment that's gone into price to manage that price perception issue? Then sort of looking forward, how much more work, if any, do you think sort of needs to go into focusing or resolving that price perception issue, please? Yeah, thanks. Price trust, price perception has been important. As we've called out, you know, one of the ways in which we measure that is to look at our Voice of the Customer and the value for money scores that we're receiving. Importantly, you know, we know that customers look at that at an individual item level and are making decisions around where they shop at an item level, but also at a total basket level. So that's also informed our decisions around how do we make sure that customers are realizing the maximum value. Again, we've used multiple levers across our promotions, our lower shelf price, and Everyday Rewards to make sure that we create the right value for customers. We know they're looking for it. Price trust is something that builds over time, we certainly know that we've still got work to do to improve, trust in Woolworths and trust in our prices, and that will remain a focus for the next 12 months ahead. Importantly, for us, this is why we committed to the lower shelf price program, because that's about reliability. Customers want to be able to count on us, and so that's been an important element of the offer that we have in place. Alongside reaching customers across probably a broader mix of media than we have, in the prior 12 months as well. We have adjusted the way in which we, talk to our customers and reach them, as well across the period, which is important when everyone's looking for value. I would just. There's no number that I would particularly call out. We're always investing in price, not just in lower shelf prices, but in specials as well. We'll continue to do that, and we expect to continue to need to focus on building price trust over the next 12 and 18 months. That's helpful. Thank you. Thank you. The next question comes from Richard Barwick, from CLSA. Please go ahead. Hi, Amanda. I wanted to talk about BIG W. That was a strong, much stronger result than I think many were expecting. You've talked about it's on track to be EBIT and cash flow positive. Not surprisingly, you're talking about the profitability being weighted to the first half. I think everyone would expect that. What does that mean, though, in terms of profitability for the second half? Are you flagging that you can actually turn a profit from BIG W in the second half, or should we be expecting another loss? Yeah, thanks. Thanks, Richard. We're not giving out specific guidance on the profit number for BIG W, but we're wanting to reinforce and just help everyone understand, as you know, it is heavily weighted due to Christmas and seasonal sales in that first half, but that we are remaining committed to the commitment we gave in August around being EBIT and cash flow positive. Dan, is there anything you wanted to add in that context? We're not gonna be talking about the specific numbers in terms of profit, but any other context? The only other context I would give is that the health of our sales have been much stronger in the first half, especially in categories like clothing and home, where we flowed seasonal stock a lot better. We got in and out of inventory a lot better, and those processes are maturing. We do expect H2 on H2, the improvement of the health of sales and the improvement of the shape to continue. In absence of a specific EBIT number, we do expect improvements year-on-year. Yeah. Thank you. Okay. All right, improvement on second half. That's helpful. Yeah. Yeah, we're comfortable with that. Thank you. The next question comes from Phillip Kimber, from E&P Capital. Please go ahead. Go ahead. Hi, Amanda. Just a question on, there was a specific comment you made in the actual announcement that said, "heightened competitive intensity in food e-commerce." I was just wondering, if you could provide a bit more color around that. Is that being led by yourselves being more aggressive, or is something else going on there? Thanks. Yeah, thanks. Thanks, Phil. Yeah, that was really a reference to the fact that, as we know, Coles launched, you know, the Ocado partnership some time ago and has been, you know, very focused in the market, in e-commerce, driving a lot of activity in that space. As we look at the on-demand space, in particular, with different platforms, whether that's Uber or DoorDash or our own, and customers are now really focused on that on-demand two-hour opportunity. Certainly we're seeing competition increase, in particular, around customer acquisition. Just looking at Amitabh, can you just build in terms of some of the intense competition we are seeing, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne? Both, to add to what you said, Amanda, one is from traditional competitors, where with Coles, with our stepped-up performance and their focus with their card boxes, is actually they have definitely stepped up in terms of competitive intensity. I think what's more interesting in the more recent times is the growth with what I'll say, are formidable global retailers. Whether it is Costco already, with strong presence in Australia, and for the first time, offering their products online, or whether it is with Amazon, having entered the fray as well. That is, we're clearly seeing a lot more competitive action in the e-commerce space, and we are obviously quite determined to stay competitive and to make sure that we deliver, we are the first choice for our customers. Great. Thanks, Amitabh. Thank you. Thank you. The next question comes from Peter Marks, from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead. Good morning, Amanda and Steve. My question is just on the Australian Food business. interested in hearing about the launch of the customer offset, sorry, Customer Offer Reset program that you've launched, and I guess the details around that, what's involved? Is it a range review program? I guess what you're looking to achieve with that and the timings of any benefit we should expect. Thank you. Yeah, thank you. Thanks, Peter. The Customer Offer Reset is something we're running across the group. That includes Australian Food, our New Zealand Food business, and BIG W, and particularly relates to the relationship that we have with our major suppliers that connect with us across those 3 businesses and across the 2 countries. We really wanted to, first and foremost, simplify the connection with Woolworths, and that's important for us and important for our supplier partners. Also engage in the right strategic conversations around how we reset those categories for the future so that we grow together. It is a new way of us engaging with our supplier partners, but it is very much, and hence the name, Customer Offer Reset. It is very focused on what is it that customers are looking for across individual categories, and how do we work with those larger suppliers across our three businesses to unlock the full potential of those categories with customers in mind. It's a program that will progressively roll out across the next 12 and 18 months. We've started with a series of 4 key categories that are underway now. As we've shared with our supply partners, you know, we want to partner together with them on this. We will take the learnings from those first 4 categories as we then roll that out across the rest of our categories. It does align broadly with range reviews so that we give everyone the appropriate time, but it's a new way of us working. Thank you. Thanks. The new way is, I guess, you're buying across the 3 different businesses now. Is that the right way to think about it? I would say that we're looking collectively together with our supplier partners on the opportunities that exist in each one of the categories. You know, each one of those businesses has a slightly different customer base, slightly different need, but we're bringing together a shared conversation with our supply partners as to how we do business. How that plays out in each one of those businesses and categories will look and feel a little bit different, and we'll learn more across this year. Great. Thank you very much. Thank you. The next question is a follow-up from Michael Simotas from Jefferies. Please go ahead. Thanks for taking another one. Mine's on e-commerce profitability. Your margin effectively or close to double year-over-year, and I know the first half of last year was pretty tough for the business, but the way we calculate it's about 3.5%, which looks like a very good outcome, given that competitive dynamic and customer acquisition costs that you talked to. Can that business continue to scale and deliver leverage from here, or do the costs become more variable? Yeah, thanks, Michael. It was a strong performance from the e-commerce business in the half. Importantly, as we know, our e-commerce business is primarily fulfilled from stores. It's a really important part of our offer overall. The short answer is, yes, we do think we can continue to improve the profitability performance of e-commerce. There are a number of things that drove that in the half. I'll just hand to Amitabh to add a little bit more in terms of the key drivers of that e-commerce result. Thank you, Amanda. The three things that we think have really made a difference in our profitability performance in the half. First is the proposition mix itself, where we've consistently invested in our Direct to Boot capacity that has driven growth in our collections. Collections have grown at more than 20% compared to the rest of the business, having grown at 15% in e-commerce. The second is continued growth in on-demand, which is also margin accretive as a proposition for us. Both the propositions which are margin accretive have grown faster based on the investment that we've made both over the years as well as more recently. Second driver is the fractionalization of the fixed cost itself, which we have reached a scale in the business, where with continued growth in the business, we continue to fractionalize our fixed costs, and we expect to see that benefit coming through. Finally, operational discipline. In terms of just the productivity pipeline that we've had, driving both our picking costs and, you know, Amanda referenced in different conversation some of the AI tools that are in place to drive better picking, to optimize our picking, as well as in the last mile delivery cost. All three have driven, and we expect all three to be sustained going forward as well. Just one build, Michael, I think in that growth in the half, there are some cycling benefits, but the industrial action, but we did make a material investment in cold chain integrity last year, which we've now structurally found ways to reduce that cost and retain that integrity. The profit growth moving forward, I wouldn't necessarily be baking in that type of expansion each half. Got it. Thank you. Thank you. The next question is a follow-up from Adrian Lemme from Citi. Please go ahead. Adrian, your line is open. Yeah, sorry. Sorry for that, of course. Yeah, thanks for taking another question. I had a question actually on New Zealand. Understanding the implemented changes in the store operating model partway through the half, that's significantly reduced the number of managers. Just wanted to know, is this a key driver of the lower CBP margin? I guess more importantly, can you talk about how the new model compares to Australia? If it's not already on that kind of model, could Australia sort of follow down the line, please? Yeah. Thanks. Thanks, Adrian Lemme. We did implement in Q2. We've been testing this in New Zealand for quite some time, a new operating model, which moved from really having that department focus to more of a functional focus in terms of the way that the operating model itself works. During the period, it was really about implementing quite a substantial change. If anything, to be perfectly frank, it probably impacted a little bit of our performance in Q2, just as we made such a large scale change across the entire New Zealand business. We think it's a great model, certainly for the future, but we wanna see that continue to improve performance across New Zealand first. When you're looking at the implications of that from a cost perspective, certainly we hadn't yet seen any substantial benefits from that flow through in the first, in the first half. Right now, as we ramp up that operating model, we've also got more focus, and so it'll take some time for the benefits of that to materialize. I'll hand to Sally in a moment to see if there anything else you wanted to add to that. Your question of Australia, look, right now what we're focused on is let's see how this performs in New Zealand for us. As I say, we've been testing it for some time, anyway, but when you release things out at scale, you always learn more. We'd be focused on learning from our New Zealand business first, and then determining whether or not that's the right model for us in Australia. Sally, any other reflections in terms of operating model? Thank you, Amanda. Absolutely. I think the model is predicated on us being able to deliver a better customer experience and actually building stronger momentum and retailing careers for the team. It was a very significant change in the New Zealand context. 2,500 new team members, that's 13% of our frontline workforce who are new to our business. Supporting them to onboard and be part of our team has been a very big focus. We actually have 300 team members who are new leadership roles for the very first time. That's about helping a really build a strong pipeline for us, you know, all the way through to store managers and beyond.We are in the throes of embedding this model, and really focused on how do we get back to basics, make sure we've got the fundamentals of our routines right, and that we're in a stronger position going forward. Great. Thanks, Sally. Thank you. Thank you. The next question comes from Craig Woolford, from MST Marquee. Please go ahead. Thanks for the follow-up. Just might be for Stephen, just in that in the full year result, just about the outlook for FY 2026, there was specific items called out around the tobacco headwind. It was supposed to be AUD 80 million-AUD 100 million across the year, the workforce system, AUD 60 million, and then the lower shelf price of AUD 100 million. Can you just clarify how those factors impacted the first half result? Yes. So from a tobacco perspective, we called out an AUD 80 million-AUD 100 million estimate. We think that's still the right estimate for the full year, but it's slightly weighted to the first half. So there's a disproportionate component in the first half. In terms of the technology investments, there's multiple systems that we're, end device systems that we're replacing, not just the time and attendance. We called out a AUD 60 million estimate, roughly 50/50 across the two halves. And LSP, we haven't specifically called out the number, but we said it'd be a minimum investment of AUD 100 million in our own brands. But obviously, you know, we've been able to get scale that program and get a lot more suppliers on board. Broadly, if you think about we launched it in May last year, you'd expect roughly it would split 50/50, may, maybe slightly less, given the cycling impact in the second half. Thanks, Phil. Thank you. The next question is a follow-up from Bryan Raymond from JPMorgan. Please go ahead. Thanks for the follow-up. Earlier, I think, Amanda, you might have mentioned some strategic optionality with BIG W. I'd just like to elaborate on that a little bit if we can. Profitability's improved. Would, you know, a potential exit be, or sale of this business be on, you know, possible or one that you'd consider? Did you mean something else by that strategic optionality comment? Thanks. Thanks. Thanks, Brian. Firstly, I just want to acknowledge that it is very good to see an improved performance from BIG W and that the transformation plan that the team has put in place, and that they've been very focused on delivering, is showing some good improved performance. We're very pleased, as is the BIG W team, to see that. When we're talking about BIG W, we want to make sure that that business and that team is super focused on their transformation. They've done a great job and there's more to do there. We talk about the IT separation primarily because giving BIG W the independence to be able to build the right platforms that are fit for purpose is really important for a discount department store. BIG W has been deeply integrated across the Woolworths technology systems. As a result, has drawn on a lot of, you know, the food technology. We want to make sure that as the business moves forward, particularly when we look at areas like e-commerce, which is, you know, driving a lot of positive growth for BIG W, that they've got the right tools and the right technologies to be able to drive that forward. There's nothing that we would further update with regards to BIG W other than what we've already shared. Thank you.

Speaker 2: Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today for Woolworths Group's half year results for the 2026 financial year. I'd like to start by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet today, their own country, and I'd like to pay my respects to elders, past and present. Joining me this morning are Stephen Harrison, our Chief Financial Officer, Annette Karantoni, Managing Director of Woolworths Retail, Amitabh Mall, Managing Director of Group eComX, Sally Copland, Managing Director of Woolworths New Zealand, and Dan Hake, Managing Director of BIG W. I will start with an overview of the group's performance in the first half, then provide an update on our medium-term strategic priorities. Steve will cover our financial performance before I conclude with an update on current trading and the outlook for H2. Good morning, everyone. good morning everyone Thank you for joining us today for Woolworths Group's half year results for the 2026 financial year. thank you for joining us today for woolworths group's half year results for the 2026 financial year I'd like to start by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet today, their own country, and I'd like to pay my respects to elders, past and present. i'd like to start by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet today their own country and i'd like to pay my respects to elders past and present Joining me this morning are Stephen Harrison, our Chief Financial Officer, Annette Karantoni, Managing Director of Woolworths Retail, Amitabh Mall, Managing Director of Group eComX, Sally Copland, Managing Director of Woolworths New Zealand, and Dan Hake, Managing Director of BIG W. joining me this morning are stephen harrison our chief financial officer annette karantoni managing director of woolworths retail amitabh mall managing director of group ecomx sally copland managing director of woolworths new zealand and dan hake managing director of big w I will start with an overview of the group's performance in the first half, then provide an update on our medium-term strategic priorities. i will start with an overview of the group's performance in the first half then provide an update on our medium-term strategic priorities Steve will cover our financial performance before I conclude with an update on current trading and the outlook for H2. steve will cover our financial performance before i conclude with an update on current trading and the outlook for h2 Turning to Slide 4, we took deliberate action to rebuild customer momentum during the half through investment in the areas that matter most to our customers, including value, fresh, and convenience. We are seeing greater stability across the group following key leadership changes and structure changes that are better aligned to our priorities. Our execution in the half has progressively improved. However, we know we have more to do to deliver the best experiences for our customers. Turning to our financial performance for the half, group sales in H1 increased 3.4%, with all businesses growing sales on the prior year. Group EBIT, excluding Significant Items, increased 14.4%, with solid EBIT growth from all of our reporting segments, supported by CODB reductions. Turning to Slide 4, we took deliberate action to rebuild customer momentum during the half through investment in the areas that matter most to our customers, including value, fresh, and convenience. turning to slide 4 we took deliberate action to rebuild customer momentum during the half through investment in the areas that matter most to our customers including value fresh and convenience We are seeing greater stability across the group following key leadership changes and structure changes that are better aligned to our priorities. we are seeing greater stability across the group following key leadership changes and structure changes that are better aligned to our priorities Our execution in the half has progressively improved. our execution in the half has progressively improved However, we know we have more to do to deliver the best experiences for our customers. however we know we have more to do to deliver the best experiences for our customers Turning to our financial performance for the half, group sales in H1 increased 3.4%, with all businesses growing sales on the prior year. turning to our financial performance for the half group sales in h1 increased 3.4% with all businesses growing sales on the prior year Group EBIT, excluding Significant Items, increased 14.4%, with solid EBIT growth from all of our reporting segments, supported by CODB reductions. group ebit excluding significant items increased 14.4% with solid ebit growth from all of our reporting segments supported by codb reductions Excluding the impact of industrial action in Australian Food in the prior year and supply chain transition costs, Group EBIT would have increased by 7.9%. In August, we spoke about taking action to reposition the Group for long-term sustainable growth, and we laid out our strategic priorities. While a key focus in the half has been on rebuilding momentum in the short term, we have a clear strategic agenda and have made good progress on these priorities. We also said that we expected to deliver mid to high single digit reported EBIT growth in Australian Food for the year and an improved result in New Zealand Food and BIG W. We remain on track to deliver this in F26. Turning to Slide 5. Customers remain value-focused. We have seen value-seeking behaviors continue in an increasingly competitive retail environment. Excluding the impact of industrial action in Australian Food in the prior year and supply chain transition costs, Group EBIT would have increased by 7.9%. excluding the impact of industrial action in australian food in the prior year and supply chain transition costs group ebit would have increased by 7.9% In August, we spoke about taking action to reposition the Group for long-term sustainable growth, and we laid out our strategic priorities. in august we spoke about taking action to reposition the group for long-term sustainable growth and we laid out our strategic priorities While a key focus in the half has been on rebuilding momentum in the short term, we have a clear strategic agenda and have made good progress on these priorities. while a key focus in the half has been on rebuilding momentum in the short term we have a clear strategic agenda and have made good progress on these priorities We also said that we expected to deliver mid to high single digit reported EBIT growth in Australian Food for the year and an improved result in New Zealand Food and BIG W. we also said that we expected to deliver mid to high single digit reported ebit growth in australian food for the year and an improved result in new zealand food and big w We remain on track to deliver this in F26. we remain on track to deliver this in f26 Turning to Slide 5. turning to slide 5 Customers remain value-focused. customers remain value-focused We have seen value-seeking behaviors continue in an increasingly competitive retail environment. we have seen value-seeking behaviors continue in an increasingly competitive retail environment Broader cost of living pressures continue to weigh heavily on our customers' household budgets. Price remains the top priority for Australian customers when choosing where to shop, with quality and freshness and range also critical. After signs of tentative improvement in customer sentiment towards the end of last year, persistent inflation and the prospects of interest rate rises have seen customers again prioritizing ways to save. They are telling us that compared to last quarter and a year ago, they are buying more products on special, comparing prices across supermarkets and cooking more at home. Turning to Slide 6. We're clear in quarter one that the sales momentum in Australian Food was below our aspirations, and in response, we invested to improve our offer in value, fresh, availability, and convenience. Broader cost of living pressures continue to weigh heavily on our customers' household budgets. broader cost of living pressures continue to weigh heavily on our customers' household budgets Price remains the top priority for Australian customers when choosing where to shop, with quality and freshness and range also critical. price remains the top priority for australian customers when choosing where to shop with quality and freshness and range also critical After signs of tentative improvement in customer sentiment towards the end of last year, persistent inflation and the prospects of interest rate rises have seen customers again prioritizing ways to save. after signs of tentative improvement in customer sentiment towards the end of last year persistent inflation and the prospects of interest rate rises have seen customers again prioritizing ways to save They are telling us that compared to last quarter and a year ago, they are buying more products on special, comparing prices across supermarkets and cooking more at home. they are telling us that compared to last quarter and a year ago they are buying more products on special comparing prices across supermarkets and cooking more at home Turning to Slide 6. turning to slide 6 We're clear in quarter one that the sales momentum in Australian Food was below our aspirations, and in response, we invested to improve our offer in value, fresh, availability, and convenience. we're clear in quarter one that the sales momentum in australian food was below our aspirations and in response we invested to improve our offer in value fresh availability and convenience We upweighted our rewards and e-commerce offers, as well as increased weekly promotions on key family lines like bananas, nappies, and chicken breasts, to provide customers with more value and more reasons to choose Woolworths first. We also added more than 350 new products to our lower shelf price program, with over 800 products now part of the range. We know that fresh is the gateway to the supermarket shop. We invested more team hours across key fresh categories to ensure the best offer was consistently on show and to improve freshness and the customer experience. We also remained focused on improving our retail execution. We upweighted our rewards and e-commerce offers, as well as increased weekly promotions on key family lines like bananas, nappies, and chicken breasts, to provide customers with more value and more reasons to choose Woolworths first. we upweighted our rewards and e-commerce offers as well as increased weekly promotions on key family lines like bananas nappies and chicken breasts to provide customers with more value and more reasons to choose woolworths first We also added more than 350 new products to our lower shelf price program, with over 800 products now part of the range. we also added more than 350 new products to our lower shelf price program with over 800 products now part of the range We know that fresh is the gateway to the supermarket shop. we know that fresh is the gateway to the supermarket shop We invested more team hours across key fresh categories to ensure the best offer was consistently on show and to improve freshness and the customer experience. we invested more team hours across key fresh categories to ensure the best offer was consistently on show and to improve freshness and the customer experience We also remained focused on improving our retail execution. we also remained focused on improving our retail execution We held more stock weight on key promotional lines to improve availability for customers and increased the number of store deliveries over the weekends, helping to support an improvement in out-of-stocks Voice of the Customer, which is up 10 points compared to the prior year. In December, we unlocked 1 million more online and delivery pickup slots to provide our customers with even more flexibility and convenience in the lead up to Christmas. We also provided highly competitive offers to new customers. Turning to Slide 7, the actions that we've taken have seen improved momentum in quarter two relative to Q1, with a stabilization in market share. Excluding the impact of industrial action in tobacco, Woolworths Food Retail sales increased 4.7% in Q2, driven primarily by item growth. We have seen this momentum continue into H2. We held more stock weight on key promotional lines to improve availability for customers and increased the number of store deliveries over the weekends, helping to support an improvement in out-of-stocks Voice of the Customer, which is up 10 points compared to the prior year. we held more stock weight on key promotional lines to improve availability for customers and increased the number of store deliveries over the weekends helping to support an improvement in out-of-stocks voice of the customer which is up 10 points compared to the prior year In December, we unlocked 1 million more online and delivery pickup slots to provide our customers with even more flexibility and convenience in the lead up to Christmas. in december we unlocked 1 million more online and delivery pickup slots to provide our customers with even more flexibility and convenience in the lead up to christmas We also provided highly competitive offers to new customers. we also provided highly competitive offers to new customers Turning to Slide 7, the actions that we've taken have seen improved momentum in quarter two relative to Q1, with a stabilization in market share. turning to slide 7 the actions that we've taken have seen improved momentum in quarter two relative to q1 with a stabilization in market share Excluding the impact of industrial action in tobacco, Woolworths Food Retail sales increased 4.7% in Q2, driven primarily by item growth. excluding the impact of industrial action in tobacco woolworths food retail sales increased 4.7% in q2 driven primarily by item growth We have seen this momentum continue into H2. we have seen this momentum continue into h2 Woolworths Food Retail VoC NPS ended up 10 points compared to the prior year, showing a strong recovery from the impacts of industrial action in the year. In addition to out of stocks, which I've mentioned, value for money scores have also improved consistently over the last 12 months, up 8 points on the prior year. Turning to Slide 8. We're also transforming our digital experience to deliver the best shopping experiences for our customers. The number of customers using our digital tools to improve their shopping experience is increasing. Whether this is to make the shopping experience more seamless, get the best value, or track their spending. We already have over 1 million customers using digital lists to shop each week in store and online. During the half, we launched Snap and Shop, which converts handwritten shopping lists into digital lists. Woolworths Food Retail VoC NPS ended up 10 points compared to the prior year, showing a strong recovery from the impacts of industrial action in the year. woolworths food retail voc nps ended up 10 points compared to the prior year showing a strong recovery from the impacts of industrial action in the year In addition to out of stocks, which I've mentioned, value for money scores have also improved consistently over the last 12 months, up 8 points on the prior year. in addition to out of stocks which i've mentioned value for money scores have also improved consistently over the last 12 months up 8 points on the prior year Turning to Slide 8. turning to slide 8 We're also transforming our digital experience to deliver the best shopping experiences for our customers. we're also transforming our digital experience to deliver the best shopping experiences for our customers The number of customers using our digital tools to improve their shopping experience is increasing. the number of customers using our digital tools to improve their shopping experience is increasing Whether this is to make the shopping experience more seamless, get the best value, or track their spending. whether this is to make the shopping experience more seamless get the best value or track their spending We already have over 1 million customers using digital lists to shop each week in store and online. we already have over 1 million customers using digital lists to shop each week in store and online During the half, we launched Snap and Shop, which converts handwritten shopping lists into digital lists. during the half we launched snap and shop which converts handwritten shopping lists into digital lists It uses AI technology to match the items to the product the customer has bought before. I'm also delighted that Olive, our much-loved digital shopping assistant, is set to take a major step forward over the coming months through our extended partnership with Google. As part of this, Olive will transform into a market-leading conversational shopping companion, moving beyond a search and Q&A tool. Through agentic AI, Olive will bring together the shopping journey for customers, making the weekly shop easier in store and online. Olive will be able to tailor menus based on customer preferences, identify specials, and boost products, as well as build faster, more predictive baskets. Customers can interact with Olive in different ways, like sharing a photo of a handwritten recipe or using voice to build your shopping list. Turning to Slide nine. It uses AI technology to match the items to the product the customer has bought before. it uses ai technology to match the items to the product the customer has bought before I'm also delighted that Olive, our much-loved digital shopping assistant, is set to take a major step forward over the coming months through our extended partnership with Google. i'm also delighted that olive our much-loved digital shopping assistant is set to take a major step forward over the coming months through our extended partnership with google As part of this, Olive will transform into a market-leading conversational shopping companion, moving beyond a search and Q&A tool. as part of this olive will transform into a market-leading conversational shopping companion moving beyond a search and q&a tool Through agentic AI, Olive will bring together the shopping journey for customers, making the weekly shop easier in store and online. through agentic ai olive will bring together the shopping journey for customers making the weekly shop easier in store and online Olive will be able to tailor menus based on customer preferences, identify specials, and boost products, as well as build faster, more predictive baskets. olive will be able to tailor menus based on customer preferences identify specials and boost products as well as build faster more predictive baskets Customers can interact with Olive in different ways, like sharing a photo of a handwritten recipe or using voice to build your shopping list. customers can interact with olive in different ways like sharing a photo of a handwritten recipe or using voice to build your shopping list Turning to Slide nine. turning to slide nine As convenience continues to increase in importance for our customers, our large store network and leading e-commerce business remains a key differentiator. A modern, well-located store network is critical to maintaining our lead in an increasingly competitive space. During the half, we continued to invest in our store network to provide the best experience for our customers looking to shop in store, pick up via Direct to Boot, or order a Woolworths on-demand or Milkrun rapid delivery. Direct to Boot is now available in around 70% of our stores in under two hours, and has rolled out to a further 60 stores in the half, and Milkrun to a further 135 stores. We also finalized a new partnership with DoorDash, which will be rolled out in H2. As convenience continues to increase in importance for our customers, our large store network and leading e-commerce business remains a key differentiator. as convenience continues to increase in importance for our customers our large store network and leading e-commerce business remains a key differentiator A modern, well-located store network is critical to maintaining our lead in an increasingly competitive space. a modern well-located store network is critical to maintaining our lead in an increasingly competitive space During the half, we continued to invest in our store network to provide the best experience for our customers looking to shop in store, pick up via Direct to Boot, or order a Woolworths on-demand or Milkrun rapid delivery. during the half we continued to invest in our store network to provide the best experience for our customers looking to shop in store pick up via direct to boot or order a woolworths on-demand or milkrun rapid delivery Direct to Boot is now available in around 70% of our stores in under two hours, and has rolled out to a further 60 stores in the half, and Milkrun to a further 135 stores. direct to boot is now available in around 70% of our stores in under two hours and has rolled out to a further 60 stores in the half and milkrun to a further 135 stores We also finalized a new partnership with DoorDash, which will be rolled out in H2. we also finalized a new partnership with doordash which will be rolled out in h2 On-demand options are our fastest-growing propositions as customers seek more convenience, with under two-hour e-commerce sales growing at a compound rate of over 80% over the last two years. Moving to the next Slide. While our primary focus has been on rebuilding momentum in the short term, we have also continued to progress our longer-term strategic priorities. We know we have world-class assets across the group, which give us a unique, enduring competitive advantage and significant potential. If we deliver our strategic potential, I have great confidence in our ability to deliver long-term sustainable growth to shareholders. By delivering sustainable growth in Woolworths Retail, ongoing improvements in New Zealand Food and BIG W, supplemented by higher growth from our complementary businesses and services, our ambition is to deliver mid to high single-digit EBIT growth over the medium term, supporting our double-digit total shareholder return aspiration. On-demand options are our fastest-growing propositions as customers seek more convenience, with under two-hour e-commerce sales growing at a compound rate of over 80% over the last two years. on-demand options are our fastest-growing propositions as customers seek more convenience with under two-hour e-commerce sales growing at a compound rate of over 80% over the last two years Moving to the next Slide. moving to the next slide While our primary focus has been on rebuilding momentum in the short term, we have also continued to progress our longer-term strategic priorities. while our primary focus has been on rebuilding momentum in the short term we have also continued to progress our longer-term strategic priorities We know we have world-class assets across the group, which give us a unique, enduring competitive advantage and significant potential. we know we have world-class assets across the group which give us a unique enduring competitive advantage and significant potential If we deliver our strategic potential, I have great confidence in our ability to deliver long-term sustainable growth to shareholders. if we deliver our strategic potential i have great confidence in our ability to deliver long-term sustainable growth to shareholders By delivering sustainable growth in Woolworths Retail, ongoing improvements in New Zealand Food and BIG W, supplemented by higher growth from our complementary businesses and services, our ambition is to deliver mid to high single-digit EBIT growth over the medium term, supporting our double-digit total shareholder return aspiration. by delivering sustainable growth in woolworths retail ongoing improvements in new zealand food and big w supplemented by higher growth from our complementary businesses and services our ambition is to deliver mid to high single-digit ebit growth over the medium term supporting our double-digit total shareholder return aspiration Turning to our first strategic priority in Australian Food. Our ambition is to be the first choice for customers in our cornerstone food business. Food is what we're famous for. A thriving food business provides a strong platform for the group's long-term success. We're making meaningful shifts for our customers to put us first. We're determined to win in fresh, convenience, and range, while delivering meaningful value and executing consistently well. We've made good progress during the half. There is more to do. This work will continue in H2. I will call out a few highlights from the half across five key areas. The Fresh Food People promise means delivering the best quality and fresh varieties for our customers. Turning to our first strategic priority in Australian Food. turning to our first strategic priority in australian food Our ambition is to be the first choice for customers in our cornerstone food business. our ambition is to be the first choice for customers in our cornerstone food business Food is what we're famous for. food is what we're famous for A thriving food business provides a strong platform for the group's long-term success. a thriving food business provides a strong platform for the group's long-term success We're making meaningful shifts for our customers to put us first. we're making meaningful shifts for our customers to put us first We're determined to win in fresh, convenience, and range, while delivering meaningful value and executing consistently well. we're determined to win in fresh convenience and range while delivering meaningful value and executing consistently well We've made good progress during the half. we've made good progress during the half There is more to do. there is more to do This work will continue in H2. this work will continue in h2 I will call out a few highlights from the half across five key areas. i will call out a few highlights from the half across five key areas The Fresh Food People promise means delivering the best quality and fresh varieties for our customers. the fresh food people promise means delivering the best quality and fresh varieties for our customers During the half, we progressed our strategic sourcing program to increase our direct supply of fruit and vegetables from our best quality producers, with a review complete for around half of our fruit and vegetable sales volume. We know we need to improve our range and value across our everyday needs categories, like pet and baby, and we have been slower than we should have been to respond to this heightened competitive environment. In response, we've already taken action to address range and pricing gaps, as well as enhanced promotional activity to provide more value to customers. We are relaunching our Little Ones' nappies and wipes in baby, and in pet, we've refreshed our own brand pet food ranges, including Baxters, Smitten, and Petstock's own Billy Bowl, which will be rolled out to stores. During the half, we progressed our strategic sourcing program to increase our direct supply of fruit and vegetables from our best quality producers, with a review complete for around half of our fruit and vegetable sales volume. during the half we progressed our strategic sourcing program to increase our direct supply of fruit and vegetables from our best quality producers with a review complete for around half of our fruit and vegetable sales volume We know we need to improve our range and value across our everyday needs categories, like pet and baby, and we have been slower than we should have been to respond to this heightened competitive environment. we know we need to improve our range and value across our everyday needs categories like pet and baby and we have been slower than we should have been to respond to this heightened competitive environment In response, we've already taken action to address range and pricing gaps, as well as enhanced promotional activity to provide more value to customers. in response we've already taken action to address range and pricing gaps as well as enhanced promotional activity to provide more value to customers We are relaunching our Little Ones' nappies and wipes in baby, and in pet, we've refreshed our own brand pet food ranges, including Baxters, Smitten, and Petstock's own Billy Bowl, which will be rolled out to stores. we are relaunching our little ones' nappies and wipes in baby and in pet we've refreshed our own brand pet food ranges including baxters smitten and petstock's own billy bowl which will be rolled out to stores We have progressed our long-term strategy refresh in these categories, with more to come in H2, and we remain committed to improving performance across our broader everyday needs categories. I have already spoken about our progress in expanding our e-commerce network and increasing our capacity to meet customers' demand. However, we've also made good progress on e-commerce productivity agenda, helping to deliver a 93% increase in eComX directly attributable profit. These initiatives include team picking algorithms and the rollout of improved temperature zones in vehicles. With the increase in profitability also supported by mixed benefits from strong growth in higher margin on-demand propositions. Value remains critical for customers, and we remain committed to lower prices for customers and restoring a more balanced mix of everyday low prices and specials. We have progressed our long-term strategy refresh in these categories, with more to come in H2, and we remain committed to improving performance across our broader everyday needs categories. we have progressed our long-term strategy refresh in these categories with more to come in h2 and we remain committed to improving performance across our broader everyday needs categories I have already spoken about our progress in expanding our e-commerce network and increasing our capacity to meet customers' demand. i have already spoken about our progress in expanding our e-commerce network and increasing our capacity to meet customers' demand However, we've also made good progress on e-commerce productivity agenda, helping to deliver a 93% increase in eComX directly attributable profit. however we've also made good progress on e-commerce productivity agenda helping to deliver a 93% increase in ecomx directly attributable profit These initiatives include team picking algorithms and the rollout of improved temperature zones in vehicles. these initiatives include team picking algorithms and the rollout of improved temperature zones in vehicles With the increase in profitability also supported by mixed benefits from strong growth in higher margin on-demand propositions. with the increase in profitability also supported by mixed benefits from strong growth in higher margin on-demand propositions Value remains critical for customers, and we remain committed to lower prices for customers and restoring a more balanced mix of everyday low prices and specials. value remains critical for customers and we remain committed to lower prices for customers and restoring a more balanced mix of everyday low prices and specials We also rewarded our customers' loyalty by providing more value through Everyday Rewards, with new campaigns to drive member sales and a high single-digit increase in value returned to customers through points earned. Our retail execution has continued to strengthen, with solid improvements in productivity delivered in the half. As of today, exit gates have been added to over half of our store network, supporting improved stock loss rates relative to H2 FY25. We also remain focused on managing costs through the delivery of our productivity agenda and our commitment to becoming a lower-cost retailer. Moving to the next Slide, New Zealand Food and BIG W. On our second strategic priority, that is to improve the returns in New Zealand Food and BIG W. We also rewarded our customers' loyalty by providing more value through Everyday Rewards, with new campaigns to drive member sales and a high single-digit increase in value returned to customers through points earned. we also rewarded our customers' loyalty by providing more value through everyday rewards with new campaigns to drive member sales and a high single-digit increase in value returned to customers through points earned Our retail execution has continued to strengthen, with solid improvements in productivity delivered in the half. our retail execution has continued to strengthen with solid improvements in productivity delivered in the half As of today, exit gates have been added to over half of our store network, supporting improved stock loss rates relative to H2 FY25. as of today exit gates have been added to over half of our store network supporting improved stock loss rates relative to h2 fy25 We also remain focused on managing costs through the delivery of our productivity agenda and our commitment to becoming a lower-cost retailer. we also remain focused on managing costs through the delivery of our productivity agenda and our commitment to becoming a lower-cost retailer Moving to the next Slide, New Zealand Food and BIG W. moving to the next slide new zealand food and big w On our second strategic priority, that is to improve the returns in New Zealand Food and BIG W. on our second strategic priority that is to improve the returns in new zealand food and big w Both businesses reported solid growth during the half, supported by their transformation agendas, but this momentum needs to be sustained to return to the double-digit returns over the medium term. In New Zealand, we completed the rebranding of the New Zealand store network to Woolworths and rolled out a new store team operating structure to improve the team and customer experience. We have continued to improve our own brand range to differentiate our offer and launched over 280 new products across a number of key categories, which are resonating well with our customers. In H2, we're focused on building customer momentum in a challenging and highly competitive market, while continuing to progress our transformation over the medium term. We know that we can further differentiate our offer for our customers through our focus on fresh, range, convenience, and everyday value. Both businesses reported solid growth during the half, supported by their transformation agendas, but this momentum needs to be sustained to return to the double-digit returns over the medium term. both businesses reported solid growth during the half supported by their transformation agendas but this momentum needs to be sustained to return to the double-digit returns over the medium term In New Zealand, we completed the rebranding of the New Zealand store network to Woolworths and rolled out a new store team operating structure to improve the team and customer experience. in new zealand we completed the rebranding of the new zealand store network to woolworths and rolled out a new store team operating structure to improve the team and customer experience We have continued to improve our own brand range to differentiate our offer and launched over 280 new products across a number of key categories, which are resonating well with our customers. we have continued to improve our own brand range to differentiate our offer and launched over 280 new products across a number of key categories which are resonating well with our customers In H2, we're focused on building customer momentum in a challenging and highly competitive market, while continuing to progress our transformation over the medium term. in h2 we're focused on building customer momentum in a challenging and highly competitive market while continuing to progress our transformation over the medium term We know that we can further differentiate our offer for our customers through our focus on fresh, range, convenience, and everyday value. we know that we can further differentiate our offer for our customers through our focus on fresh range convenience and everyday value In BIG W, a more favorable sales mix, supported by better execution of seasonal ranges and availability in clothing, led to margin improvements in the half through a higher mix of full-priced sales. New and improved ranges have supported own brand growth of 8% in H1, which gives us confidence we're taking the right steps to reposition our range to provide better quality and more affordable options. The rollout of RFID technology will also deliver improvements in stock flow and availability. BIG W Market's expanded range continues to resonate with customers, with sales more than doubling compared to the prior year, and BIG W's growth transaction value, including BIG W Market, increased by 5.8%. We are confident the performance of BIG W can continue to improve, but we will also ensure that BIG W has the appropriate foundations to be successful. In BIG W, a more favorable sales mix, supported by better execution of seasonal ranges and availability in clothing, led to margin improvements in the half through a higher mix of full-priced sales. in big w a more favorable sales mix supported by better execution of seasonal ranges and availability in clothing led to margin improvements in the half through a higher mix of full-priced sales New and improved ranges have supported own brand growth of 8% in H1, which gives us confidence we're taking the right steps to reposition our range to provide better quality and more affordable options. new and improved ranges have supported own brand growth of 8% in h1 which gives us confidence we're taking the right steps to reposition our range to provide better quality and more affordable options The rollout of RFID technology will also deliver improvements in stock flow and availability. the rollout of rfid technology will also deliver improvements in stock flow and availability BIG W Market's expanded range continues to resonate with customers, with sales more than doubling compared to the prior year, and BIG W's growth transaction value, including BIG W Market, increased by 5.8%. big w market's expanded range continues to resonate with customers with sales more than doubling compared to the prior year and big w's growth transaction value including big w market increased by 5.8% We are confident the performance of BIG W can continue to improve, but we will also ensure that BIG W has the appropriate foundations to be successful. we are confident the performance of big w can continue to improve but we will also ensure that big w has the appropriate foundations to be successful Work has begun to separate the business from the group's systems, which will enable BIG W to operate on a platform appropriate for a discount department store, as well as providing the group with strategic optionality. Moving to Slide 13. Moving to our final strategic priority, which is to grow our complementary businesses and services. These include PFD and Petstock, as well as group-wide service businesses such as Cartology, Everyday, and Primary Connect. Collectively, these businesses contributed around one-third of the group's EBIT growth in the half, with PFD, Petstock, and Rewards and Services making the strongest contribution. In H1, we saw strong sales and double-digit underlying EBIT growth in Petstock and PFD. Petstock completed a value reset during the half, investing in key products to improve customer value perception, as well as launching a new Pet Cash loyalty program to complement its Everyday Rewards membership. Work has begun to separate the business from the group's systems, which will enable BIG W to operate on a platform appropriate for a discount department store, as well as providing the group with strategic optionality. work has begun to separate the business from the group's systems which will enable big w to operate on a platform appropriate for a discount department store as well as providing the group with strategic optionality Moving to Slide 13. moving to slide 13 Moving to our final strategic priority, which is to grow our complementary businesses and services. moving to our final strategic priority which is to grow our complementary businesses and services These include PFD and Petstock, as well as group-wide service businesses such as Cartology, Everyday, and Primary Connect. these include pfd and petstock as well as group-wide service businesses such as cartology everyday and primary connect Collectively, these businesses contributed around one-third of the group's EBIT growth in the half, with PFD, Petstock, and Rewards and Services making the strongest contribution. collectively these businesses contributed around one-third of the group's ebit growth in the half with pfd petstock and rewards and services making the strongest contribution In H1, we saw strong sales and double-digit underlying EBIT growth in Petstock and PFD. in h1 we saw strong sales and double-digit underlying ebit growth in petstock and pfd Petstock completed a value reset during the half, investing in key products to improve customer value perception, as well as launching a new Pet Cash loyalty program to complement its Everyday Rewards membership. petstock completed a value reset during the half investing in key products to improve customer value perception as well as launching a new pet cash loyalty program to complement its everyday rewards membership While PFD growth remained strong, a highlight was the retention of key customer contracts in the QSR channel to support continued growth. We also secured 3 new sites and commenced construction of a new facility in WA to expand our national network. Rewards and Services sales increased by 8.6%, with mobile and insurance combined customers up 6% on the prior year. Cartology also continued to drive margin accretive growth to the group. PC Plus delivered double-digit earnings in the half through higher customer volume and better utilization of warehouse facilities. Turning to Slide 14. To deliver our strategy, we know we need to get the basics right by providing the retail excellence our customers expect from us. We also need to be a simpler business and increase accountability. Last year, we made significant management changes with a more consolidated and focused leadership structure. While PFD growth remained strong, a highlight was the retention of key customer contracts in the QSR channel to support continued growth. while pfd growth remained strong a highlight was the retention of key customer contracts in the qsr channel to support continued growth We also secured 3 new sites and commenced construction of a new facility in WA to expand our national network. we also secured 3 new sites and commenced construction of a new facility in wa to expand our national network Rewards and Services sales increased by 8.6%, with mobile and insurance combined customers up 6% on the prior year. rewards and services sales increased by 8.6% with mobile and insurance combined customers up 6% on the prior year Cartology also continued to drive margin accretive growth to the group. cartology also continued to drive margin accretive growth to the group PC Plus delivered double-digit earnings in the half through higher customer volume and better utilization of warehouse facilities. pc plus delivered double-digit earnings in the half through higher customer volume and better utilization of warehouse facilities Turning to Slide 14. turning to slide 14 To deliver our strategy, we know we need to get the basics right by providing the retail excellence our customers expect from us. to deliver our strategy we know we need to get the basics right by providing the retail excellence our customers expect from us We also need to be a simpler business and increase accountability. we also need to be a simpler business and increase accountability Last year, we made significant management changes with a more consolidated and focused leadership structure. last year we made significant management changes with a more consolidated and focused leadership structure We now have key leadership in place and embedded a new Australian Food leadership team, including in key commercial roles. We are committed to retail excellence and making every dollar count. We have delivered our AUD 400 million run rate cost savings target by December. This has helped us to deliver a reduction in CODB as a % of sales in the half, as well as fund investment in customer value. Key areas of savings included support office roles, goods for not resale, and marketing and IT spend. This has helped us reset our cost culture as we restore an always-on, low-cost discipline across the group. However, we recognize that for productivity improvements to be sustainable, they need to be driven by improving our processes and reducing work for our teams. We now have key leadership in place and embedded a new Australian Food leadership team, including in key commercial roles. we now have key leadership in place and embedded a new australian food leadership team including in key commercial roles We are committed to retail excellence and making every dollar count. we are committed to retail excellence and making every dollar count We have delivered our AUD 400 million run rate cost savings target by December. we have delivered our aud 400 million run rate cost savings target by december This has helped us to deliver a reduction in CODB as a % of sales in the half, as well as fund investment in customer value. this has helped us to deliver a reduction in codb as a % of sales in the half as well as fund investment in customer value Key areas of savings included support office roles, goods for not resale, and marketing and IT spend. key areas of savings included support office roles goods for not resale and marketing and it spend This has helped us reset our cost culture as we restore an always-on, low-cost discipline across the group. this has helped us reset our cost culture as we restore an always-on low-cost discipline across the group However, we recognize that for productivity improvements to be sustainable, they need to be driven by improving our processes and reducing work for our teams. however we recognize that for productivity improvements to be sustainable they need to be driven by improving our processes and reducing work for our teams Our leading AI foundations are already helping us do this, which I'll talk about more on the next Slide. On Slide 15. Over the past decade, we've established strong foundations to leverage AI through significant investment in digital and data capabilities. We have integrated capability into every part of our business and are now focused on unlocking the next phase of AI to deliver better experiences for customers, team members, and to transform our operations and internal processes. This Slide shows some of the areas where AI is already making a difference. We're delivering market-leading customer experiences through customer chatbots, which has helped us to automate over 60% of customer service contacts, freeing up our team to focus on more complex customer inquiries. Our leading AI foundations are already helping us do this, which I'll talk about more on the next Slide. our leading ai foundations are already helping us do this which i'll talk about more on the next slide On Slide 15. on slide 15 Over the past decade, we've established strong foundations to leverage AI through significant investment in digital and data capabilities. over the past decade we've established strong foundations to leverage ai through significant investment in digital and data capabilities We have integrated capability into every part of our business and are now focused on unlocking the next phase of AI to deliver better experiences for customers, team members, and to transform our operations and internal processes. we have integrated capability into every part of our business and are now focused on unlocking the next phase of ai to deliver better experiences for customers team members and to transform our operations and internal processes This Slide shows some of the areas where AI is already making a difference. this slide shows some of the areas where ai is already making a difference We're delivering market-leading customer experiences through customer chatbots, which has helped us to automate over 60% of customer service contacts, freeing up our team to focus on more complex customer inquiries. we're delivering market-leading customer experiences through customer chatbots which has helped us to automate over 60% of customer service contacts freeing up our team to focus on more complex customer inquiries Our personalization engine is already delivering millions of tailored offers to our customers every week. I've spoken about our extended partnership with Google to transform Olive, our digital shopping assistant. In our operations, we've leveraged AI to optimize e-commerce fulfillment for over half a million weekly orders, including shortening pick paths for our team members and optimizing last mile delivery routing. We rolled out Gemini for Workspace to our support office team almost two years ago. The adoption has been incredible. Today, two in three of our support office team members are using AI tools multiple times a day to unlock greater efficiency. What excites me most is how AI is helping our store team. Our personalization engine is already delivering millions of tailored offers to our customers every week. our personalization engine is already delivering millions of tailored offers to our customers every week I've spoken about our extended partnership with Google to transform Olive, our digital shopping assistant. i've spoken about our extended partnership with google to transform olive our digital shopping assistant In our operations, we've leveraged AI to optimize e-commerce fulfillment for over half a million weekly orders, including shortening pick paths for our team members and optimizing last mile delivery routing. in our operations we've leveraged ai to optimize e-commerce fulfillment for over half a million weekly orders including shortening pick paths for our team members and optimizing last mile delivery routing We rolled out Gemini for Workspace to our support office team almost two years ago. we rolled out gemini for workspace to our support office team almost two years ago The adoption has been incredible. the adoption has been incredible Today, two in three of our support office team members are using AI tools multiple times a day to unlock greater efficiency. today two in three of our support office team members are using ai tools multiple times a day to unlock greater efficiency What excites me most is how AI is helping our store team. what excites me most is how ai is helping our store team Tools like Quick Assist are already being used by over 6,000 store team members every week, helping them to prioritize the most critical actions for their upcoming fortnight, delivering a better experience for our teams and our customers. Finally, moving to progress against our sustainability initiatives. Last year, we celebrated a decade of partnership with OzHarvest, and we reached an incredible milestone during the half, providing 100 million meals to Australians in need over the last 10 years. Tools like Quick Assist are already being used by over 6,000 store team members every week, helping them to prioritize the most critical actions for their upcoming fortnight, delivering a better experience for our teams and our customers. tools like quick assist are already being used by over 6,000 store team members every week helping them to prioritize the most critical actions for their upcoming fortnight delivering a better experience for our teams and our customers Finally, moving to progress against our sustainability initiatives. finally moving to progress against our sustainability initiatives Last year, we celebrated a decade of partnership with OzHarvest, and we reached an incredible milestone during the half, providing 100 million meals to Australians in need over the last 10 years. last year we celebrated a decade of partnership with ozharvest and we reached an incredible milestone during the half providing 100 million meals to australians in need over the last 10 years In December, we achieved 100% renewable electricity across our operations in support of our net zero goals. We are also on track to achieve our Scope 1 and 2 emissions reduction targets by 2030. Finally, restoring soft plastic recycling services to our stores has continued, with a market-leading 600+ stores across the network now offering this service again for our customers. I will now hand over to Stephen, who'll cover our financial results in more detail. Thank you. In December, we achieved 100% renewable electricity across our operations in support of our net zero goals. in december we achieved 100% renewable electricity across our operations in support of our net zero goals We are also on track to achieve our Scope 1 and 2 emissions reduction targets by 2030. we are also on track to achieve our scope 1 and 2 emissions reduction targets by 2030 Finally, restoring soft plastic recycling services to our stores has continued, with a market-leading 600+ stores across the network now offering this service again for our customers. finally restoring soft plastic recycling services to our stores has continued with a market-leading 600+ stores across the network now offering this service again for our customers I will now hand over to Stephen, who'll cover our financial results in more detail. i will now hand over to stephen who'll cover our financial results in more detail Thank you. thank you

Speaker 19: Thanks, Amanda, good morning, everyone. I'll start today on Slide 19 with the H1 2026 results summary for the group. As a reminder, these results are for the 27 weeks, ending January 4, 2026. Group sales for H1 increased 3.4% to AUD 37.1 billion, with all trading segments reporting growth. Group e-commerce sales increased by 14.6%, with Australian Food, New Zealand Food, BIG W, and Petstock e-commerce sales all growing in the double digits compared to the prior year. Group EBIT before Significant Items was AUD 1.7 billion, up 14.4%, with the group EBIT margin increasing by 43 basis points. EBIT margins for all trading segments were up on the prior year. There are some one-off impacts that impact the comparability versus last year. Thanks, Amanda, good morning, everyone. thanks amanda good morning everyone I'll start today on Slide 19 with the H1 2026 results summary for the group. i'll start today on slide 19 with the h1 2026 results summary for the group As a reminder, these results are for the 27 weeks, ending January 4, 2026. as a reminder these results are for the 27 weeks ending january 4 2026 Group sales for H1 increased 3.4% to AUD 37.1 billion, with all trading segments reporting growth. group sales for h1 increased 3.4% to aud 37.1 billion with all trading segments reporting growth Group e-commerce sales increased by 14.6%, with Australian Food, New Zealand Food, BIG W, and Petstock e-commerce sales all growing in the double digits compared to the prior year. group e-commerce sales increased by 14.6% with australian food new zealand food big w and petstock e-commerce sales all growing in the double digits compared to the prior year Group EBIT before Significant Items was AUD 1.7 billion, up 14.4%, with the group EBIT margin increasing by 43 basis points. group ebit before significant items was aud 1.7 billion up 14.4% with the group ebit margin increasing by 43 basis points EBIT margins for all trading segments were up on the prior year. ebit margins for all trading segments were up on the prior year There are some one-off impacts that impact the comparability versus last year. there are some one-off impacts that impact the comparability versus last year Primarily, the impact of industrial action in the prior year, which we estimate had a AUD 240 million impact on sales and approximately a AUD 95 million impact on EBIT in H1 F25 in Australian Food and supply chain transition costs. Normalizing for both these impacts, group EBIT growth would have been 7.9%, which includes the benefits from our strong cost and productivity focus in the half. Group NPAT attributable to equity holders of the parent entity before Significant Items was AUD 859 million, which was up 16.4%. This reflects higher EBIT, a modest increase in net interest costs in the half, somewhat offset by higher income tax. Group basic EPS before Significant Items was AUD 0.704 per share, also up 16.4%. Primarily, the impact of industrial action in the prior year, which we estimate had a AUD 240 million impact on sales and approximately a AUD 95 million impact on EBIT in H1 F25 in Australian Food and supply chain transition costs. primarily the impact of industrial action in the prior year which we estimate had a aud 240 million impact on sales and approximately a aud 95 million impact on ebit in h1 f25 in australian food and supply chain transition costs Normalizing for both these impacts, group EBIT growth would have been 7.9%, which includes the benefits from our strong cost and productivity focus in the half. normalizing for both these impacts group ebit growth would have been 7.9% which includes the benefits from our strong cost and productivity focus in the half Group NPAT attributable to equity holders of the parent entity before Significant Items was AUD 859 million, which was up 16.4%. group npat attributable to equity holders of the parent entity before significant items was aud 859 million which was up 16.4% This reflects higher EBIT, a modest increase in net interest costs in the half, somewhat offset by higher income tax. this reflects higher ebit a modest increase in net interest costs in the half somewhat offset by higher income tax Group basic EPS before Significant Items was AUD 0.704 per share, also up 16.4%. group basic eps before significant items was aud 0.704 per share also up 16.4% Including significant items, NPAT attributable to equity holders of the parent entity declined by 49.4% to AUD 374 million, with EPS also down 49.4%. Turning to Slide 20 in our group trading performance. In Australian Food, total sales for H1 were AUD 27.6 billion, an increase of 3.6%. Excluding the impact of the industrial action in the prior year, Australian Food sales growth in the half would have been 2.6%. In Woolworths Food Group Retail, which incorporates stores and e-commerce, sales were meant to improve in Q2, with growth of 3.2%, excluding industrial action, compared to 2.1% in Q1. Including significant items, NPAT attributable to equity holders of the parent entity declined by 49.4% to AUD 374 million, with EPS also down 49.4%. including significant items npat attributable to equity holders of the parent entity declined by 49.4% to aud 374 million with eps also down 49.4% Turning to Slide 20 in our group trading performance. turning to slide 20 in our group trading performance In Australian Food, total sales for H1 were AUD 27.6 billion, an increase of 3.6%. in australian food total sales for h1 were aud 27.6 billion an increase of 3.6% Excluding the impact of the industrial action in the prior year, Australian Food sales growth in the half would have been 2.6%. excluding the impact of the industrial action in the prior year australian food sales growth in the half would have been 2.6% In Woolworths Food Group Retail, which incorporates stores and e-commerce, sales were meant to improve in Q2, with growth of 3.2%, excluding industrial action, compared to 2.1% in Q1. in woolworths food group retail which incorporates stores and e-commerce sales were meant to improve in q2 with growth of 3.2% excluding industrial action compared to 2.1% in q1 This was driven by an improved customer offer and strong execution, particularly over the key Christmas trading period, leading to improved in-store item growth and strong e-commerce growth. WooliesX sales increased 14.2%, driven by e-commerce growth of 15.3% and 8.6% growth from media rewards and services. Australian Food EBIT increased by 9.9% in the half, excluding the estimated impact of industrial action of AUD 95 million in the prior year and the incremental supply chain commissioning and dual running cost. normalized EBIT would have increased by 3.5% in the half. Gross margins rose eight basis points to 28.6%, primarily reflecting the mixed impact of an ongoing decline in tobacco sales. This was driven by an improved customer offer and strong execution, particularly over the key Christmas trading period, leading to improved in-store item growth and strong e-commerce growth. this was driven by an improved customer offer and strong execution particularly over the key christmas trading period leading to improved in-store item growth and strong e-commerce growth WooliesX sales increased 14.2%, driven by e-commerce growth of 15.3% and 8.6% growth from media rewards and services. wooliesx sales increased 14.2% driven by e-commerce growth of 15.3% and 8.6% growth from media rewards and services Australian Food EBIT increased by 9.9% in the half, excluding the estimated impact of industrial action of AUD 95 million in the prior year and the incremental supply chain commissioning and dual running cost. normalized EBIT would have increased by 3.5% in the half. australian food ebit increased by 9.9% in the half excluding the estimated impact of industrial action of aud 95 million in the prior year and the incremental supply chain commissioning and dual running cost normalized ebit would have increased by 3.5% in the half Gross margins rose eight basis points to 28.6%, primarily reflecting the mixed impact of an ongoing decline in tobacco sales. gross margins rose eight basis points to 28.6% primarily reflecting the mixed impact of an ongoing decline in tobacco sales Excluding tobacco, the gross margin declined by 14 basis points on the prior year, with growth in our higher-margin complementary businesses, offset by investments in lower shelf prices, livestock inflation not fully passed on, and supply chain transition costs. CODB, as a percentage of sales, declined by 24 basis points, with productivity initiatives and above-store cost savings helping to offset wage inflation and higher online mix. There was also a rate benefit due to the impact of industrial action in the prior year. WooliesX DAP and EBIT was up 78.8% in H1, with E-commerce and media rewards and services delivering improved profit. The increase in E-commerce DAP of 93% reflected solid customer growth, double-digit sales growth, mixed benefits from growth in higher-margin propositions, efficiency benefits, and cycling both the industrial action and cold chain investments in the prior year. Excluding tobacco, the gross margin declined by 14 basis points on the prior year, with growth in our higher-margin complementary businesses, offset by investments in lower shelf prices, livestock inflation not fully passed on, and supply chain transition costs. excluding tobacco the gross margin declined by 14 basis points on the prior year with growth in our higher-margin complementary businesses offset by investments in lower shelf prices livestock inflation not fully passed on and supply chain transition costs CODB, as a percentage of sales, declined by 24 basis points, with productivity initiatives and above-store cost savings helping to offset wage inflation and higher online mix. codb as a percentage of sales declined by 24 basis points with productivity initiatives and above-store cost savings helping to offset wage inflation and higher online mix There was also a rate benefit due to the impact of industrial action in the prior year. there was also a rate benefit due to the impact of industrial action in the prior year WooliesX DAP and EBIT was up 78.8% in H1, with E-commerce and media rewards and services delivering improved profit. wooliesx dap and ebit was up 78.8% in h1 with e-commerce and media rewards and services delivering improved profit The increase in E-commerce DAP of 93% reflected solid customer growth, double-digit sales growth, mixed benefits from growth in higher-margin propositions, efficiency benefits, and cycling both the industrial action and cold chain investments in the prior year. the increase in e-commerce dap of 93% reflected solid customer growth double-digit sales growth mixed benefits from growth in higher-margin propositions efficiency benefits and cycling both the industrial action and cold chain investments in the prior year In Australian B2B, H1 sales increased 4.9%, driven by strong PFD, PC Plus, and export meat sales. EBIT increased by 14.6%, with double-digit growth from both PFD and PC Plus, the latter benefiting from increased volumes and better utilization of warehouses. New Zealand Food sales for H1 increased 2.8% in NZD, driven by E-commerce growth of 13.9%. Sales in Q2 were more subdued as market growth slowed. EBIT increased by 22.4%, benefiting from a combination of higher sales, supply chain efficiencies, and productivity and cost-saving initiatives, partially offset by store wages and D&A growth. Total BIG W Living sales increased 2.7% in H1. EBIT was up 186%. In Australian B2B, H1 sales increased 4.9%, driven by strong PFD, PC Plus, and export meat sales. in australian b2b h1 sales increased 4.9% driven by strong pfd pc plus and export meat sales EBIT increased by 14.6%, with double-digit growth from both PFD and PC Plus, the latter benefiting from increased volumes and better utilization of warehouses. ebit increased by 14.6% with double-digit growth from both pfd and pc plus the latter benefiting from increased volumes and better utilization of warehouses New Zealand Food sales for H1 increased 2.8% in NZD, driven by E-commerce growth of 13.9%. new zealand food sales for h1 increased 2.8% in nzd driven by e-commerce growth of 13.9% Sales in Q2 were more subdued as market growth slowed. sales in q2 were more subdued as market growth slowed EBIT increased by 22.4%, benefiting from a combination of higher sales, supply chain efficiencies, and productivity and cost-saving initiatives, partially offset by store wages and D&A growth. ebit increased by 22.4% benefiting from a combination of higher sales supply chain efficiencies and productivity and cost-saving initiatives partially offset by store wages and d&a growth Total BIG W Living sales increased 2.7% in H1. total big w living sales increased 2.7% in h1 EBIT was up 186%. ebit was up 186% BIG W sales increased 1.8%, with BIG W GTV, including BIG W Market, up 5.8%. BIG W EBITDAR increased by 12%, driven by a higher mix of full price sales and strong cost control. EBIT increased by 122%, with depreciation below the prior year, following the F-25 impairment. Petstock sales increased 13.1%, and EBIT increased by 49.6%, supported by the inclusion of pet food and accessory businesses acquired in H2 last year and network expansion. Underlying performance was solid, with comparable sales growth of 5.8%, E-com sales growth of 24%, and double-digit EBIT growth. The other segment includes group functions such as property, group overheads, and Woolworths Group's investment in Quantium. BIG W sales increased 1.8%, with BIG W GTV, including BIG W Market, up 5.8%. big w sales increased 1.8% with big w gtv including big w market up 5.8% BIG W EBITDAR increased by 12%, driven by a higher mix of full price sales and strong cost control. big w ebitdar increased by 12% driven by a higher mix of full price sales and strong cost control EBIT increased by 122%, with depreciation below the prior year, following the F-25 impairment. ebit increased by 122% with depreciation below the prior year following the f-25 impairment Petstock sales increased 13.1%, and EBIT increased by 49.6%, supported by the inclusion of pet food and accessory businesses acquired in H2 last year and network expansion. petstock sales increased 13.1% and ebit increased by 49.6% supported by the inclusion of pet food and accessory businesses acquired in h2 last year and network expansion Underlying performance was solid, with comparable sales growth of 5.8%, E-com sales growth of 24%, and double-digit EBIT growth. underlying performance was solid with comparable sales growth of 5.8% e-com sales growth of 24% and double-digit ebit growth The other segment includes group functions such as property, group overheads, and Woolworths Group's investment in Quantium. the other segment includes group functions such as property group overheads and woolworths group's investment in quantium The segment recorded a loss before interest and tax of AUD 124 million, an increase of 16.3% on the prior year, largely driven by lower gains from property disposals and a rebuild of the short-term incentive provision. In the half, the group recorded Significant Items before tax of AUD 698 million, largely related to a one-off cost associated with the remediation of award-covered salary team members following the Federal Court decision on the 5th of September. This includes interest, superannuation, and payroll tax, and is within the previously disclosed range of AUD 450 million-AUD 750 million. Moving to Slide 21 and our key balance sheet metrics. Average inventory days of 31.2 were in line with the prior year. The segment recorded a loss before interest and tax of AUD 124 million, an increase of 16.3% on the prior year, largely driven by lower gains from property disposals and a rebuild of the short-term incentive provision. the segment recorded a loss before interest and tax of aud 124 million an increase of 16.3% on the prior year largely driven by lower gains from property disposals and a rebuild of the short-term incentive provision In the half, the group recorded Significant Items before tax of AUD 698 million, largely related to a one-off cost associated with the remediation of award-covered salary team members following the Federal Court decision on the 5th of September. in the half the group recorded significant items before tax of aud 698 million largely related to a one-off cost associated with the remediation of award-covered salary team members following the federal court decision on the 5th of september This includes interest, superannuation, and payroll tax, and is within the previously disclosed range of AUD 450 million-AUD 750 million. this includes interest superannuation and payroll tax and is within the previously disclosed range of aud 450 million-aud 750 million Moving to Slide 21 and our key balance sheet metrics. moving to slide 21 and our key balance sheet metrics Average inventory days of 31.2 were in line with the prior year. average inventory days of 31.2 were in line with the prior year Australian and New Zealand Food and Australian B2B were down on the prior year, offset by growth in Petstock and higher average inventory holdings in BIG W, which pleasingly ended the half below last year. Average payables declined by 2.4 days to 41 days, reflecting lower tobacco purchases in Australian Food, a reduction in BIG W purchases, as we reduced stock levels over the half, and payment timing impacts. ROFI, which is a 12-month rolling measure, was 15.2%, up on the prior year and F-25, largely reflecting group EBIT growth in the half. Australian Food ROFI declined by 80 basis points, reflecting the decline in H2 F-25 EBIT last year, and a modest increase in funds employed due to the acquisition of The Kitchary and our investment in supply chain automation. Moving to Slide 22 and our capital management framework. Australian and New Zealand Food and Australian B2B were down on the prior year, offset by growth in Petstock and higher average inventory holdings in BIG W, which pleasingly ended the half below last year. australian and new zealand food and australian b2b were down on the prior year offset by growth in petstock and higher average inventory holdings in big w which pleasingly ended the half below last year Average payables declined by 2.4 days to 41 days, reflecting lower tobacco purchases in Australian Food, a reduction in BIG W purchases, as we reduced stock levels over the half, and payment timing impacts. average payables declined by 2.4 days to 41 days reflecting lower tobacco purchases in australian food a reduction in big w purchases as we reduced stock levels over the half and payment timing impacts ROFI, which is a 12-month rolling measure, was 15.2%, up on the prior year and F-25, largely reflecting group EBIT growth in the half. rofi which is a 12-month rolling measure was 15.2% up on the prior year and f-25 largely reflecting group ebit growth in the half Australian Food ROFI declined by 80 basis points, reflecting the decline in H2 F-25 EBIT last year, and a modest increase in funds employed due to the acquisition of The Kitchary and our investment in supply chain automation. australian food rofi declined by 80 basis points reflecting the decline in h2 f-25 ebit last year and a modest increase in funds employed due to the acquisition of the kitchary and our investment in supply chain automation Moving to Slide 22 and our capital management framework. moving to slide 22 and our capital management framework The group generated strong operating cash flows in the half, which were invested in sustaining our assets, funding our dividend, and investing in growth. I'll provide some more color on the following pages. The group generated on page 23, operating cash flow before interest and tax of AUD 3.2 billion for H1 F-26, an increase of 4.5%. This was driven by solid EBITDA growth before CGV items of 8.5%, offset by a modest working capital outflow. The net working capital outflow was largely driven by a payables timing in New Zealand Food, with an additional payment run prior to the end of the half, and a reduction in non-trade purchases reflecting our above store cost-saving initiatives. Compared to the prior year, there was also an outflow related to the cash settlement of provisions for redundancies and team member remediation. The group generated strong operating cash flows in the half, which were invested in sustaining our assets, funding our dividend, and investing in growth. the group generated strong operating cash flows in the half which were invested in sustaining our assets funding our dividend and investing in growth I'll provide some more color on the following pages. i'll provide some more color on the following pages The group generated on page 23, operating cash flow before interest and tax of AUD 3.2 billion for H1 F-26, an increase of 4.5%. the group generated on page 23 operating cash flow before interest and tax of aud 3.2 billion for h1 f-26 an increase of 4.5% This was driven by solid EBITDA growth before CGV items of 8.5%, offset by a modest working capital outflow. this was driven by solid ebitda growth before cgv items of 8.5% offset by a modest working capital outflow The net working capital outflow was largely driven by a payables timing in New Zealand Food, with an additional payment run prior to the end of the half, and a reduction in non-trade purchases reflecting our above store cost-saving initiatives. the net working capital outflow was largely driven by a payables timing in new zealand food with an additional payment run prior to the end of the half and a reduction in non-trade purchases reflecting our above store cost-saving initiatives Compared to the prior year, there was also an outflow related to the cash settlement of provisions for redundancies and team member remediation. compared to the prior year there was also an outflow related to the cash settlement of provisions for redundancies and team member remediation Net interest increased by 2.7%, with non-lease interest up 13.3%, driven by higher average debt, partially offset by lower floating interest rates. Tax paid declined by 35% due to lower F-25 tax paid in the first half of F-26, and lower tax installments in the current year. Cash used in investing activities of AUD 1.2 billion, primarily reflects the group's capex spend, which I'll talk to on the next Slide. The prior year number was a lot lower, as it included AUD 383 million of proceeds from the sale of our final tranche of Endeavour Group shares. The group also paid AUD 92 million for the purchase of equity interest in subsidiaries, principally reflecting the acquisition of the remaining interest in MyDeal to facilitate its restructuring and closure. Net interest increased by 2.7%, with non-lease interest up 13.3%, driven by higher average debt, partially offset by lower floating interest rates. net interest increased by 2.7% with non-lease interest up 13.3% driven by higher average debt partially offset by lower floating interest rates Tax paid declined by 35% due to lower F-25 tax paid in the first half of F-26, and lower tax installments in the current year. tax paid declined by 35% due to lower f-25 tax paid in the first half of f-26 and lower tax installments in the current year Cash used in investing activities of AUD 1.2 billion, primarily reflects the group's capex spend, which I'll talk to on the next Slide. cash used in investing activities of aud 1.2 billion primarily reflects the group's capex spend which i'll talk to on the next slide The prior year number was a lot lower, as it included AUD 383 million of proceeds from the sale of our final tranche of Endeavour Group shares. the prior year number was a lot lower as it included aud 383 million of proceeds from the sale of our final tranche of endeavour group shares The group also paid AUD 92 million for the purchase of equity interest in subsidiaries, principally reflecting the acquisition of the remaining interest in MyDeal to facilitate its restructuring and closure. the group also paid aud 92 million for the purchase of equity interest in subsidiaries principally reflecting the acquisition of the remaining interest in mydeal to facilitate its restructuring and closure Dividends of AUD 553 million, declined by 53.5%, with the prior year, including a AUD 0.40 per share special dividend, reflecting a return of capital to shareholders related to the sale of Endeavour Group shares. Finally, our cash realization ratio was 95%, modestly below our ambition of over 100%, due to the working capital outflow and cash tax exceeding the income tax expense in the P&L. Moving to Slide 24, operating CapEx for H1 F-26 was AUD 913 million, AUD 88 million lower than the prior year. A reduction in sustaining capital reflected lower spending on store renewals due to initiatives to lower the cost per store in the half. This was partially offset by an increase in new store investment, as reflected in the 13 net new stores opened in the half. Dividends of AUD 553 million, declined by 53.5%, with the prior year, including a AUD 0.40 per share special dividend, reflecting a return of capital to shareholders related to the sale of Endeavour Group shares. dividends of aud 553 million declined by 53.5% with the prior year including a aud 0.40 per share special dividend reflecting a return of capital to shareholders related to the sale of endeavour group shares Finally, our cash realization ratio was 95%, modestly below our ambition of over 100%, due to the working capital outflow and cash tax exceeding the income tax expense in the P&L. finally our cash realization ratio was 95% modestly below our ambition of over 100% due to the working capital outflow and cash tax exceeding the income tax expense in the p&l Moving to Slide 24, operating CapEx for H1 F-26 was AUD 913 million, AUD 88 million lower than the prior year. moving to slide 24 operating capex for h1 f-26 was aud 913 million aud 88 million lower than the prior year A reduction in sustaining capital reflected lower spending on store renewals due to initiatives to lower the cost per store in the half. a reduction in sustaining capital reflected lower spending on store renewals due to initiatives to lower the cost per store in the half This was partially offset by an increase in new store investment, as reflected in the 13 net new stores opened in the half. this was partially offset by an increase in new store investment as reflected in the 13 net new stores opened in the half Investment in digital and e-commerce, which includes our investment in automated CFCs. Gross CapEx increased by AUD 97 million, reflecting higher net property development spend, which can be lumpy. For the full year, we still expect operating CapEx to be approximately AUD 2 billion, stable with spend over the last couple of years. Moving to Slide 25. Covering dividends and funding. The board today approved a final dividend of AUD 0.45 per share, an increase of 15.4% on the prior year, broadly in line with the increase in earnings. After payment of the interim dividend, our franking credit balance will be approximately AUD 1.2 billion. Turning to our balance sheet settings, the net debt to EBITDA ratio was 2.7 times, modestly lower than F-25. Remaining well within our leverage thresholds. Investment in digital and e-commerce, which includes our investment in automated CFCs. investment in digital and e-commerce which includes our investment in automated cfcs Gross CapEx increased by AUD 97 million, reflecting higher net property development spend, which can be lumpy. gross capex increased by aud 97 million reflecting higher net property development spend which can be lumpy For the full year, we still expect operating CapEx to be approximately AUD 2 billion, stable with spend over the last couple of years. for the full year we still expect operating capex to be approximately aud 2 billion stable with spend over the last couple of years Moving to Slide 25. moving to slide 25 Covering dividends and funding. covering dividends and funding The board today approved a final dividend of AUD 0.45 per share, an increase of 15.4% on the prior year, broadly in line with the increase in earnings. the board today approved a final dividend of aud 0.45 per share an increase of 15.4% on the prior year broadly in line with the increase in earnings After payment of the interim dividend, our franking credit balance will be approximately AUD 1.2 billion. after payment of the interim dividend our franking credit balance will be approximately aud 1.2 billion Turning to our balance sheet settings, the net debt to EBITDA ratio was 2.7 times, modestly lower than F-25. turning to our balance sheet settings the net debt to ebitda ratio was 2.7 times modestly lower than f-25 Remaining well within our leverage thresholds. remaining well within our leverage thresholds We remain committed to solid investment-grade credit ratings and have significant headroom under our current ratings of BBB from S&P and Baa2 from Moody's. In H1 F-2026, the group completed AUD 1.2 billion of debt financing, with transactions focused on extending debt tenor and reducing refinancing risk for the group. With that, I will now hand back to Amanda. We remain committed to solid investment-grade credit ratings and have significant headroom under our current ratings of BBB from S&P and Baa2 from Moody's. we remain committed to solid investment-grade credit ratings and have significant headroom under our current ratings of bbb from s&p and baa2 from moody's In H1 F-2026, the group completed AUD 1.2 billion of debt financing, with transactions focused on extending debt tenor and reducing refinancing risk for the group. in h1 f-2026 the group completed aud 1.2 billion of debt financing with transactions focused on extending debt tenor and reducing refinancing risk for the group With that, I will now hand back to Amanda. with that i will now hand back to amanda

Speaker 2: Thanks, Stephen. On Slide 27. In summary, as we look ahead, our focus remains on continuing to provide value to our customers, rebuilding customer trust and maintaining sales momentum while making further progress on our strategic priorities. I'd like to thank and recognize our team for their incredible efforts, and in particular, for helping us deliver a fantastic festive season for our customers during the half. We are determined to get back to the level of retail excellence and performance our customers and our shareholders expect of us. Thanks, Stephen. thanks stephen On Slide 27. on slide 27 In summary, as we look ahead, our focus remains on continuing to provide value to our customers, rebuilding customer trust and maintaining sales momentum while making further progress on our strategic priorities. in summary as we look ahead our focus remains on continuing to provide value to our customers rebuilding customer trust and maintaining sales momentum while making further progress on our strategic priorities I'd like to thank and recognize our team for their incredible efforts, and in particular, for helping us deliver a fantastic festive season for our customers during the half. i'd like to thank and recognize our team for their incredible efforts and in particular for helping us deliver a fantastic festive season for our customers during the half We are determined to get back to the level of retail excellence and performance our customers and our shareholders expect of us. we are determined to get back to the level of retail excellence and performance our customers and our shareholders expect of us I'm confident the steps we're taking will lead to an improved performance. I look forward to sharing further progress on our strategy at our upcoming Investor Day in May. I will now turn the call over to the operator for questions. To give everyone a chance, can I please ask that you limit yourself to one question per person and then rejoin the queue with any follow-up questions. Thank you. I'm confident the steps we're taking will lead to an improved performance. i'm confident the steps we're taking will lead to an improved performance I look forward to sharing further progress on our strategy at our upcoming Investor Day in May. i look forward to sharing further progress on our strategy at our upcoming investor day in may I will now turn the call over to the operator for questions. i will now turn the call over to the operator for questions To give everyone a chance, can I please ask that you limit yourself to one question per person and then rejoin the queue with any follow-up questions. to give everyone a chance can i please ask that you limit yourself to one question per person and then rejoin the queue with any follow-up questions Thank you. thank you

Speaker 13: Thank you. If you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to cancel your request, please press star then two. If you're using a speakerphone, please pick up the handset to ask your question. The first question today comes from Shaun Cousins from UBS. Please go ahead. Thank you. thank you If you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. if you wish to ask a question please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced If you wish to cancel your request, please press star then two. if you wish to cancel your request please press star then two If you're using a speakerphone, please pick up the handset to ask your question. if you're using a speakerphone please pick up the handset to ask your question The first question today comes from Shaun Cousins from UBS. the first question today comes from shaun cousins from ubs Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 18: Thanks. Good morning, Amanda and Steve. My question is just around price trust. You noted in August that that was the greatest priority for Woolworths. Just curious around how that's improved during the half, and maybe if you could discuss that with reference to some of the activity you've done on pricing, the more of the rolling EDLP under lower shelf prices, and then you've been quite active with more impulse at gondola ends and off locations, and then what you've done with ranging. We've noticed you've introduced a sort of a black and white entry-level private label offering, sort of there as well. Just curious where price trust is at and how you've improved that in the first half, please. Thanks. thanks Good morning, Amanda and Steve. good morning amanda and steve My question is just around price trust. my question is just around price trust You noted in August that that was the greatest priority for Woolworths. you noted in august that that was the greatest priority for woolworths Just curious around how that's improved during the half, and maybe if you could discuss that with reference to some of the activity you've done on pricing, the more of the rolling EDLP under lower shelf prices, and then you've been quite active with more impulse at gondola ends and off locations, and then what you've done with ranging. just curious around how that's improved during the half and maybe if you could discuss that with reference to some of the activity you've done on pricing the more of the rolling edlp under lower shelf prices and then you've been quite active with more impulse at gondola ends and off locations and then what you've done with ranging We've noticed you've introduced a sort of a black and white entry-level private label offering, sort of there as well. we've noticed you've introduced a sort of a black and white entry-level private label offering sort of there as well Just curious where price trust is at and how you've improved that in the first half, please. just curious where price trust is at and how you've improved that in the first half please

Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you. Thanks, Shaun. Firstly, let me just say that we totally understand and are extremely focused on this question of price trust. It's so fundamental to customers choosing Woolworths as a place to shop regularly, and we have put a lot of focus on that, rightly so, in the half. If I just start by talking about the action that we've taken, first and foremost, if you look at our performance when it relates to the value for money scores, you know, if you look at that this time last year versus where we are now, they're up eight points and have progressively improved across quarter-to-quarter. Whilst I would say we still have more work to do there, we've certainly seen a progressive improvement. Yeah, thank you. yeah thank you Thanks, Shaun. thanks shaun Firstly, let me just say that we totally understand and are extremely focused on this question of price trust. firstly let me just say that we totally understand and are extremely focused on this question of price trust It's so fundamental to customers choosing Woolworths as a place to shop regularly, and we have put a lot of focus on that, rightly so, in the half. it's so fundamental to customers choosing woolworths as a place to shop regularly and we have put a lot of focus on that rightly so in the half If I just start by talking about the action that we've taken, first and foremost, if you look at our performance when it relates to the value for money scores, you know, if you look at that this time last year versus where we are now, they're up eight points and have progressively improved across quarter-to-quarter. if i just start by talking about the action that we've taken first and foremost if you look at our performance when it relates to the value for money scores you know if you look at that this time last year versus where we are now they're up eight points and have progressively improved across quarter-to-quarter Whilst I would say we still have more work to do there, we've certainly seen a progressive improvement. whilst i would say we still have more work to do there we've certainly seen a progressive improvement There's things that we've adjusted during that period, as you know, like the introduction of lower shelf prices. Now, that program is very much focused on recognizing that customers are looking for good value, but they also want reliable value each and every week that they're shopping. What we've seen with that program is it's on the big products that really matter to families' baskets, and we've seen that customers have really engaged with that lower shelf price program very strongly. We're pleased to see unit growth as a good way of, you know, of course, measuring that engagement continue to increase, both across our own brand products, but also in the branded products that have participated. There's things that we've adjusted during that period, as you know, like the introduction of lower shelf prices. there's things that we've adjusted during that period as you know like the introduction of lower shelf prices Now, that program is very much focused on recognizing that customers are looking for good value, but they also want reliable value each and every week that they're shopping. now that program is very much focused on recognizing that customers are looking for good value but they also want reliable value each and every week that they're shopping What we've seen with that program is it's on the big products that really matter to families' baskets, and we've seen that customers have really engaged with that lower shelf price program very strongly. what we've seen with that program is it's on the big products that really matter to families' baskets and we've seen that customers have really engaged with that lower shelf price program very strongly We're pleased to see unit growth as a good way of, you know, of course, measuring that engagement continue to increase, both across our own brand products, but also in the branded products that have participated. we're pleased to see unit growth as a good way of you know of course measuring that engagement continue to increase both across our own brand products but also in the branded products that have participated In own brand, for example, in lower shelf prices, it's sitting in that sort of mid to high single-digit unit growth, but for branded products, it's actually in the lower double-digit numbers, and so strong participation there, and we see that that has certainly matched an increase in customer perception on value. Across the half, as you know, we did adjust our promotional programs as well. To reflect that what we're seeing from customers is certainly a search for even more value, so an uptick from what we've seen in previous periods prior to that. When we look at value in that regard, promotional participation has increased. Customers adding more specials to their baskets and participating more in those programs. In own brand, for example, in lower shelf prices, it's sitting in that sort of mid to high single-digit unit growth, but for branded products, it's actually in the lower double-digit numbers, and so strong participation there, and we see that that has certainly matched an increase in customer perception on value. in own brand for example in lower shelf prices it's sitting in that sort of mid to high single-digit unit growth but for branded products it's actually in the lower double-digit numbers and so strong participation there and we see that that has certainly matched an increase in customer perception on value Across the half, as you know, we did adjust our promotional programs as well. across the half as you know we did adjust our promotional programs as well To reflect that what we're seeing from customers is certainly a search for even more value, so an uptick from what we've seen in previous periods prior to that. to reflect that what we're seeing from customers is certainly a search for even more value so an uptick from what we've seen in previous periods prior to that When we look at value in that regard, promotional participation has increased. when we look at value in that regard promotional participation has increased Customers adding more specials to their baskets and participating more in those programs. customers adding more specials to their baskets and participating more in those programs One of the big shifts that we made there was, again, it relates to trust, making sure that when customers visit our stores, those products are on the shelf. As you had highlighted to us, as many others had, we had an opportunity in that space, and so that's a mix of having the right promotions, but also making sure it's available. I think that's contributed to an improved perception. When we look at Everyday Rewards, we adjusted the program across the half there just to give more members more value, actually, and recognize their loyalty, which has resulted in an even stickier member and some greater uplifts that we've seen in member sales across that period. I don't think there's any one thing that we've done there. One of the big shifts that we made there was, again, it relates to trust, making sure that when customers visit our stores, those products are on the shelf. one of the big shifts that we made there was again it relates to trust making sure that when customers visit our stores those products are on the shelf As you had highlighted to us, as many others had, we had an opportunity in that space, and so that's a mix of having the right promotions, but also making sure it's available. as you had highlighted to us as many others had we had an opportunity in that space and so that's a mix of having the right promotions but also making sure it's available I think that's contributed to an improved perception. i think that's contributed to an improved perception When we look at Everyday Rewards, we adjusted the program across the half there just to give more members more value, actually, and recognize their loyalty, which has resulted in an even stickier member and some greater uplifts that we've seen in member sales across that period. when we look at everyday rewards we adjusted the program across the half there just to give more members more value actually and recognize their loyalty which has resulted in an even stickier member and some greater uplifts that we've seen in member sales across that period I don't think there's any one thing that we've done there. i don't think there's any one thing that we've done there I would say there's a mix of value levers that we've been really focused on, that each one of them play an important role, and together, they've created an improved momentum for us, both in terms of sales, but also in terms of items in baskets and transactions through Woolies. We've got more work to do, and the more work is particularly in the everyday needs categories, and then, of course, when we're looking at range. We have made some changes on range, but there's certainly more to come. Thanks, Shaun. I would say there's a mix of value levers that we've been really focused on, that each one of them play an important role, and together, they've created an improved momentum for us, both in terms of sales, but also in terms of items in baskets and transactions through Woolies. i would say there's a mix of value levers that we've been really focused on that each one of them play an important role and together they've created an improved momentum for us both in terms of sales but also in terms of items in baskets and transactions through woolies We've got more work to do, and the more work is particularly in the everyday needs categories, and then, of course, when we're looking at range. we've got more work to do and the more work is particularly in the everyday needs categories and then of course when we're looking at range We have made some changes on range, but there's certainly more to come. we have made some changes on range but there's certainly more to come Thanks, Shaun. thanks shaun

Speaker 13: Thank you. The next question comes from Adrian Lemme from Citi. Please go ahead. Thank you. thank you The next question comes from Adrian Lemme from Citi. the next question comes from adrian lemme from citi Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 1: Good morning, Amanda and Steve, congrats on the result. I was interested in the turnaround in the GP momentum within Australian Foods, this half up 8 basis points year-on-year, while last year we saw it down about 30 basis points. I know you've broken down the factors, but the tobacco benefit was about 20 basis points benefit in both periods, and you also talked to Cartology and services income, but that also helped last year. I was just interested if you could kind of talk to the actual delta. I assume stock loss was a positive factor this half, but were there also better buy in terms of other factors, please? Good morning, Amanda and Steve, congrats on the result. good morning amanda and steve congrats on the result I was interested in the turnaround in the GP momentum within Australian Foods, this half up 8 basis points year-on-year, while last year we saw it down about 30 basis points. i was interested in the turnaround in the gp momentum within australian foods this half up 8 basis points year-on-year while last year we saw it down about 30 basis points I know you've broken down the factors, but the tobacco benefit was about 20 basis points benefit in both periods, and you also talked to Cartology and services income, but that also helped last year. i know you've broken down the factors but the tobacco benefit was about 20 basis points benefit in both periods and you also talked to cartology and services income but that also helped last year I was just interested if you could kind of talk to the actual delta. i was just interested if you could kind of talk to the actual delta I assume stock loss was a positive factor this half, but were there also better buy in terms of other factors, please? i assume stock loss was a positive factor this half but were there also better buy in terms of other factors please

Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks, Adrian Lemme. I'll give an overview and then Steve will add to it. Yeah, an 8 basis point improvement in GP, as you rightly say, the cigarettes decline does have that sort of mechanical adjustment that you need to apply as you've called out. We're really pleased when we look at the GP results, the contribution from the complementary businesses, so it's Cartology, Everyday Rewards, really contributing substantially to our performance in Australian Food from a profit perspective. And so that's certainly assisted in the half. Yes, it has been a very promotionally intense period, and the team, from a commercial perspective, has on balance, managed that very well, you know, when we look at how that played through. Yeah, thanks, Adrian Lemme. yeah thanks adrian lemme I'll give an overview and then Steve will add to it. i'll give an overview and then steve will add to it Yeah, an 8 basis point improvement in GP, as you rightly say, the cigarettes decline does have that sort of mechanical adjustment that you need to apply as you've called out. yeah an 8 basis point improvement in gp as you rightly say the cigarettes decline does have that sort of mechanical adjustment that you need to apply as you've called out We're really pleased when we look at the GP results, the contribution from the complementary businesses, so it's Cartology, Everyday Rewards, really contributing substantially to our performance in Australian Food from a profit perspective. we're really pleased when we look at the gp results the contribution from the complementary businesses so it's cartology everyday rewards really contributing substantially to our performance in australian food from a profit perspective And so that's certainly assisted in the half. and so that's certainly assisted in the half Yes, it has been a very promotionally intense period, and the team, from a commercial perspective, has on balance, managed that very well, you know, when we look at how that played through. yes it has been a very promotionally intense period and the team from a commercial perspective has on balance managed that very well you know when we look at how that played through There's some pressure in the red meat categories, which, you know, no doubt we'll come to later in the discussions that we've had to absorb there, so that includes the absorption of that. From a supply chain perspective, I didn't call it out in the opening comments, but supply chain delivered a really strong result for us in the half. Yes, we had obviously strong volume uplift, but aside from that volume uplift, the productivity that the supply chain team delivered was very strong, so that was helpful. On the stock loss numbers, yet again, relatively flat on last year. We had that increase in H2, and certainly we've seen an improvement on those exit rates across the half. That was the sort of big drivers. I'm just check with Steve. Any other things you'd add to that, Steve? There's some pressure in the red meat categories, which, you know, no doubt we'll come to later in the discussions that we've had to absorb there, so that includes the absorption of that. there's some pressure in the red meat categories which you know no doubt we'll come to later in the discussions that we've had to absorb there so that includes the absorption of that From a supply chain perspective, I didn't call it out in the opening comments, but supply chain delivered a really strong result for us in the half. from a supply chain perspective i didn't call it out in the opening comments but supply chain delivered a really strong result for us in the half Yes, we had obviously strong volume uplift, but aside from that volume uplift, the productivity that the supply chain team delivered was very strong, so that was helpful. yes we had obviously strong volume uplift but aside from that volume uplift the productivity that the supply chain team delivered was very strong so that was helpful On the stock loss numbers, yet again, relatively flat on last year. on the stock loss numbers yet again relatively flat on last year We had that increase in H2, and certainly we've seen an improvement on those exit rates across the half. we had that increase in h2 and certainly we've seen an improvement on those exit rates across the half That was the sort of big drivers. that was the sort of big drivers I'm just check with Steve. i'm just check with steve Any other things you'd add to that, Steve? any other things you'd add to that steve

Speaker 19: No, I think they're the main ones. On stock loss, actually, we were largely stable this year on last year in the half, but certainly an improvement on our second half performance of last year. Overall, you know, it is a underlying reduction in GP reflecting the investments that we've made, but the team has worked hard to balance the levers within margin so that it isn't as bigger impact on earnings as it was the same time last year. No, I think they're the main ones. no i think they're the main ones On stock loss, actually, we were largely stable this year on last year in the half, but certainly an improvement on our second half performance of last year. on stock loss actually we were largely stable this year on last year in the half but certainly an improvement on our second half performance of last year Overall, you know, it is a underlying reduction in GP reflecting the investments that we've made, but the team has worked hard to balance the levers within margin so that it isn't as bigger impact on earnings as it was the same time last year. overall you know it is a underlying reduction in gp reflecting the investments that we've made but the team has worked hard to balance the levers within margin so that it isn't as bigger impact on earnings as it was the same time last year

Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Appreciate the call. Thank you very much. thank you very much Appreciate the call. appreciate the call

Speaker 13: Thank you. The next question comes from Thomas Kierath, from Barrenjoey. Please go ahead. Thank you. thank you The next question comes from Thomas Kierath, from Barrenjoey. the next question comes from thomas kierath from barrenjoey Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 20: Morning, guys. A pretty strong cost result, which is great to see. I assume that's from the cost out initiatives that you've announced kind of a year ago. I was just thinking about whether there's any extension of that and whether as you kind of, I guess, look more closely at the cost base, whether there might be another target or just how you're kind of thinking about the cost base more broadly going forward, please? Morning, guys. morning guys A pretty strong cost result, which is great to see. a pretty strong cost result which is great to see I assume that's from the cost out initiatives that you've announced kind of a year ago. i assume that's from the cost out initiatives that you've announced kind of a year ago I was just thinking about whether there's any extension of that and whether as you kind of, I guess, look more closely at the cost base, whether there might be another target or just how you're kind of thinking about the cost base more broadly going forward, please? i was just thinking about whether there's any extension of that and whether as you kind of i guess look more closely at the cost base whether there might be another target or just how you're kind of thinking about the cost base more broadly going forward please

Speaker 2: Yeah. Thanks, Thomas. You know, as we called out, as you say, 1 year ago, we're really determined to build a low-cost culture across Woolies. That was why we came out last year. We're really clear, both internally and externally, on the need to reduce our costs. We want to be a lower cost retailer. That is what's helped us in the half, certainly deliver better value for customers, but also see an improved result for the business overall. You should expect to see from us an always on focus. We haven't called out anything particular in terms of a new program per se, but it is our strong focus going forward to continue to look for ways to reduce costs. Yeah. yeah Thanks, Thomas. thanks thomas You know, as we called out, as you say, 1 year ago, we're really determined to build a low-cost culture across Woolies. you know as we called out as you say 1 year ago we're really determined to build a low-cost culture across woolies That was why we came out last year. that was why we came out last year We're really clear, both internally and externally, on the need to reduce our costs. we're really clear both internally and externally on the need to reduce our costs We want to be a lower cost retailer. we want to be a lower cost retailer That is what's helped us in the half, certainly deliver better value for customers, but also see an improved result for the business overall. that is what's helped us in the half certainly deliver better value for customers but also see an improved result for the business overall You should expect to see from us an always on focus. you should expect to see from us an always on focus We haven't called out anything particular in terms of a new program per se, but it is our strong focus going forward to continue to look for ways to reduce costs. we haven't called out anything particular in terms of a new program per se but it is our strong focus going forward to continue to look for ways to reduce costs What was pleasing in the half was we saw strong productivity, as we usually do, from our stores, and from supply chain, but it was complemented with the improved cost performance out of our support areas, no doubt. Within our cost lines, of course, need to take into account, we've also seen a substantial increase in e-commerce, which just from a mix perspective, does put some extra pressure into the, into the cost lines. I'll just hand to Steve, because he does like to talk about cost, a lot. Any other add, Steve? What was pleasing in the half was we saw strong productivity, as we usually do, from our stores, and from supply chain, but it was complemented with the improved cost performance out of our support areas, no doubt. what was pleasing in the half was we saw strong productivity as we usually do from our stores and from supply chain but it was complemented with the improved cost performance out of our support areas no doubt Within our cost lines, of course, need to take into account, we've also seen a substantial increase in e-commerce, which just from a mix perspective, does put some extra pressure into the, into the cost lines. within our cost lines of course need to take into account we've also seen a substantial increase in e-commerce which just from a mix perspective does put some extra pressure into the into the cost lines I'll just hand to Steve, because he does like to talk about cost, a lot. i'll just hand to steve because he does like to talk about cost a lot Any other add, Steve? any other add steve

Speaker 19: I think, yeah, going back to Thomas's first point, it was a strong performance on cost in the half. If we look at the group, costs grew by 2% across the group. You know, we've got a business that's growing volume, where we've got inflation that we need to cover. We've got mixed headwinds. The ongoing focus on frontline productivity is incredibly important, and we saw that delivered in each one of the businesses. Equally, you know, we talked to the cost-saving initiative to try to take out AUD 400 million of above store and support costs on a 12-month run rate basis. I think, yeah, going back to Thomas's first point, it was a strong performance on cost in the half. i think yeah going back to thomas's first point it was a strong performance on cost in the half If we look at the group, costs grew by 2% across the group. if we look at the group costs grew by 2% across the group You know, we've got a business that's growing volume, where we've got inflation that we need to cover. you know we've got a business that's growing volume where we've got inflation that we need to cover We've got mixed headwinds. we've got mixed headwinds The ongoing focus on frontline productivity is incredibly important, and we saw that delivered in each one of the businesses. the ongoing focus on frontline productivity is incredibly important and we saw that delivered in each one of the businesses Equally, you know, we talked to the cost-saving initiative to try to take out AUD 400 million of above store and support costs on a 12-month run rate basis. equally you know we talked to the cost-saving initiative to try to take out aud 400 million of above store and support costs on a 12-month run rate basis Actually, the team we announced that a year ago, and the team worked very hard on that, actually, at the back end of last fiscal and really front-loaded a lot of initiatives, into, you know, the end of 2025 and the first quarter of F26. We delivered roughly half of that 400 in the half across the group. Clearly a key contribution to being able to have cost growth below sales growth, actually in each one of the trading businesses across the group. Yeah, a good result, but it needs to be always on, and that's really where we're shifting our focus. Actually, the team we announced that a year ago, and the team worked very hard on that, actually, at the back end of last fiscal and really front-loaded a lot of initiatives, into, you know, the end of 2025 and the first quarter of F26. actually the team we announced that a year ago and the team worked very hard on that actually at the back end of last fiscal and really front-loaded a lot of initiatives into you know the end of 2025 and the first quarter of f26 We delivered roughly half of that 400 in the half across the group. we delivered roughly half of that 400 in the half across the group Clearly a key contribution to being able to have cost growth below sales growth, actually in each one of the trading businesses across the group. clearly a key contribution to being able to have cost growth below sales growth actually in each one of the trading businesses across the group Yeah, a good result, but it needs to be always on, and that's really where we're shifting our focus. yeah a good result but it needs to be always on and that's really where we're shifting our focus

Speaker 20: Great. Thanks, Steve. Thanks, Amanda. Great. great Thanks, Steve. thanks steve Thanks, Amanda. thanks amanda

Speaker 2: Thank you. Thank you. thank you

Speaker 13: Thank you. The next question comes from Michael Simotas from Jefferies. Please go ahead. Thank you. thank you The next question comes from Michael Simotas from Jefferies. the next question comes from michael simotas from jefferies Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 11: Good morning, everyone. I've got a related question to the one on costs, and particularly around in-store labor. I mean, your execution has improved. A lot of the feedback in the industry is that you've put labor into the stores. It's not obvious when we look at the P&L, the labor investment, because your branch expense growth was much lower than your admin expense growth. I would have thought the cost out program was reducing admin expense to fund in-store. Can you give us a little bit of color around your store labor, as well as how those costs are moving through the P&L, please? Good morning, everyone. good morning everyone I've got a related question to the one on costs, and particularly around in-store labor. i've got a related question to the one on costs and particularly around in-store labor I mean, your execution has improved. i mean your execution has improved A lot of the feedback in the industry is that you've put labor into the stores. a lot of the feedback in the industry is that you've put labor into the stores It's not obvious when we look at the P&L, the labor investment, because your branch expense growth was much lower than your admin expense growth. it's not obvious when we look at the p&l the labor investment because your branch expense growth was much lower than your admin expense growth I would have thought the cost out program was reducing admin expense to fund in-store. i would have thought the cost out program was reducing admin expense to fund in-store Can you give us a little bit of color around your store labor, as well as how those costs are moving through the P&L, please? can you give us a little bit of color around your store labor as well as how those costs are moving through the p&l please

Speaker 2: Thanks, Michael. I'll kick off, then I'll hand to Steve. If I just start with store labor as the starting point there. Yes, we did invest more in store labor, we were also very targeted in terms of where would it make the most difference. So when we looked at improving availability, for example, you know, there were targeted adjustments that we made in terms of time of day across particular days of the week. So it wasn't across our entire network. Then just looking at. Then we also invested in fresh, in particular. Thanks, Michael. thanks michael I'll kick off, then I'll hand to Steve. i'll kick off then i'll hand to steve If I just start with store labor as the starting point there. if i just start with store labor as the starting point there Yes, we did invest more in store labor, we were also very targeted in terms of where would it make the most difference. yes we did invest more in store labor we were also very targeted in terms of where would it make the most difference So when we looked at improving availability, for example, you know, there were targeted adjustments that we made in terms of time of day across particular days of the week. so when we looked at improving availability for example you know there were targeted adjustments that we made in terms of time of day across particular days of the week So it wasn't across our entire network. so it wasn't across our entire network Then just looking at. then just looking at Then we also invested in fresh, in particular. then we also invested in fresh in particular We continued to assess that across both the quarter and, of course, into this year as well, as to what is making the most difference in terms of customer experience. Ultimately, that's how we're measuring the performance. Yes, we did invest, but we invested in a way that was quite targeted, and then continued to monitor that as we moved through. I'll hand to Steve, and then, Annette, if there's anything you want to build on. We continued to assess that across both the quarter and, of course, into this year as well, as to what is making the most difference in terms of customer experience. we continued to assess that across both the quarter and of course into this year as well as to what is making the most difference in terms of customer experience Ultimately, that's how we're measuring the performance. ultimately that's how we're measuring the performance Yes, we did invest, but we invested in a way that was quite targeted, and then continued to monitor that as we moved through. yes we did invest but we invested in a way that was quite targeted and then continued to monitor that as we moved through I'll hand to Steve, and then, Annette, if there's anything you want to build on. i'll hand to steve and then annette if there's anything you want to build on

Speaker 19: I think, Michael, just part of your question on the change in admin expenses, that does include the Significant Items expense in the half, that's why you see that cost growing. If you actually strip that back on an underlying basis, admin expenses went backwards, which is consistent with what we would have expected, given the focus on that area of our cost base. I think, Michael, just part of your question on the change in admin expenses, that does include the Significant Items expense in the half, that's why you see that cost growing. i think michael just part of your question on the change in admin expenses that does include the significant items expense in the half that's why you see that cost growing If you actually strip that back on an underlying basis, admin expenses went backwards, which is consistent with what we would have expected, given the focus on that area of our cost base. if you actually strip that back on an underlying basis admin expenses went backwards which is consistent with what we would have expected given the focus on that area of our cost base

Speaker 11: Great. Thank you. Great. great Thank you. thank you That makes sense, and it looks like it's working, so well done. That makes sense, and it looks like it's working, so well done. that makes sense and it looks like it's working so well done

Speaker 13: Thank you. The next question comes from David Errington from Bank of America. Please go ahead. Thank you. thank you The next question comes from David Errington from Bank of America. the next question comes from david errington from bank of america Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 10: Good morning, Amanda. Good morning, Steve. It really is a good morning, I'm really happy to give that greeting. Amanda, what really pleases me with this result is it's been a fantastic result with cost savings. You've really driven productivity, which is fantastic. What really stands out for me is that you've nailed the execution. Slide 6 and Slide 5 are the Slides I please if we could refer to. Slide 6 is just phenomenally positive. It seems to me, where my question is, I remember talking to you at the end of August, one thing that concerned me is that you were very slow to re-respond to changes in the marketplace. You were very slow, whether it be picking up trends or you picked up the trends, you were too slow to execute. Good morning, Amanda. good morning amanda Good morning, Steve. good morning steve It really is a good morning, I'm really happy to give that greeting. it really is a good morning i'm really happy to give that greeting Amanda, what really pleases me with this result is it's been a fantastic result with cost savings. amanda what really pleases me with this result is it's been a fantastic result with cost savings You've really driven productivity, which is fantastic. you've really driven productivity which is fantastic What really stands out for me is that you've nailed the execution. what really stands out for me is that you've nailed the execution Slide 6 and Slide 5 are the Slides I please if we could refer to. slide 6 and slide 5 are the slides i please if we could refer to Slide 6 is just phenomenally positive. slide 6 is just phenomenally positive It seems to me, where my question is, I remember talking to you at the end of August, one thing that concerned me is that you were very slow to re-respond to changes in the marketplace. it seems to me where my question is i remember talking to you at the end of august one thing that concerned me is that you were very slow to re-respond to changes in the marketplace You were very slow, whether it be picking up trends or you picked up the trends, you were too slow to execute. you were very slow whether it be picking up trends or you picked up the trends you were too slow to execute You seem to have been able to turn that around, whether the data is better, like I was really encouraged to see that you seem to be on top of what the customers really want. Whether your data input is better, but you seem to be responding better and quicker into the stores. Can you spell out what you've done there? Is it the supply chain benefits that you've done that's coming through? It's just a wonderful achievement to get such an improvement in the voice of the customer when you've driven productivity, and following Michael's point, when you've driven labor harder, when you've driven your costs and your efficiencies, yet to still get such a great pickup in your Voice of the Customer, it's just a great result. Can you go into how you've been able to achieve that? You seem to have been able to turn that around, whether the data is better, like I was really encouraged to see that you seem to be on top of what the customers really want. you seem to have been able to turn that around whether the data is better like i was really encouraged to see that you seem to be on top of what the customers really want Whether your data input is better, but you seem to be responding better and quicker into the stores. whether your data input is better but you seem to be responding better and quicker into the stores Can you spell out what you've done there? can you spell out what you've done there Is it the supply chain benefits that you've done that's coming through? is it the supply chain benefits that you've done that's coming through It's just a wonderful achievement to get such an improvement in the voice of the customer when you've driven productivity, and following Michael's point, when you've driven labor harder, when you've driven your costs and your efficiencies, yet to still get such a great pickup in your Voice of the Customer, it's just a great result. it's just a wonderful achievement to get such an improvement in the voice of the customer when you've driven productivity and following michael's point when you've driven labor harder when you've driven your costs and your efficiencies yet to still get such a great pickup in your voice of the customer it's just a great result Can you go into how you've been able to achieve that? can you go into how you've been able to achieve that Last August, I was a bit concerned because you were talking about how you were too slow to respond. It just seems to a phenomenal turnaround. Can you go into those details, please? That'd be really appreciated. Last August, I was a bit concerned because you were talking about how you were too slow to respond. last august i was a bit concerned because you were talking about how you were too slow to respond It just seems to a phenomenal turnaround. it just seems to a phenomenal turnaround Can you go into those details, please? can you go into those details please That'd be really appreciated. that'd be really appreciated

Speaker 2: Yeah. Thank you, and thanks, David. As you know, you know, we're always focused on what we can do better as well. If we just go back to that period, I'd start by saying that we made very significant people and leadership changes at multiple levels across Australian Food during that period and just prior to that trading period. The level of disruption, which was a combination of the work that we were doing to reduce our costs, but also our focus on how do we consolidate and simplify the structures within the group, and then appoint the right leaders into those critical roles, whether that's the leadership roles across Australian Food, where we have, you know, Annette leading Woolworths Retail and Amitabh leading E-commerce, or the commercial roles that sit across each one of our key categories and areas. Yeah. yeah Thank you, and thanks, David. thank you and thanks david As you know, you know, we're always focused on what we can do better as well. as you know you know we're always focused on what we can do better as well If we just go back to that period, I'd start by saying that we made very significant people and leadership changes at multiple levels across Australian Food during that period and just prior to that trading period. if we just go back to that period i'd start by saying that we made very significant people and leadership changes at multiple levels across australian food during that period and just prior to that trading period The level of disruption, which was a combination of the work that we were doing to reduce our costs, but also our focus on how do we consolidate and simplify the structures within the group, and then appoint the right leaders into those critical roles, whether that's the leadership roles across Australian Food, where we have, you know, Annette leading Woolworths Retail and Amitabh leading E-commerce, or the commercial roles that sit across each one of our key categories and areas. the level of disruption which was a combination of the work that we were doing to reduce our costs but also our focus on how do we consolidate and simplify the structures within the group and then appoint the right leaders into those critical roles whether that's the leadership roles across australian food where we have you know annette leading woolworths retail and amitabh leading e-commerce or the commercial roles that sit across each one of our key categories and areas At multiple levels, we made changes, and there's no doubt that there was a high level of disruption and distraction, and I, in no way, want to make any, you know, any excuses for that. But I do think that that was the biggest determining factor around our performance during that period. What I've been very pleased to see is how the team now, once they're in role, focused, and they're focused on delivering across multiple horizons. Yes, we put a lot of focus, as you say, on addressing what is it that customers are needing and wanting from us right now, how do we improve transaction growth and item growth, items in particular? At multiple levels, we made changes, and there's no doubt that there was a high level of disruption and distraction, and I, in no way, want to make any, you know, any excuses for that. at multiple levels we made changes and there's no doubt that there was a high level of disruption and distraction and i in no way want to make any you know any excuses for that But I do think that that was the biggest determining factor around our performance during that period. but i do think that that was the biggest determining factor around our performance during that period What I've been very pleased to see is how the team now, once they're in role, focused, and they're focused on delivering across multiple horizons. what i've been very pleased to see is how the team now once they're in role focused and they're focused on delivering across multiple horizons Yes, we put a lot of focus, as you say, on addressing what is it that customers are needing and wanting from us right now, how do we improve transaction growth and item growth, items in particular? yes we put a lot of focus as you say on addressing what is it that customers are needing and wanting from us right now how do we improve transaction growth and item growth items in particular There's very much that focus on trading the business today, but also on building the future and getting clearer around how we want to evolve the proposition of our supermarkets and our retail propositions in e-commerce going forward. Whilst also being really clear with the team that we do need to be a lower-cost retailer, and that we should be proud about that, and we should be focused on it because it enables us to deliver better value to customers and build a better business together. It was a disruptive period. We've got a highly focused team right now. We're very pleased to see improving momentum. We still think there's more for us to do in terms of work across our categories and our offers, but we're focused on building now on the momentum that we have. There's very much that focus on trading the business today, but also on building the future and getting clearer around how we want to evolve the proposition of our supermarkets and our retail propositions in e-commerce going forward. there's very much that focus on trading the business today but also on building the future and getting clearer around how we want to evolve the proposition of our supermarkets and our retail propositions in e-commerce going forward Whilst also being really clear with the team that we do need to be a lower-cost retailer, and that we should be proud about that, and we should be focused on it because it enables us to deliver better value to customers and build a better business together. whilst also being really clear with the team that we do need to be a lower-cost retailer and that we should be proud about that and we should be focused on it because it enables us to deliver better value to customers and build a better business together It was a disruptive period. it was a disruptive period We've got a highly focused team right now. we've got a highly focused team right now We're very pleased to see improving momentum. we're very pleased to see improving momentum We still think there's more for us to do in terms of work across our categories and our offers, but we're focused on building now on the momentum that we have. we still think there's more for us to do in terms of work across our categories and our offers but we're focused on building now on the momentum that we have

Speaker 10: Yeah, you're doing very well. Well done. As I said, You seem to be using data a lot better, than what you were, so really pleasing to see. With AI coming in, yeah, it's promising. Yeah, you're doing very well. yeah you're doing very well Well done. well done As I said, You seem to be using data a lot better, than what you were, so really pleasing to see. as i said you seem to be using data a lot better than what you were so really pleasing to see With AI coming in, yeah, it's promising. with ai coming in yeah it's promising

Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. yeah

Speaker 10: Thank you. Thank you. thank you

Speaker 2: Oh, thank you. Thanks, David. Oh, thank you. oh thank you Thanks, David. thanks david

Speaker 13: Thank you. The next question comes from Bryan Raymond, from JPMorgan. Please go ahead. Thank you. thank you The next question comes from Bryan Raymond, from JPMorgan. the next question comes from bryan raymond from jpmorgan Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 6: Morning, all, mine's just a follow-on, actually, from David's question, just around. You mentioned, Amanda, some personnel changes there. I just want to focus in on Australian Food. Annette appointed Peter McNamara to lead the long life part of the business from a buying perspective at the start of the financial year. That preceded, from what we've heard from the supplier base, a strategic pivot towards impulse categories in store, particularly on promotion and gondola ends, et cetera, at the start of the second quarter. Morning, all, mine's just a follow-on, actually, from David's question, just around. morning all mine's just a follow-on actually from david's question just around You mentioned, Amanda, some personnel changes there. you mentioned amanda some personnel changes there I just want to focus in on Australian Food. i just want to focus in on australian food Annette appointed Peter McNamara to lead the long life part of the business from a buying perspective at the start of the financial year. annette appointed peter mcnamara to lead the long life part of the business from a buying perspective at the start of the financial year That preceded, from what we've heard from the supplier base, a strategic pivot towards impulse categories in store, particularly on promotion and gondola ends, et cetera, at the start of the second quarter. that preceded from what we've heard from the supplier base a strategic pivot towards impulse categories in store particularly on promotion and gondola ends et cetera at the start of the second quarter I'd just be interested as to how much that's impacted your sales results, that you're seeing better uplifts, maybe in some of those impulse areas where you've been a bit underweight in the past, from a, from a store positioning perspective, and now that's really come back to the fore from what we've heard. I'd just be interested as to how much that's important and whether that's got a bit further to run, going forward. Thanks. I'd just be interested as to how much that's impacted your sales results, that you're seeing better uplifts, maybe in some of those impulse areas where you've been a bit underweight in the past, from a, from a store positioning perspective, and now that's really come back to the fore from what we've heard. i'd just be interested as to how much that's impacted your sales results that you're seeing better uplifts maybe in some of those impulse areas where you've been a bit underweight in the past from a from a store positioning perspective and now that's really come back to the fore from what we've heard I'd just be interested as to how much that's important and whether that's got a bit further to run, going forward. i'd just be interested as to how much that's important and whether that's got a bit further to run going forward Thanks. thanks

Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks. Thanks, Bryan. Look, what I would say is that we focused on what is it that will make the most difference to customers, and how is it that we drive item growth. We knew that we had customers still shopping in our stores, I just want to, you know, come back and say this: Yes, we've seen a substantial improvement in our grocery performance and across, as you say, some of those impulse categories. That's, I would say, primarily driven by a more disciplined execution. We've also seen strong fresh growth, which we're very pleased to see, 'cause it's a key part of our strategy overall. We have a team that's very focused on 1 customer plan, we talked about a lot of the structural changes that we've made and leadership changes. Yeah, thanks. yeah thanks Thanks, Bryan. thanks bryan Look, what I would say is that we focused on what is it that will make the most difference to customers, and how is it that we drive item growth. look what i would say is that we focused on what is it that will make the most difference to customers and how is it that we drive item growth We knew that we had customers still shopping in our stores, I just want to, you know, come back and say this: Yes, we've seen a substantial improvement in our grocery performance and across, as you say, some of those impulse categories. we knew that we had customers still shopping in our stores i just want to you know come back and say this yes we've seen a substantial improvement in our grocery performance and across as you say some of those impulse categories That's, I would say, primarily driven by a more disciplined execution. that's i would say primarily driven by a more disciplined execution We've also seen strong fresh growth, which we're very pleased to see, 'cause it's a key part of our strategy overall. we've also seen strong fresh growth which we're very pleased to see 'cause it's a key part of our strategy overall We have a team that's very focused on 1 customer plan, we talked about a lot of the structural changes that we've made and leadership changes. we have a team that's very focused on 1 customer plan we talked about a lot of the structural changes that we've made and leadership changes That's also been about bringing together, a much more disciplined approach to the way that we go to market with our one customer plan across commercial, customer, loyalty, operations, and into the supply chain. We're just seeing now, you know, the start of the team getting into the right rhythm and flow, which really matters in retail, as you know. We have run sharper promotions, no doubt. So I'm just looking at Annette, and I know you've been deeply involved in activating a lot of these. Do you want to add some color there? That's also been about bringing together, a much more disciplined approach to the way that we go to market with our one customer plan across commercial, customer, loyalty, operations, and into the supply chain. that's also been about bringing together a much more disciplined approach to the way that we go to market with our one customer plan across commercial customer loyalty operations and into the supply chain We're just seeing now, you know, the start of the team getting into the right rhythm and flow, which really matters in retail, as you know. we're just seeing now you know the start of the team getting into the right rhythm and flow which really matters in retail as you know We have run sharper promotions, no doubt. we have run sharper promotions no doubt So I'm just looking at Annette, and I know you've been deeply involved in activating a lot of these. so i'm just looking at annette and i know you've been deeply involved in activating a lot of these Do you want to add some color there? do you want to add some color there

Speaker 4: Thanks, Amanda. I think that's right. We've done a lot, really focusing back on listening to the customer, listening to our store teams, and really building that momentum through great offers, great lower shelf prices, and a very strong focus on planning, right from planning right through to execution. What that's helped really shape is some of the things we've just talked about, which is good availability in stores, particularly on some of the categories that you've just mentioned in categories like impulse through promotional activities, where customers may not have thought they were going in to buy something, but saw something on the shelf that they were interested in. It was broader than impulse. I mean, we have seen great growth in our drinks categories. Thanks, Amanda. thanks amanda I think that's right. i think that's right We've done a lot, really focusing back on listening to the customer, listening to our store teams, and really building that momentum through great offers, great lower shelf prices, and a very strong focus on planning, right from planning right through to execution. we've done a lot really focusing back on listening to the customer listening to our store teams and really building that momentum through great offers great lower shelf prices and a very strong focus on planning right from planning right through to execution What that's helped really shape is some of the things we've just talked about, which is good availability in stores, particularly on some of the categories that you've just mentioned in categories like impulse through promotional activities, where customers may not have thought they were going in to buy something, but saw something on the shelf that they were interested in. what that's helped really shape is some of the things we've just talked about which is good availability in stores particularly on some of the categories that you've just mentioned in categories like impulse through promotional activities where customers may not have thought they were going in to buy something but saw something on the shelf that they were interested in It was broader than impulse. it was broader than impulse I mean, we have seen great growth in our drinks categories. i mean we have seen great growth in our drinks categories The team have been doing a fantastic job, particularly through some of this hot weather that we've had through the half, but also through pantry essentials, through our meat business. It really has been a really strong focus on retail discipline, end-to-end, that has really driven those opportunities. I would say, and, I think Amanda, you've called it, there is still a lot more to do, and so we're seeing some slightly better results in some of our everyday needs categories, but that is, of course, another area of focus. I would say, we have a lot of work to do to make sure we're getting consistent delivery across the business. More to see in the next half. The team have been doing a fantastic job, particularly through some of this hot weather that we've had through the half, but also through pantry essentials, through our meat business. the team have been doing a fantastic job particularly through some of this hot weather that we've had through the half but also through pantry essentials through our meat business It really has been a really strong focus on retail discipline, end-to-end, that has really driven those opportunities. it really has been a really strong focus on retail discipline end-to-end that has really driven those opportunities I would say, and, I think Amanda, you've called it, there is still a lot more to do, and so we're seeing some slightly better results in some of our everyday needs categories, but that is, of course, another area of focus. i would say and i think amanda you've called it there is still a lot more to do and so we're seeing some slightly better results in some of our everyday needs categories but that is of course another area of focus I would say, we have a lot of work to do to make sure we're getting consistent delivery across the business. i would say we have a lot of work to do to make sure we're getting consistent delivery across the business More to see in the next half. more to see in the next half

Speaker 2: Thank you. Thank you. thank you

Speaker 6: Thanks. Thanks. thanks

Speaker 13: Thank you. The next question comes from Nicole Penny, from Rimor Equity Research. Please go ahead. Thank you. thank you The next question comes from Nicole Penny, from Rimor Equity Research. the next question comes from nicole penny from rimor equity research Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 12: Good morning, thank you. In light of the previous comments regarding the cost of doing business reductions in the Australian Food business. Could you perhaps comment on the timeframe over which any potential benefits of consolidating the New South Wales operations at Moorebank will provide further benefits, please? Just another one, Australian B2B showed some encouraging operating leverage there. How much capacity has this business got to continue to grow earnings ahead of revenue, please? Thank you. Good morning, thank you. good morning thank you In light of the previous comments regarding the cost of doing business reductions in the Australian Food business. in light of the previous comments regarding the cost of doing business reductions in the australian food business Could you perhaps comment on the timeframe over which any potential benefits of consolidating the New South Wales operations at Moorebank will provide further benefits, please? could you perhaps comment on the timeframe over which any potential benefits of consolidating the new south wales operations at moorebank will provide further benefits please Just another one, Australian B2B showed some encouraging operating leverage there. just another one australian b2b showed some encouraging operating leverage there How much capacity has this business got to continue to grow earnings ahead of revenue, please? how much capacity has this business got to continue to grow earnings ahead of revenue please Thank you. thank you

Speaker 2: Great. Thanks. Thanks, Nicole. Yes, we've been very focused on the work to transform our New South Wales supply chain, and I'll just hand to Steve to talk through the implications of that as that flows through. Great. great Thanks. thanks Thanks, Nicole. thanks nicole Yes, we've been very focused on the work to transform our New South Wales supply chain, and I'll just hand to Steve to talk through the implications of that as that flows through. yes we've been very focused on the work to transform our new south wales supply chain and i'll just hand to steve to talk through the implications of that as that flows through

Speaker 19: Yeah, thanks, Nicole. We have really been spending most of the last 12 months ramping up the NDC, and so we're now doing around 2 million cartons a week. We're not fully transitioned all the volume in there, but actually we're starting to see results in line with what we'd expect out of the National Distribution Center. We're very much still in ramp-up mode in the RDC, so nice to be able to take many of you through that facility pre-Christmas. I think we were at 60-odd stores pre-Christmas. I think we're at about 120 stores now. Last couple of weeks, we've been doing about 1 million cartons, bearing in mind we anticipate, you know, at maturity, getting that to 2.5 million-2.8 million cartons. There's still quite a bit of ramp-up to go. Yeah, thanks, Nicole. yeah thanks nicole We have really been spending most of the last 12 months ramping up the NDC, and so we're now doing around 2 million cartons a week. we have really been spending most of the last 12 months ramping up the ndc and so we're now doing around 2 million cartons a week We're not fully transitioned all the volume in there, but actually we're starting to see results in line with what we'd expect out of the National Distribution Center. we're not fully transitioned all the volume in there but actually we're starting to see results in line with what we'd expect out of the national distribution center We're very much still in ramp-up mode in the RDC, so nice to be able to take many of you through that facility pre-Christmas. we're very much still in ramp-up mode in the rdc so nice to be able to take many of you through that facility pre-christmas I think we were at 60-odd stores pre-Christmas. i think we were at 60-odd stores pre-christmas I think we're at about 120 stores now. i think we're at about 120 stores now Last couple of weeks, we've been doing about 1 million cartons, bearing in mind we anticipate, you know, at maturity, getting that to 2.5 million-2.8 million cartons. last couple of weeks we've been doing about 1 million cartons bearing in mind we anticipate you know at maturity getting that to 2.5 million-2.8 million cartons There's still quite a bit of ramp-up to go. there's still quite a bit of ramp-up to go I think when we've talked about this in the past, we still do expect commissioning and dual running costs to continue from through F26 at similar levels to F25 and equally into F27 as we start to go live with the Sydney Chilled and Fresh DC, which will go live in actually F28. We do, though, expect some of those commissioning and dual running costs to start to be offset by benefits. They will progressively ramp up over the next couple of years. you know, and really be at maturity. I think we talked about this in December when we had many of you at Moorebank around 2028, 2029, when they start to reach maturity. I think when we've talked about this in the past, we still do expect commissioning and dual running costs to continue from through F26 at similar levels to F25 and equally into F27 as we start to go live with the Sydney Chilled and Fresh DC, which will go live in actually F28. i think when we've talked about this in the past we still do expect commissioning and dual running costs to continue from through f26 at similar levels to f25 and equally into f27 as we start to go live with the sydney chilled and fresh dc which will go live in actually f28 We do, though, expect some of those commissioning and dual running costs to start to be offset by benefits. we do though expect some of those commissioning and dual running costs to start to be offset by benefits They will progressively ramp up over the next couple of years. you know, and really be at maturity. they will progressively ramp up over the next couple of years you know and really be at maturity I think we talked about this in December when we had many of you at Moorebank around 2028, 2029, when they start to reach maturity. i think we talked about this in december when we had many of you at moorebank around 2028 2029 when they start to reach maturity You know, we are, but we are encouraged by what we're seeing, but we do recognize they are gonna take some time to flow through the P&L. Then on B2B, I'm happy to take that question actually, 'cause, you know, within there, you know, the two main businesses are PFD and PC Plus. Actually, both had strong results in the half. It is just worth being clear that the PFD result does include an extra week in the current year that's not in the comparative, as we've just lined PFD's reporting periods up with the rest of the group. You know, we are, but we are encouraged by what we're seeing, but we do recognize they are gonna take some time to flow through the P&L. you know we are but we are encouraged by what we're seeing but we do recognize they are gonna take some time to flow through the p&l Then on B2B, I'm happy to take that question actually, 'cause, you know, within there, you know, the two main businesses are PFD and PC Plus. then on b2b i'm happy to take that question actually 'cause you know within there you know the two main businesses are pfd and pc plus Actually, both had strong results in the half. actually both had strong results in the half It is just worth being clear that the PFD result does include an extra week in the current year that's not in the comparative, as we've just lined PFD's reporting periods up with the rest of the group. it is just worth being clear that the pfd result does include an extra week in the current year that's not in the comparative as we've just lined pfd's reporting periods up with the rest of the group We have disclosed in the notes the adjustment that would've made to earnings in the half if you just normalized it. In fact, both delivered strong double-digit earnings growth in the half. We would consider there being a lot more runway in both those businesses to continue to grow earnings above sales through the medium term. We have disclosed in the notes the adjustment that would've made to earnings in the half if you just normalized it. we have disclosed in the notes the adjustment that would've made to earnings in the half if you just normalized it In fact, both delivered strong double-digit earnings growth in the half. in fact both delivered strong double-digit earnings growth in the half We would consider there being a lot more runway in both those businesses to continue to grow earnings above sales through the medium term. we would consider there being a lot more runway in both those businesses to continue to grow earnings above sales through the medium term

Speaker 12: Thank you, Steve. Thank you, Amanda. Thank you, Steve. thank you steve Thank you, Amanda. thank you amanda

Speaker 13: Thank you. The next question comes from Craig Woolford from MST Marquee. Please go ahead. Thank you. thank you The next question comes from Craig Woolford from MST Marquee. the next question comes from craig woolford from mst marquee Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 8: Good morning, Amanda. Great to see the momentum improving across the group. Can I just ask a question about that sales momentum, particularly on the food segment? I guess there's two parts to it. One is there any guidance you can give on what the strike impacts may have been in the first 7 weeks from a year ago? Is that still having an effect on reported results? More fundamentally, I'm interested in, you know, what you see going forward on price and volume. The price inflation is dropping away a little bit, which is good news for consumers, but might make it harder to maintain sales momentum. Good morning, Amanda. good morning amanda Great to see the momentum improving across the group. great to see the momentum improving across the group Can I just ask a question about that sales momentum, particularly on the food segment? can i just ask a question about that sales momentum particularly on the food segment I guess there's two parts to it. i guess there's two parts to it One is there any guidance you can give on what the strike impacts may have been in the first 7 weeks from a year ago? one is there any guidance you can give on what the strike impacts may have been in the first 7 weeks from a year ago Is that still having an effect on reported results? is that still having an effect on reported results More fundamentally, I'm interested in, you know, what you see going forward on price and volume. more fundamentally i'm interested in you know what you see going forward on price and volume The price inflation is dropping away a little bit, which is good news for consumers, but might make it harder to maintain sales momentum. the price inflation is dropping away a little bit which is good news for consumers but might make it harder to maintain sales momentum

Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. Yes, thanks. Thanks, Craig. Just when we look at those first seven weeks, it is important to know, as you point out, that we were recovering from the industrial action last year. When we certainly look at the seven weeks, we didn't last year call out a specific number, and we didn't do that for two reasons. One is, you know, supply chain was back up and running, and we were in flow in terms of delivering to our stores and to customers. We also didn't want to create, to be frank, just excuses for ourselves. We're very focused on just building the momentum as we moved forward. Yeah. yeah Yeah. yeah Yes, thanks. yes thanks Thanks, Craig. thanks craig Just when we look at those first seven weeks, it is important to know, as you point out, that we were recovering from the industrial action last year. just when we look at those first seven weeks it is important to know as you point out that we were recovering from the industrial action last year When we certainly look at the seven weeks, we didn't last year call out a specific number, and we didn't do that for two reasons. when we certainly look at the seven weeks we didn't last year call out a specific number and we didn't do that for two reasons One is, you know, supply chain was back up and running, and we were in flow in terms of delivering to our stores and to customers. one is you know supply chain was back up and running and we were in flow in terms of delivering to our stores and to customers We also didn't want to create, to be frank, just excuses for ourselves. we also didn't want to create to be frank just excuses for ourselves We're very focused on just building the momentum as we moved forward. we're very focused on just building the momentum as we moved forward We don't have a number to specifically call out, but it is important to note that that is a factor, particularly if we look at, to give you a sense, you know, Victoria. Victoria, for us, you know, was and continued to be very softer and lagged the rest of the states across really the last 12 months. And certainly as we've come into now these first seven weeks, you can see that Victoria is performing particularly strongly. There's no doubt there's some cycling benefit there. When it comes to your second part of the question around just this price and volume, you know, we've been really clear that for us, it's about driving unit volume, and that's what we're focused on doing. We don't have a number to specifically call out, but it is important to note that that is a factor, particularly if we look at, to give you a sense, you know, Victoria. we don't have a number to specifically call out but it is important to note that that is a factor particularly if we look at to give you a sense you know victoria Victoria, for us, you know, was and continued to be very softer and lagged the rest of the states across really the last 12 months. victoria for us you know was and continued to be very softer and lagged the rest of the states across really the last 12 months And certainly as we've come into now these first seven weeks, you can see that Victoria is performing particularly strongly. and certainly as we've come into now these first seven weeks you can see that victoria is performing particularly strongly There's no doubt there's some cycling benefit there. there's no doubt there's some cycling benefit there When it comes to your second part of the question around just this price and volume, you know, we've been really clear that for us, it's about driving unit volume, and that's what we're focused on doing. when it comes to your second part of the question around just this price and volume you know we've been really clear that for us it's about driving unit volume and that's what we're focused on doing You'll see from the average selling prices that we've shared that, yes, there has been a moderation, in that. I'll just hand to Annette to talk a little bit more because there's some color as we just look at the different categories within that, Annette, that might be just worth talking through. You'll see from the average selling prices that we've shared that, yes, there has been a moderation, in that. you'll see from the average selling prices that we've shared that yes there has been a moderation in that I'll just hand to Annette to talk a little bit more because there's some color as we just look at the different categories within that, Annette, that might be just worth talking through. i'll just hand to annette to talk a little bit more because there's some color as we just look at the different categories within that annette that might be just worth talking through

Speaker 4: Thanks, Amanda. Just, from a general perspective, yes, the number of price increases coming through from suppliers have slowed since the peak in July and August. They're still, of course, coming through, but they have a different shape and a different, a different ask, and it is category specific. Yes, we're still seeing some come through in some of the food categories, but as you alluded to earlier, Amanda, that some significant shifts in the livestock, particularly in red meat and, of course, weather impacted in fruit and veg. It's a little bit difficult to kind of pinpoint, but you are still seeing some inflation in certain categories within fruit and veg, like capsicums and strawberries, that are all very weather dependent. Thanks, Amanda. thanks amanda Just, from a general perspective, yes, the number of price increases coming through from suppliers have slowed since the peak in July and August. just from a general perspective yes the number of price increases coming through from suppliers have slowed since the peak in july and august They're still, of course, coming through, but they have a different shape and a different, a different ask, and it is category specific. they're still of course coming through but they have a different shape and a different a different ask and it is category specific Yes, we're still seeing some come through in some of the food categories, but as you alluded to earlier, Amanda, that some significant shifts in the livestock, particularly in red meat and, of course, weather impacted in fruit and veg. yes we're still seeing some come through in some of the food categories but as you alluded to earlier amanda that some significant shifts in the livestock particularly in red meat and of course weather impacted in fruit and veg It's a little bit difficult to kind of pinpoint, but you are still seeing some inflation in certain categories within fruit and veg, like capsicums and strawberries, that are all very weather dependent. it's a little bit difficult to kind of pinpoint but you are still seeing some inflation in certain categories within fruit and veg like capsicums and strawberries that are all very weather dependent Yes, it's slowed, it definitely slowed from Q2, Q1 into Q2. I think it will be a strong watch out for us as we get into this half. Yeah. Yes, it's slowed, it definitely slowed from Q2, Q1 into Q2. yes it's slowed it definitely slowed from q2 q1 into q2 I think it will be a strong watch out for us as we get into this half. i think it will be a strong watch out for us as we get into this half Yeah. yeah

Speaker 2: Thanks, Annette. Thanks, Annette. thanks annette

Speaker 13: Thank you. The next question comes from Ben Gilbert from Jarden. Please go ahead. Thank you. thank you The next question comes from Ben Gilbert from Jarden. the next question comes from ben gilbert from jarden Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 5: Morning, Amanda and team. Just wanted to sort of dig into the seven weeks and then a little bit more on how you think about the rest of the year, notwithstanding sort of the guidance. It feels like you've just traded the business a lot harder, and you're a lot more off locations and impulse, et cetera, which is great, and seems like it's really resonating. I suppose the two parts to the question: one, is how profitable is that growth? If you had to dip into your own pockets, your run rate obviously would suggest you can print an even number higher than what you sort of tightened that range up to. Morning, Amanda and team. morning amanda and team Just wanted to sort of dig into the seven weeks and then a little bit more on how you think about the rest of the year, notwithstanding sort of the guidance. just wanted to sort of dig into the seven weeks and then a little bit more on how you think about the rest of the year notwithstanding sort of the guidance It feels like you've just traded the business a lot harder, and you're a lot more off locations and impulse, et cetera, which is great, and seems like it's really resonating. it feels like you've just traded the business a lot harder and you're a lot more off locations and impulse et cetera which is great and seems like it's really resonating I suppose the two parts to the question: one, is how profitable is that growth? i suppose the two parts to the question one is how profitable is that growth If you had to dip into your own pockets, your run rate obviously would suggest you can print an even number higher than what you sort of tightened that range up to. if you had to dip into your own pockets your run rate obviously would suggest you can print an even number higher than what you sort of tightened that range up to The second part is, I'm just interested in how you're going to capitalize to try and drive a broader halo of that across the rest of the business, and particularly into those everyday needs categories. Interested in the anecdotal comment you made, that you are seeing some improvement in that as well. Question. The second part is, I'm just interested in how you're going to capitalize to try and drive a broader halo of that across the rest of the business, and particularly into those everyday needs categories. the second part is i'm just interested in how you're going to capitalize to try and drive a broader halo of that across the rest of the business and particularly into those everyday needs categories Interested in the anecdotal comment you made, that you are seeing some improvement in that as well. interested in the anecdotal comment you made that you are seeing some improvement in that as well Question. question

Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you. I think we've demonstrated in the half that through a really strong commercial discipline, that we've been able to deliver a solid GP result in the half. Certainly as we move forward, we would see it being broadly consistent as we move into the second half now. In terms of that question, I just want to come back and say it hasn't. This result has been driven by a series of factors. Yes, we've been more competitive than we said we would be. It's also been driven by improved availability, genuinely better experiences in our stores. Our customers are telling us that with the ratings and the feedback that they're providing to us. Yeah, thank you. yeah thank you I think we've demonstrated in the half that through a really strong commercial discipline, that we've been able to deliver a solid GP result in the half. i think we've demonstrated in the half that through a really strong commercial discipline that we've been able to deliver a solid gp result in the half Certainly as we move forward, we would see it being broadly consistent as we move into the second half now. certainly as we move forward we would see it being broadly consistent as we move into the second half now In terms of that question, I just want to come back and say it hasn't. in terms of that question i just want to come back and say it hasn't This result has been driven by a series of factors. this result has been driven by a series of factors Yes, we've been more competitive than we said we would be. yes we've been more competitive than we said we would be It's also been driven by improved availability, genuinely better experiences in our stores. it's also been driven by improved availability genuinely better experiences in our stores Our customers are telling us that with the ratings and the feedback that they're providing to us. our customers are telling us that with the ratings and the feedback that they're providing to us Certainly we've been more competitive, but this result is not primarily driven just by that, and we see it as being something that is sustainable on the go forward. That's because it's a balance of levers that we've been using. Our lower shelf price program is absolutely delivering value back to customers in a way that is good for customers, consistency, reliability, but also good for us in terms of our supply chain and the efficiencies and the way in which we manage that. The promotional program, we have been more competitive and have certainly had more market-leading offers over the last six months. But we've managed that within the right commercial frameworks through both ourselves and our suppliers working with us. Certainly we've been more competitive, but this result is not primarily driven just by that, and we see it as being something that is sustainable on the go forward. certainly we've been more competitive but this result is not primarily driven just by that and we see it as being something that is sustainable on the go forward That's because it's a balance of levers that we've been using. that's because it's a balance of levers that we've been using Our lower shelf price program is absolutely delivering value back to customers in a way that is good for customers, consistency, reliability, but also good for us in terms of our supply chain and the efficiencies and the way in which we manage that. our lower shelf price program is absolutely delivering value back to customers in a way that is good for customers consistency reliability but also good for us in terms of our supply chain and the efficiencies and the way in which we manage that The promotional program, we have been more competitive and have certainly had more market-leading offers over the last six months. the promotional program we have been more competitive and have certainly had more market-leading offers over the last six months But we've managed that within the right commercial frameworks through both ourselves and our suppliers working with us. but we've managed that within the right commercial frameworks through both ourselves and our suppliers working with us Then when we think about the role Everyday Rewards plays, you know, we just broadened that out to have a lot more above the line, more visible opportunities for customers to earn value, and that's something that is sticky. That's not about a short-term, sales, or sugar hit. That's about building long-term growth with our customers and rewarding their loyalty. We've really been very thoughtful about how it is that we manage all of that, so that we can deliver more value for customers. We can manage our responsibilities around profitability of the business and the sustainability of it going forward. When we look at, your question around everyday needs, you know, again, fresh was very strong for us. Grocery was strong, and everyday needs, we saw a gradual improvement. Then when we think about the role Everyday Rewards plays, you know, we just broadened that out to have a lot more above the line, more visible opportunities for customers to earn value, and that's something that is sticky. then when we think about the role everyday rewards plays you know we just broadened that out to have a lot more above the line more visible opportunities for customers to earn value and that's something that is sticky That's not about a short-term, sales, or sugar hit. that's not about a short-term sales or sugar hit That's about building long-term growth with our customers and rewarding their loyalty. that's about building long-term growth with our customers and rewarding their loyalty We've really been very thoughtful about how it is that we manage all of that, so that we can deliver more value for customers. we've really been very thoughtful about how it is that we manage all of that so that we can deliver more value for customers We can manage our responsibilities around profitability of the business and the sustainability of it going forward. we can manage our responsibilities around profitability of the business and the sustainability of it going forward When we look at, your question around everyday needs, you know, again, fresh was very strong for us. when we look at your question around everyday needs you know again fresh was very strong for us Grocery was strong, and everyday needs, we saw a gradual improvement. grocery was strong and everyday needs we saw a gradual improvement I'll throw to Annette to talk more about this, but particularly in those key categories of baby and pet, where we needed to see improvements, we took a series of actions there. We've still got more work to do in the personal care category, I would say, it's the one that we haven't seen as much traction. Annette, do you want to just add a little bit of color of what have we seen on everyday needs and what some of the actions that we've taken there? I'll throw to Annette to talk more about this, but particularly in those key categories of baby and pet, where we needed to see improvements, we took a series of actions there. i'll throw to annette to talk more about this but particularly in those key categories of baby and pet where we needed to see improvements we took a series of actions there We've still got more work to do in the personal care category, I would say, it's the one that we haven't seen as much traction. we've still got more work to do in the personal care category i would say it's the one that we haven't seen as much traction Annette, do you want to just add a little bit of color of what have we seen on everyday needs and what some of the actions that we've taken there? annette do you want to just add a little bit of color of what have we seen on everyday needs and what some of the actions that we've taken there

Speaker 4: Yeah, I think you've caught out the key categories, Amanda. In it, you know, again, it's very much looking at multiple horizons. In the near term, just holding that competitiveness in an incredibly and growingly competitive market, unit price is very important, bulk packs are very important. You saw some changes in the way that we approached some of those items within the pet category. We also introduced a new range in pet food in the dog category. 95 new products came into the range with a real focus on the balance between branded products, again, the bulk items where we thought it was required, and of course, some really good own brand products leveraging the relationship and the partnership we have with Petstock. Yeah, I think you've caught out the key categories, Amanda. yeah i think you've caught out the key categories amanda In it, you know, again, it's very much looking at multiple horizons. in it you know again it's very much looking at multiple horizons In the near term, just holding that competitiveness in an incredibly and growingly competitive market, unit price is very important, bulk packs are very important. in the near term just holding that competitiveness in an incredibly and growingly competitive market unit price is very important bulk packs are very important You saw some changes in the way that we approached some of those items within the pet category. you saw some changes in the way that we approached some of those items within the pet category We also introduced a new range in pet food in the dog category. 95 new products came into the range with a real focus on the balance between branded products, again, the bulk items where we thought it was required, and of course, some really good own brand products leveraging the relationship and the partnership we have with Petstock. we also introduced a new range in pet food in the dog category 95 new products came into the range with a real focus on the balance between branded products again the bulk items where we thought it was required and of course some really good own brand products leveraging the relationship and the partnership we have with petstock Billy Bowl Back did some great things, came in in the pet category. You'll start to see some shifts as that rolls through. It's actually rolling through right now. Pets, starting to see some. They're minor. I mean, we've got a lot of work to do in the category, but we're starting to see some very small shifts. In baby, again, multiple horizons, working short term on making sure we've got the right value offers for our customers. We've done some work to reset quality of our own brand Little Ones products. They will start to come through. The wipes have come through now, but the nappies will start to come through over the course of the next couple of months. Billy Bowl Back did some great things, came in in the pet category. billy bowl back did some great things came in in the pet category You'll start to see some shifts as that rolls through. you'll start to see some shifts as that rolls through It's actually rolling through right now. it's actually rolling through right now Pets, starting to see some. pets starting to see some They're minor. they're minor I mean, we've got a lot of work to do in the category, but we're starting to see some very small shifts. i mean we've got a lot of work to do in the category but we're starting to see some very small shifts In baby, again, multiple horizons, working short term on making sure we've got the right value offers for our customers. in baby again multiple horizons working short term on making sure we've got the right value offers for our customers We've done some work to reset quality of our own brand Little Ones products. we've done some work to reset quality of our own brand little ones products They will start to come through. they will start to come through The wipes have come through now, but the nappies will start to come through over the course of the next couple of months. the wipes have come through now but the nappies will start to come through over the course of the next couple of months Earlier in the half, we introduced Millie Moon, which was a fabulous own brand product that now has a high single-digit share of that category. Again, you're seeing shifts within the baby category. Beauty, again, very different to the previous two. It's all about being on trend. We launched some very good products during the half. Billie got a lot of attention. The video that launched Billie had 20 million views, which is extraordinary, and just shows the nature of how customers are interacting with innovation and new categories. 50% of the customers that came in to buy Billie were new to the category, so we're seeing new customers come in, and there were a lot of new brands that launched through that beauty category in the half. Earlier in the half, we introduced Millie Moon, which was a fabulous own brand product that now has a high single-digit share of that category. earlier in the half we introduced millie moon which was a fabulous own brand product that now has a high single-digit share of that category Again, you're seeing shifts within the baby category. again you're seeing shifts within the baby category Beauty, again, very different to the previous two. beauty again very different to the previous two It's all about being on trend. it's all about being on trend We launched some very good products during the half. we launched some very good products during the half Billie got a lot of attention. billie got a lot of attention The video that launched Billie had 20 million views, which is extraordinary, and just shows the nature of how customers are interacting with innovation and new categories. 50% of the customers that came in to buy Billie were new to the category, so we're seeing new customers come in, and there were a lot of new brands that launched through that beauty category in the half. the video that launched billie had 20 million views which is extraordinary and just shows the nature of how customers are interacting with innovation and new categories 50% of the customers that came in to buy billie were new to the category so we're seeing new customers come in and there were a lot of new brands that launched through that beauty category in the half We're seeing very different in those three categories, in everyday needs, you know, different plans, but on multiple horizons. Amanda, if you don't mind, I would also say, just back to the start of the question, we're also seeing a lot of growth in the way our customers are eating and what they're serving at home. At-home consumption has been a very strong trend that we've seen continue to grow. Yes, impulse has been very important through the quarter, but so has some of the biggest moves in things like coffee. We're seeing very different in those three categories, in everyday needs, you know, different plans, but on multiple horizons. we're seeing very different in those three categories in everyday needs you know different plans but on multiple horizons Amanda, if you don't mind, I would also say, just back to the start of the question, we're also seeing a lot of growth in the way our customers are eating and what they're serving at home. amanda if you don't mind i would also say just back to the start of the question we're also seeing a lot of growth in the way our customers are eating and what they're serving at home At-home consumption has been a very strong trend that we've seen continue to grow. at-home consumption has been a very strong trend that we've seen continue to grow Yes, impulse has been very important through the quarter, but so has some of the biggest moves in things like coffee. yes impulse has been very important through the quarter but so has some of the biggest moves in things like coffee You know, we've seen growth in coffee, from, in particular, cafe brands like Campos Coffee and Grinders coming into that category, and we're seeing some really strong, very, very positive double-digit growth. You know, yes, it's in some of those impulse categories, but it's actually right across, whether it's protein, yogurts. It's actually, it's more broad than just the impulse categories, for sure. Yeah, great. Thanks. You know, we've seen growth in coffee, from, in particular, cafe brands like Campos Coffee and Grinders coming into that category, and we're seeing some really strong, very, very positive double-digit growth. you know we've seen growth in coffee from in particular cafe brands like campos coffee and grinders coming into that category and we're seeing some really strong very very positive double-digit growth You know, yes, it's in some of those impulse categories, but it's actually right across, whether it's protein, yogurts. you know yes it's in some of those impulse categories but it's actually right across whether it's protein yogurts It's actually, it's more broad than just the impulse categories, for sure. it's actually it's more broad than just the impulse categories for sure Yeah, great. yeah great Thanks. thanks

Speaker 2: Thanks, Annette. Just to come back to the top of your question, then, you know, when we look at the guidance that we've provided and that move to an upper single-digit profit growth, important just to look at that in the context of everything that we've shared today in terms of customers are looking for more value. It is a very, very competitive market, and so we're very mindful as we look forward, that we expect, you know, customers to continue to seek value, competition to continue to increase. We've provided the update that we have with that context as well. Thanks, Annette. thanks annette Just to come back to the top of your question, then, you know, when we look at the guidance that we've provided and that move to an upper single-digit profit growth, important just to look at that in the context of everything that we've shared today in terms of customers are looking for more value. just to come back to the top of your question then you know when we look at the guidance that we've provided and that move to an upper single-digit profit growth important just to look at that in the context of everything that we've shared today in terms of customers are looking for more value It is a very, very competitive market, and so we're very mindful as we look forward, that we expect, you know, customers to continue to seek value, competition to continue to increase. it is a very very competitive market and so we're very mindful as we look forward that we expect you know customers to continue to seek value competition to continue to increase We've provided the update that we have with that context as well. we've provided the update that we have with that context as well

Speaker 5: Fantastic. Very helpful. Thank you. Fantastic. fantastic Very helpful. very helpful Thank you. thank you

Speaker 13: Thank you. The next question comes from Caleb Wheatley, from Macquarie. Please go ahead. Thank you. thank you The next question comes from Caleb Wheatley, from Macquarie. the next question comes from caleb wheatley from macquarie Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 7: Morning, Amanda and Steve, and echo the congratulations on the results. I just wanted to come back to this price-trust discussion, and particularly revisiting some of the prior comments you've made on sort of price perception issues rather than actual pricing problem. Are you able to just talk through some of the quantum of reinvestment that's gone into price to manage that price perception issue? Then sort of looking forward, how much more work, if any, do you think sort of needs to go into focusing or resolving that price perception issue, please? Morning, Amanda and Steve, and echo the congratulations on the results. morning amanda and steve and echo the congratulations on the results I just wanted to come back to this price-trust discussion, and particularly revisiting some of the prior comments you've made on sort of price perception issues rather than actual pricing problem. i just wanted to come back to this price-trust discussion and particularly revisiting some of the prior comments you've made on sort of price perception issues rather than actual pricing problem Are you able to just talk through some of the quantum of reinvestment that's gone into price to manage that price perception issue? are you able to just talk through some of the quantum of reinvestment that's gone into price to manage that price perception issue Then sort of looking forward, how much more work, if any, do you think sort of needs to go into focusing or resolving that price perception issue, please? then sort of looking forward how much more work if any do you think sort of needs to go into focusing or resolving that price perception issue please

Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks. Price trust, price perception has been important. As we've called out, you know, one of the ways in which we measure that is to look at our Voice of the Customer and the value for money scores that we're receiving. Importantly, you know, we know that customers look at that at an individual item level and are making decisions around where they shop at an item level, but also at a total basket level. So that's also informed our decisions around how do we make sure that customers are realizing the maximum value. Again, we've used multiple levers across our promotions, our lower shelf price, and Everyday Rewards to make sure that we create the right value for customers. We know they're looking for it. Yeah, thanks. yeah thanks Price trust, price perception has been important. price trust price perception has been important As we've called out, you know, one of the ways in which we measure that is to look at our Voice of the Customer and the value for money scores that we're receiving. as we've called out you know one of the ways in which we measure that is to look at our voice of the customer and the value for money scores that we're receiving Importantly, you know, we know that customers look at that at an individual item level and are making decisions around where they shop at an item level, but also at a total basket level. importantly you know we know that customers look at that at an individual item level and are making decisions around where they shop at an item level but also at a total basket level So that's also informed our decisions around how do we make sure that customers are realizing the maximum value. so that's also informed our decisions around how do we make sure that customers are realizing the maximum value Again, we've used multiple levers across our promotions, our lower shelf price, and Everyday Rewards to make sure that we create the right value for customers. again we've used multiple levers across our promotions our lower shelf price and everyday rewards to make sure that we create the right value for customers We know they're looking for it. we know they're looking for it Price trust is something that builds over time, we certainly know that we've still got work to do to improve, trust in Woolworths and trust in our prices, and that will remain a focus for the next 12 months ahead. Importantly, for us, this is why we committed to the lower shelf price program, because that's about reliability. Customers want to be able to count on us, and so that's been an important element of the offer that we have in place. Alongside reaching customers across probably a broader mix of media than we have, in the prior 12 months as well. We have adjusted the way in which we, talk to our customers and reach them, as well across the period, which is important when everyone's looking for value. I would just. Price trust is something that builds over time, we certainly know that we've still got work to do to improve, trust in Woolworths and trust in our prices, and that will remain a focus for the next 12 months ahead. price trust is something that builds over time we certainly know that we've still got work to do to improve trust in woolworths and trust in our prices and that will remain a focus for the next 12 months ahead Importantly, for us, this is why we committed to the lower shelf price program, because that's about reliability. importantly for us this is why we committed to the lower shelf price program because that's about reliability Customers want to be able to count on us, and so that's been an important element of the offer that we have in place. customers want to be able to count on us and so that's been an important element of the offer that we have in place Alongside reaching customers across probably a broader mix of media than we have, in the prior 12 months as well. alongside reaching customers across probably a broader mix of media than we have in the prior 12 months as well We have adjusted the way in which we, talk to our customers and reach them, as well across the period, which is important when everyone's looking for value. we have adjusted the way in which we talk to our customers and reach them as well across the period which is important when everyone's looking for value I would just. i would just There's no number that I would particularly call out. We're always investing in price, not just in lower shelf prices, but in specials as well. We'll continue to do that, and we expect to continue to need to focus on building price trust over the next 12 and 18 months. There's no number that I would particularly call out. there's no number that i would particularly call out We're always investing in price, not just in lower shelf prices, but in specials as well. we're always investing in price not just in lower shelf prices but in specials as well We'll continue to do that, and we expect to continue to need to focus on building price trust over the next 12 and 18 months. we'll continue to do that and we expect to continue to need to focus on building price trust over the next 12 and 18 months

Speaker 7: That's helpful. Thank you. That's helpful. that's helpful Thank you. thank you

Speaker 13: Thank you. The next question comes from Richard Barwick, from CLSA. Please go ahead. Thank you. thank you The next question comes from Richard Barwick, from CLSA. the next question comes from richard barwick from clsa Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 16: Hi, Amanda. I wanted to talk about BIG W. That was a strong, much stronger result than I think many were expecting. You've talked about it's on track to be EBIT and cash flow positive. Not surprisingly, you're talking about the profitability being weighted to the first half. I think everyone would expect that. What does that mean, though, in terms of profitability for the second half? Are you flagging that you can actually turn a profit from BIG W in the second half, or should we be expecting another loss? Hi, Amanda. hi amanda I wanted to talk about BIG W. i wanted to talk about big w That was a strong, much stronger result than I think many were expecting. that was a strong much stronger result than i think many were expecting You've talked about it's on track to be EBIT and cash flow positive. you've talked about it's on track to be ebit and cash flow positive Not surprisingly, you're talking about the profitability being weighted to the first half. not surprisingly you're talking about the profitability being weighted to the first half I think everyone would expect that. i think everyone would expect that What does that mean, though, in terms of profitability for the second half? what does that mean though in terms of profitability for the second half Are you flagging that you can actually turn a profit from BIG W in the second half, or should we be expecting another loss? are you flagging that you can actually turn a profit from big w in the second half or should we be expecting another loss

Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks. Thanks, Richard. We're not giving out specific guidance on the profit number for BIG W, but we're wanting to reinforce and just help everyone understand, as you know, it is heavily weighted due to Christmas and seasonal sales in that first half, but that we are remaining committed to the commitment we gave in August around being EBIT and cash flow positive. Dan, is there anything you wanted to add in that context? We're not gonna be talking about the specific numbers in terms of profit, but any other context? Yeah, thanks. yeah thanks Thanks, Richard. thanks richard We're not giving out specific guidance on the profit number for BIG W, but we're wanting to reinforce and just help everyone understand, as you know, it is heavily weighted due to Christmas and seasonal sales in that first half, but that we are remaining committed to the commitment we gave in August around being EBIT and cash flow positive. we're not giving out specific guidance on the profit number for big w but we're wanting to reinforce and just help everyone understand as you know it is heavily weighted due to christmas and seasonal sales in that first half but that we are remaining committed to the commitment we gave in august around being ebit and cash flow positive Dan, is there anything you wanted to add in that context? dan is there anything you wanted to add in that context We're not gonna be talking about the specific numbers in terms of profit, but any other context? we're not gonna be talking about the specific numbers in terms of profit but any other context

Speaker 9: The only other context I would give is that the health of our sales have been much stronger in the first half, especially in categories like clothing and home, where we flowed seasonal stock a lot better. We got in and out of inventory a lot better, and those processes are maturing. We do expect H2 on H2, the improvement of the health of sales and the improvement of the shape to continue. In absence of a specific EBIT number, we do expect improvements year-on-year. The only other context I would give is that the health of our sales have been much stronger in the first half, especially in categories like clothing and home, where we flowed seasonal stock a lot better. the only other context i would give is that the health of our sales have been much stronger in the first half especially in categories like clothing and home where we flowed seasonal stock a lot better We got in and out of inventory a lot better, and those processes are maturing. we got in and out of inventory a lot better and those processes are maturing We do expect H2 on H2, the improvement of the health of sales and the improvement of the shape to continue. we do expect h2 on h2 the improvement of the health of sales and the improvement of the shape to continue In absence of a specific EBIT number, we do expect improvements year-on-year. in absence of a specific ebit number we do expect improvements year-on-year

Speaker 2: Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. yeah Thank you. thank you

Speaker 16: Okay. All right, improvement on second half. That's helpful. Okay. okay All right, improvement on second half. all right improvement on second half That's helpful. that's helpful

Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. yeah

Speaker 9: Yeah, we're comfortable with that. Yeah, we're comfortable with that. yeah we're comfortable with that

Speaker 13: Thank you. The next question comes from Phillip Kimber, from E&P Capital. Please go ahead. Go ahead. Thank you. thank you The next question comes from Phillip Kimber, from E&P Capital. the next question comes from phillip kimber from e&p capital Please go ahead. please go ahead Go ahead. go ahead

Speaker 15: Hi, Amanda. Just a question on, there was a specific comment you made in the actual announcement that said, "heightened competitive intensity in food e-commerce." I was just wondering, if you could provide a bit more color around that. Is that being led by yourselves being more aggressive, or is something else going on there? Thanks. Hi, Amanda. hi amanda Just a question on, there was a specific comment you made in the actual announcement that said, "heightened competitive intensity in food e-commerce." I was just wondering, if you could provide a bit more color around that. just a question on there was a specific comment you made in the actual announcement that said "heightened competitive intensity in food e-commerce." i was just wondering if you could provide a bit more color around that Is that being led by yourselves being more aggressive, or is something else going on there? is that being led by yourselves being more aggressive or is something else going on there Thanks. thanks

Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks. Thanks, Phil. Yeah, that was really a reference to the fact that, as we know, Coles launched, you know, the Ocado partnership some time ago and has been, you know, very focused in the market, in e-commerce, driving a lot of activity in that space. As we look at the on-demand space, in particular, with different platforms, whether that's Uber or DoorDash or our own, and customers are now really focused on that on-demand two-hour opportunity. Certainly we're seeing competition increase, in particular, around customer acquisition. Just looking at Amitabh, can you just build in terms of some of the intense competition we are seeing, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne? Yeah, thanks. yeah thanks Thanks, Phil. thanks phil Yeah, that was really a reference to the fact that, as we know, Coles launched, you know, the Ocado partnership some time ago and has been, you know, very focused in the market, in e-commerce, driving a lot of activity in that space. yeah that was really a reference to the fact that as we know coles launched you know the ocado partnership some time ago and has been you know very focused in the market in e-commerce driving a lot of activity in that space As we look at the on-demand space, in particular, with different platforms, whether that's Uber or DoorDash or our own, and customers are now really focused on that on-demand two-hour opportunity. as we look at the on-demand space in particular with different platforms whether that's uber or doordash or our own and customers are now really focused on that on-demand two-hour opportunity Certainly we're seeing competition increase, in particular, around customer acquisition. certainly we're seeing competition increase in particular around customer acquisition Just looking at Amitabh, can you just build in terms of some of the intense competition we are seeing, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne? just looking at amitabh can you just build in terms of some of the intense competition we are seeing particularly in sydney and melbourne

Speaker 3: Both, to add to what you said, Amanda, one is from traditional competitors, where with Coles, with our stepped-up performance and their focus with their card boxes, is actually they have definitely stepped up in terms of competitive intensity. I think what's more interesting in the more recent times is the growth with what I'll say, are formidable global retailers. Whether it is Costco already, with strong presence in Australia, and for the first time, offering their products online, or whether it is with Amazon, having entered the fray as well. That is, we're clearly seeing a lot more competitive action in the e-commerce space, and we are obviously quite determined to stay competitive and to make sure that we deliver, we are the first choice for our customers. Both, to add to what you said, Amanda, one is from traditional competitors, where with Coles, with our stepped-up performance and their focus with their card boxes, is actually they have definitely stepped up in terms of competitive intensity. both to add to what you said amanda one is from traditional competitors where with coles with our stepped-up performance and their focus with their card boxes is actually they have definitely stepped up in terms of competitive intensity I think what's more interesting in the more recent times is the growth with what I'll say, are formidable global retailers. i think what's more interesting in the more recent times is the growth with what i'll say are formidable global retailers Whether it is Costco already, with strong presence in Australia, and for the first time, offering their products online, or whether it is with Amazon, having entered the fray as well. whether it is costco already with strong presence in australia and for the first time offering their products online or whether it is with amazon having entered the fray as well That is, we're clearly seeing a lot more competitive action in the e-commerce space, and we are obviously quite determined to stay competitive and to make sure that we deliver, we are the first choice for our customers. that is we're clearly seeing a lot more competitive action in the e-commerce space and we are obviously quite determined to stay competitive and to make sure that we deliver we are the first choice for our customers

Speaker 2: Great. Thanks, Amitabh. Great. great Thanks, Amitabh. thanks amitabh

Speaker 15: Thank you. Thank you. thank you

Speaker 13: Thank you. The next question comes from Peter Marks, from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead. Thank you. thank you The next question comes from Peter Marks, from Goldman Sachs. the next question comes from peter marks from goldman sachs Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 14: Good morning, Amanda and Steve. My question is just on the Australian Food business. interested in hearing about the launch of the customer offset, sorry, Customer Offer Reset program that you've launched, and I guess the details around that, what's involved? Is it a range review program? I guess what you're looking to achieve with that and the timings of any benefit we should expect. Thank you. Good morning, Amanda and Steve. good morning amanda and steve My question is just on the Australian Food business. interested in hearing about the launch of the customer offset, sorry, Customer Offer Reset program that you've launched, and I guess the details around that, what's involved? my question is just on the australian food business interested in hearing about the launch of the customer offset sorry, customer offer reset program that you've launched and i guess the details around that what's involved Is it a range review program? is it a range review program I guess what you're looking to achieve with that and the timings of any benefit we should expect. i guess what you're looking to achieve with that and the timings of any benefit we should expect Thank you. thank you

Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you. Thanks, Peter. The Customer Offer Reset is something we're running across the group. That includes Australian Food, our New Zealand Food business, and BIG W, and particularly relates to the relationship that we have with our major suppliers that connect with us across those 3 businesses and across the 2 countries. We really wanted to, first and foremost, simplify the connection with Woolworths, and that's important for us and important for our supplier partners. Also engage in the right strategic conversations around how we reset those categories for the future so that we grow together. It is a new way of us engaging with our supplier partners, but it is very much, and hence the name, Customer Offer Reset. Yeah, thank you. yeah thank you Thanks, Peter. thanks peter The Customer Offer Reset is something we're running across the group. the customer offer reset is something we're running across the group That includes Australian Food, our New Zealand Food business, and BIG W, and particularly relates to the relationship that we have with our major suppliers that connect with us across those 3 businesses and across the 2 countries. that includes australian food our new zealand food business and big w and particularly relates to the relationship that we have with our major suppliers that connect with us across those 3 businesses and across the 2 countries We really wanted to, first and foremost, simplify the connection with Woolworths, and that's important for us and important for our supplier partners. we really wanted to first and foremost simplify the connection with woolworths and that's important for us and important for our supplier partners Also engage in the right strategic conversations around how we reset those categories for the future so that we grow together. also engage in the right strategic conversations around how we reset those categories for the future so that we grow together It is a new way of us engaging with our supplier partners, but it is very much, and hence the name, Customer Offer Reset. it is a new way of us engaging with our supplier partners but it is very much and hence the name customer offer reset It is very focused on what is it that customers are looking for across individual categories, and how do we work with those larger suppliers across our three businesses to unlock the full potential of those categories with customers in mind. It's a program that will progressively roll out across the next 12 and 18 months. We've started with a series of 4 key categories that are underway now. As we've shared with our supply partners, you know, we want to partner together with them on this. We will take the learnings from those first 4 categories as we then roll that out across the rest of our categories. It does align broadly with range reviews so that we give everyone the appropriate time, but it's a new way of us working. Thank you. It is very focused on what is it that customers are looking for across individual categories, and how do we work with those larger suppliers across our three businesses to unlock the full potential of those categories with customers in mind. it is very focused on what is it that customers are looking for across individual categories and how do we work with those larger suppliers across our three businesses to unlock the full potential of those categories with customers in mind It's a program that will progressively roll out across the next 12 and 18 months. it's a program that will progressively roll out across the next 12 and 18 months We've started with a series of 4 key categories that are underway now. we've started with a series of 4 key categories that are underway now As we've shared with our supply partners, you know, we want to partner together with them on this. as we've shared with our supply partners you know we want to partner together with them on this We will take the learnings from those first 4 categories as we then roll that out across the rest of our categories. we will take the learnings from those first 4 categories as we then roll that out across the rest of our categories It does align broadly with range reviews so that we give everyone the appropriate time, but it's a new way of us working. it does align broadly with range reviews so that we give everyone the appropriate time but it's a new way of us working Thank you. thank you

Speaker 14: Thanks. The new way is, I guess, you're buying across the 3 different businesses now. Is that the right way to think about it? Thanks. thanks The new way is, I guess, you're buying across the 3 different businesses now. the new way is i guess you're buying across the 3 different businesses now Is that the right way to think about it? is that the right way to think about it

Speaker 2: I would say that we're looking collectively together with our supplier partners on the opportunities that exist in each one of the categories. You know, each one of those businesses has a slightly different customer base, slightly different need, but we're bringing together a shared conversation with our supply partners as to how we do business. How that plays out in each one of those businesses and categories will look and feel a little bit different, and we'll learn more across this year. I would say that we're looking collectively together with our supplier partners on the opportunities that exist in each one of the categories. i would say that we're looking collectively together with our supplier partners on the opportunities that exist in each one of the categories You know, each one of those businesses has a slightly different customer base, slightly different need, but we're bringing together a shared conversation with our supply partners as to how we do business. you know each one of those businesses has a slightly different customer base slightly different need but we're bringing together a shared conversation with our supply partners as to how we do business How that plays out in each one of those businesses and categories will look and feel a little bit different, and we'll learn more across this year. how that plays out in each one of those businesses and categories will look and feel a little bit different and we'll learn more across this year

Speaker 14: Great. Thank you very much. Great. great Thank you very much. thank you very much

Speaker 13: Thank you. The next question is a follow-up from Michael Simotas from Jefferies. Please go ahead. Thank you. thank you The next question is a follow-up from Michael Simotas from Jefferies. the next question is a follow-up from michael simotas from jefferies Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 11: Thanks for taking another one. Mine's on e-commerce profitability. Your margin effectively or close to double year-over-year, and I know the first half of last year was pretty tough for the business, but the way we calculate it's about 3.5%, which looks like a very good outcome, given that competitive dynamic and customer acquisition costs that you talked to. Can that business continue to scale and deliver leverage from here, or do the costs become more variable? Thanks for taking another one. thanks for taking another one Mine's on e-commerce profitability. mine's on e-commerce profitability Your margin effectively or close to double year-over-year, and I know the first half of last year was pretty tough for the business, but the way we calculate it's about 3.5%, which looks like a very good outcome, given that competitive dynamic and customer acquisition costs that you talked to. your margin effectively or close to double year-over-year and i know the first half of last year was pretty tough for the business but the way we calculate it's about 3.5% which looks like a very good outcome given that competitive dynamic and customer acquisition costs that you talked to Can that business continue to scale and deliver leverage from here, or do the costs become more variable? can that business continue to scale and deliver leverage from here or do the costs become more variable

Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks, Michael. It was a strong performance from the e-commerce business in the half. Importantly, as we know, our e-commerce business is primarily fulfilled from stores. It's a really important part of our offer overall. The short answer is, yes, we do think we can continue to improve the profitability performance of e-commerce. There are a number of things that drove that in the half. I'll just hand to Amitabh to add a little bit more in terms of the key drivers of that e-commerce result. Yeah, thanks, Michael. yeah thanks michael It was a strong performance from the e-commerce business in the half. it was a strong performance from the e-commerce business in the half Importantly, as we know, our e-commerce business is primarily fulfilled from stores. importantly as we know our e-commerce business is primarily fulfilled from stores It's a really important part of our offer overall. it's a really important part of our offer overall The short answer is, yes, we do think we can continue to improve the profitability performance of e-commerce. the short answer is yes we do think we can continue to improve the profitability performance of e-commerce There are a number of things that drove that in the half. there are a number of things that drove that in the half I'll just hand to Amitabh to add a little bit more in terms of the key drivers of that e-commerce result. i'll just hand to amitabh to add a little bit more in terms of the key drivers of that e-commerce result

Speaker 3: Thank you, Amanda. The three things that we think have really made a difference in our profitability performance in the half. First is the proposition mix itself, where we've consistently invested in our Direct to Boot capacity that has driven growth in our collections. Collections have grown at more than 20% compared to the rest of the business, having grown at 15% in e-commerce. The second is continued growth in on-demand, which is also margin accretive as a proposition for us. Both the propositions which are margin accretive have grown faster based on the investment that we've made both over the years as well as more recently. Thank you, Amanda. thank you amanda The three things that we think have really made a difference in our profitability performance in the half. the three things that we think have really made a difference in our profitability performance in the half First is the proposition mix itself, where we've consistently invested in our Direct to Boot capacity that has driven growth in our collections. first is the proposition mix itself where we've consistently invested in our direct to boot capacity that has driven growth in our collections Collections have grown at more than 20% compared to the rest of the business, having grown at 15% in e-commerce. collections have grown at more than 20% compared to the rest of the business having grown at 15% in e-commerce The second is continued growth in on-demand, which is also margin accretive as a proposition for us. the second is continued growth in on-demand which is also margin accretive as a proposition for us Both the propositions which are margin accretive have grown faster based on the investment that we've made both over the years as well as more recently. both the propositions which are margin accretive have grown faster based on the investment that we've made both over the years as well as more recently Second driver is the fractionalization of the fixed cost itself, which we have reached a scale in the business, where with continued growth in the business, we continue to fractionalize our fixed costs, and we expect to see that benefit coming through. Finally, operational discipline. In terms of just the productivity pipeline that we've had, driving both our picking costs and, you know, Amanda referenced in different conversation some of the AI tools that are in place to drive better picking, to optimize our picking, as well as in the last mile delivery cost. All three have driven, and we expect all three to be sustained going forward as well. Second driver is the fractionalization of the fixed cost itself, which we have reached a scale in the business, where with continued growth in the business, we continue to fractionalize our fixed costs, and we expect to see that benefit coming through. second driver is the fractionalization of the fixed cost itself which we have reached a scale in the business where with continued growth in the business we continue to fractionalize our fixed costs and we expect to see that benefit coming through Finally, operational discipline. finally operational discipline In terms of just the productivity pipeline that we've had, driving both our picking costs and, you know, Amanda referenced in different conversation some of the AI tools that are in place to drive better picking, to optimize our picking, as well as in the last mile delivery cost. in terms of just the productivity pipeline that we've had driving both our picking costs and you know amanda referenced in different conversation some of the ai tools that are in place to drive better picking to optimize our picking as well as in the last mile delivery cost All three have driven, and we expect all three to be sustained going forward as well. all three have driven and we expect all three to be sustained going forward as well

Speaker 19: Just one build, Michael, I think in that growth in the half, there are some cycling benefits, but the industrial action, but we did make a material investment in cold chain integrity last year, which we've now structurally found ways to reduce that cost and retain that integrity. The profit growth moving forward, I wouldn't necessarily be baking in that type of expansion each half. Just one build, Michael, I think in that growth in the half, there are some cycling benefits, but the industrial action, but we did make a material investment in cold chain integrity last year, which we've now structurally found ways to reduce that cost and retain that integrity. just one build michael i think in that growth in the half there are some cycling benefits but the industrial action but we did make a material investment in cold chain integrity last year which we've now structurally found ways to reduce that cost and retain that integrity The profit growth moving forward, I wouldn't necessarily be baking in that type of expansion each half. the profit growth moving forward i wouldn't necessarily be baking in that type of expansion each half

Speaker 11: Got it. Thank you. Got it. got it Thank you. thank you

Speaker 13: Thank you. The next question is a follow-up from Adrian Lemme from Citi. Please go ahead. Adrian, your line is open. Thank you. thank you The next question is a follow-up from Adrian Lemme from Citi. the next question is a follow-up from adrian lemme from citi Please go ahead. please go ahead Adrian, your line is open. adrian your line is open

Speaker 1: Yeah, sorry. Sorry for that, of course. Yeah, thanks for taking another question. I had a question actually on New Zealand. Understanding the implemented changes in the store operating model partway through the half, that's significantly reduced the number of managers. Just wanted to know, is this a key driver of the lower CBP margin? I guess more importantly, can you talk about how the new model compares to Australia? If it's not already on that kind of model, could Australia sort of follow down the line, please? Yeah, sorry. yeah sorry Sorry for that, of course. sorry for that of course Yeah, thanks for taking another question. yeah thanks for taking another question I had a question actually on New Zealand. i had a question actually on new zealand Understanding the implemented changes in the store operating model partway through the half, that's significantly reduced the number of managers. understanding the implemented changes in the store operating model partway through the half that's significantly reduced the number of managers Just wanted to know, is this a key driver of the lower CBP margin? just wanted to know is this a key driver of the lower cbp margin I guess more importantly, can you talk about how the new model compares to Australia? i guess more importantly can you talk about how the new model compares to australia If it's not already on that kind of model, could Australia sort of follow down the line, please? if it's not already on that kind of model could australia sort of follow down the line please

Speaker 2: Yeah. Thanks. Thanks, Adrian Lemme. We did implement in Q2. We've been testing this in New Zealand for quite some time, a new operating model, which moved from really having that department focus to more of a functional focus in terms of the way that the operating model itself works. During the period, it was really about implementing quite a substantial change. If anything, to be perfectly frank, it probably impacted a little bit of our performance in Q2, just as we made such a large scale change across the entire New Zealand business. We think it's a great model, certainly for the future, but we wanna see that continue to improve performance across New Zealand first. Yeah. yeah Thanks. thanks Thanks, Adrian Lemme. thanks adrian lemme We did implement in Q2. we did implement in q2 We've been testing this in New Zealand for quite some time, a new operating model, which moved from really having that department focus to more of a functional focus in terms of the way that the operating model itself works. we've been testing this in new zealand for quite some time a new operating model which moved from really having that department focus to more of a functional focus in terms of the way that the operating model itself works During the period, it was really about implementing quite a substantial change. during the period it was really about implementing quite a substantial change If anything, to be perfectly frank, it probably impacted a little bit of our performance in Q2, just as we made such a large scale change across the entire New Zealand business. if anything to be perfectly frank it probably impacted a little bit of our performance in q2 just as we made such a large scale change across the entire new zealand business We think it's a great model, certainly for the future, but we wanna see that continue to improve performance across New Zealand first. we think it's a great model certainly for the future but we wanna see that continue to improve performance across new zealand first When you're looking at the implications of that from a cost perspective, certainly we hadn't yet seen any substantial benefits from that flow through in the first, in the first half. Right now, as we ramp up that operating model, we've also got more focus, and so it'll take some time for the benefits of that to materialize. I'll hand to Sally in a moment to see if there anything else you wanted to add to that. Your question of Australia, look, right now what we're focused on is let's see how this performs in New Zealand for us. When you're looking at the implications of that from a cost perspective, certainly we hadn't yet seen any substantial benefits from that flow through in the first, in the first half. when you're looking at the implications of that from a cost perspective certainly we hadn't yet seen any substantial benefits from that flow through in the first in the first half Right now, as we ramp up that operating model, we've also got more focus, and so it'll take some time for the benefits of that to materialize. right now as we ramp up that operating model we've also got more focus and so it'll take some time for the benefits of that to materialize I'll hand to Sally in a moment to see if there anything else you wanted to add to that. i'll hand to sally in a moment to see if there anything else you wanted to add to that Your question of Australia, look, right now what we're focused on is let's see how this performs in New Zealand for us. your question of australia look right now what we're focused on is let's see how this performs in new zealand for us As I say, we've been testing it for some time, anyway, but when you release things out at scale, you always learn more. We'd be focused on learning from our New Zealand business first, and then determining whether or not that's the right model for us in Australia. Sally, any other reflections in terms of operating model? As I say, we've been testing it for some time, anyway, but when you release things out at scale, you always learn more. as i say we've been testing it for some time anyway but when you release things out at scale you always learn more We'd be focused on learning from our New Zealand business first, and then determining whether or not that's the right model for us in Australia. we'd be focused on learning from our new zealand business first and then determining whether or not that's the right model for us in australia Sally, any other reflections in terms of operating model? sally any other reflections in terms of operating model

Speaker 17: Thank you, Amanda. Absolutely. I think the model is predicated on us being able to deliver a better customer experience and actually building stronger momentum and retailing careers for the team. It was a very significant change in the New Zealand context. 2,500 new team members, that's 13% of our frontline workforce who are new to our business. Supporting them to onboard and be part of our team has been a very big focus. Thank you, Amanda. thank you amanda Absolutely. absolutely I think the model is predicated on us being able to deliver a better customer experience and actually building stronger momentum and retailing careers for the team. i think the model is predicated on us being able to deliver a better customer experience and actually building stronger momentum and retailing careers for the team It was a very significant change in the New Zealand context. 2,500 new team members, that's 13% of our frontline workforce who are new to our business. Supporting them to onboard and be part of our team has been a very big focus. it was a very significant change in the new zealand context 2,500 new team members that's 13% of our frontline workforce who are new to our business. supporting them to onboard and be part of our team has been a very big focus We actually have 300 team members who are new leadership roles for the very first time. That's about helping a really build a strong pipeline for us, you know, all the way through to store managers and beyond.We are in the throes of embedding this model, and really focused on how do we get back to basics, make sure we've got the fundamentals of our routines right, and that we're in a stronger position going forward. We actually have 300 team members who are new leadership roles for the very first time. we actually have 300 team members who are new leadership roles for the very first time That's about helping a really build a strong pipeline for us, you know, all the way through to store managers and beyond. that's about helping a really build a strong pipeline for us you know all the way through to store managers and beyond We are in the throes of embedding this model, and really focused on how do we get back to basics, make sure we've got the fundamentals of our routines right, and that we're in a stronger position going forward. we are in the throes of embedding this model and really focused on how do we get back to basics make sure we've got the fundamentals of our routines right and that we're in a stronger position going forward

Speaker 2: Great. Thanks, Sally. Thank you. Great. great Thanks, Sally. thanks sally Thank you. thank you

Speaker 13: Thank you. The next question comes from Craig Woolford, from MST Marquee. Please go ahead. Thank you. thank you The next question comes from Craig Woolford, from MST Marquee. the next question comes from craig woolford from mst marquee Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 8: Thanks for the follow-up. Just might be for Stephen, just in that in the full year result, just about the outlook for FY 2026, there was specific items called out around the tobacco headwind. It was supposed to be AUD 80 million-AUD 100 million across the year, the workforce system, AUD 60 million, and then the lower shelf price of AUD 100 million. Can you just clarify how those factors impacted the first half result? Thanks for the follow-up. thanks for the follow-up Just might be for Stephen, just in that in the full year result, just about the outlook for FY 2026, there was specific items called out around the tobacco headwind. just might be for stephen just in that in the full year result just about the outlook for fy 2026 there was specific items called out around the tobacco headwind It was supposed to be AUD 80 million-AUD 100 million across the year, the workforce system, AUD 60 million, and then the lower shelf price of AUD 100 million. it was supposed to be aud 80 million-aud 100 million across the year the workforce system aud 60 million and then the lower shelf price of aud 100 million Can you just clarify how those factors impacted the first half result? can you just clarify how those factors impacted the first half result

Speaker 19: Yes. So from a tobacco perspective, we called out an AUD 80 million-AUD 100 million estimate. We think that's still the right estimate for the full year, but it's slightly weighted to the first half. So there's a disproportionate component in the first half. In terms of the technology investments, there's multiple systems that we're, end device systems that we're replacing, not just the time and attendance. We called out a AUD 60 million estimate, roughly 50/50 across the two halves. And LSP, we haven't specifically called out the number, but we said it'd be a minimum investment of AUD 100 million in our own brands. But obviously, you know, we've been able to get scale that program and get a lot more suppliers on board. Yes. yes So from a tobacco perspective, we called out an AUD 80 million-AUD 100 million estimate. so from a tobacco perspective we called out an aud 80 million-aud 100 million estimate We think that's still the right estimate for the full year, but it's slightly weighted to the first half. we think that's still the right estimate for the full year but it's slightly weighted to the first half So there's a disproportionate component in the first half. so there's a disproportionate component in the first half In terms of the technology investments, there's multiple systems that we're, end device systems that we're replacing, not just the time and attendance. in terms of the technology investments there's multiple systems that we're end device systems that we're replacing not just the time and attendance We called out a AUD 60 million estimate, roughly 50/50 across the two halves. we called out a aud 60 million estimate roughly 50/50 across the two halves And LSP, we haven't specifically called out the number, but we said it'd be a minimum investment of AUD 100 million in our own brands. and lsp we haven't specifically called out the number but we said it'd be a minimum investment of aud 100 million in our own brands But obviously, you know, we've been able to get scale that program and get a lot more suppliers on board. but obviously you know we've been able to get scale that program and get a lot more suppliers on board Broadly, if you think about we launched it in May last year, you'd expect roughly it would split 50/50, may, maybe slightly less, given the cycling impact in the second half. Broadly, if you think about we launched it in May last year, you'd expect roughly it would split 50/50, may, maybe slightly less, given the cycling impact in the second half. broadly if you think about we launched it in may last year you'd expect roughly it would split 50/50 may maybe slightly less given the cycling impact in the second half

Speaker 8: Thanks, Phil. Thanks, Phil. thanks phil

Speaker 13: Thank you. The next question is a follow-up from Bryan Raymond from JPMorgan. Please go ahead. Thank you. thank you The next question is a follow-up from Bryan Raymond from JPMorgan. the next question is a follow-up from bryan raymond from jpmorgan Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 6: Thanks for the follow-up. Earlier, I think, Amanda, you might have mentioned some strategic optionality with BIG W. I'd just like to elaborate on that a little bit if we can. Profitability's improved. Would, you know, a potential exit be, or sale of this business be on, you know, possible or one that you'd consider? Did you mean something else by that strategic optionality comment? Thanks. Thanks for the follow-up. thanks for the follow-up Earlier, I think, Amanda, you might have mentioned some strategic optionality with BIG W. earlier i think amanda you might have mentioned some strategic optionality with big w I'd just like to elaborate on that a little bit if we can. i'd just like to elaborate on that a little bit if we can Profitability's improved. profitability's improved Would, you know, a potential exit be, or sale of this business be on, you know, possible or one that you'd consider? would you know a potential exit be or sale of this business be on you know possible or one that you'd consider Did you mean something else by that strategic optionality comment? did you mean something else by that strategic optionality comment Thanks. thanks

Speaker 2: Thanks. Thanks, Brian. Firstly, I just want to acknowledge that it is very good to see an improved performance from BIG W and that the transformation plan that the team has put in place, and that they've been very focused on delivering, is showing some good improved performance. We're very pleased, as is the BIG W team, to see that. When we're talking about BIG W, we want to make sure that that business and that team is super focused on their transformation. They've done a great job and there's more to do there. We talk about the IT separation primarily because giving BIG W the independence to be able to build the right platforms that are fit for purpose is really important for a discount department store. Thanks. thanks Thanks, Brian. thanks brian Firstly, I just want to acknowledge that it is very good to see an improved performance from BIG W and that the transformation plan that the team has put in place, and that they've been very focused on delivering, is showing some good improved performance. firstly i just want to acknowledge that it is very good to see an improved performance from big w and that the transformation plan that the team has put in place and that they've been very focused on delivering is showing some good improved performance We're very pleased, as is the BIG W team, to see that. we're very pleased as is the big w team to see that When we're talking about BIG W, we want to make sure that that business and that team is super focused on their transformation. when we're talking about big w we want to make sure that that business and that team is super focused on their transformation They've done a great job and there's more to do there. they've done a great job and there's more to do there We talk about the IT separation primarily because giving BIG W the independence to be able to build the right platforms that are fit for purpose is really important for a discount department store. we talk about the it separation primarily because giving big w the independence to be able to build the right platforms that are fit for purpose is really important for a discount department store BIG W has been deeply integrated across the Woolworths technology systems. As a result, has drawn on a lot of, you know, the food technology. We want to make sure that as the business moves forward, particularly when we look at areas like e-commerce, which is, you know, driving a lot of positive growth for BIG W, that they've got the right tools and the right technologies to be able to drive that forward. There's nothing that we would further update with regards to BIG W other than what we've already shared. Thank you. BIG W has been deeply integrated across the Woolworths technology systems. big w has been deeply integrated across the woolworths technology systems As a result, has drawn on a lot of, you know, the food technology. as a result has drawn on a lot of you know the food technology We want to make sure that as the business moves forward, particularly when we look at areas like e-commerce, which is, you know, driving a lot of positive growth for BIG W, that they've got the right tools and the right technologies to be able to drive that forward. we want to make sure that as the business moves forward particularly when we look at areas like e-commerce which is you know driving a lot of positive growth for big w that they've got the right tools and the right technologies to be able to drive that forward There's nothing that we would further update with regards to BIG W other than what we've already shared. there's nothing that we would further update with regards to big w other than what we've already shared Thank you. thank you