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Freedom251 › Blog › ASX investing

How Wesfarmers Compares with Woolworths, Coles and Other Australian Retail Shares

By Freedom251 Team · · 5 min read

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Wesfarmers is not a supermarket-only share: Bunnings and Kmart are major earnings drivers, alongside businesses such as WesCEF, Officeworks and Wesfarmers Health. Woolworths and Coles are more concentrated in food retail. FY2026 results offer a partial comparison, but the available figures do not establish which share is cheaper or likely to deliver the best return.

How the businesses differ

Wesfarmers combines retail with industrial and other operations. Its FY2026 results identify Bunnings Group, Kmart Group and WesCEF as its largest divisional contributors. Woolworths Group and Coles Group are more focused on retail food, though neither is simply a single-format supermarket operator. That difference affects the companies’ potential growth drivers and exposure to changing conditions; it also means their headline results should not be treated as directly interchangeable.

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Company What the available evidence shows What that means for comparison
Wesfarmers (ASX: WES) Diversified group, with Bunnings, Kmart Group and WesCEF among its largest divisional contributors. See the FY2026 results. Its results reflect more than grocery retail, including home improvement, discount department stores and industrial businesses.
Woolworths Group The company’s FY2026 results and presentations and ASX announcements are listed on its investor site. The reports are available for a fuller comparison, but comparable financial values are not stated in the retrieved source material used here.
Coles Group (ASX: COL) Its FY2026 investor highlights report group sales revenue, group EBIT excluding significant items, and NPAT. See the FY2026 investor highlights. Coles is a useful food-retail comparator, but its adjusted EBIT should not be compared as if it were another company’s statutory or differently defined EBIT.

What the FY2026 figures show—and what they do not

The following figures are company-reported for FY2026. Wesfarmers’ year ended 30 June 2026; Coles’ investor highlights identify the figures as FY2026 and round them. The companies’ labels and accounting measures differ, so this is a factual snapshot, not a like-for-like ranking.

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Measure Wesfarmers Coles Woolworths
Revenue or sales A$47,274 million revenue for the year ended 30 June 2026. Wesfarmers FY2026 results. A$45.6 billion group sales revenue, rounded in the FY2026 investor highlights. Coles FY2026 investor highlights. Not stated in the retrieved FY2026 results text; see the company’s results and presentations.
Operating profit measure A$4,493 million group EBIT for the year ended 30 June 2026. Wesfarmers FY2026 results. A$2.3 billion group EBIT excluding significant items, rounded in the FY2026 investor highlights. Coles FY2026 investor highlights. Not stated in the retrieved FY2026 results text; see the company’s results and presentations.
NPAT A$2,874 million statutory NPAT for the year ended 30 June 2026. Wesfarmers FY2026 results. A$1.1 billion NPAT, rounded in the FY2026 investor highlights. Coles FY2026 investor highlights. Not stated in the retrieved FY2026 results text; see the company’s results and presentations.
Ordinary dividend 222 cents per share, fully franked, for FY2026. Wesfarmers FY2026 results. Not stated in the retrieved FY2026 investor highlights; see Coles’ reports page. Not stated in the retrieved FY2026 results text; see the company’s results and presentations.

The raw figures do not settle which company is more profitable or better valued. Revenue and sales-revenue labels are not necessarily identical measures; Coles’ EBIT excludes significant items, while Wesfarmers’ listed figure is group EBIT. NPAT also needs to be read alongside the companies’ reporting definitions and significant items. A meaningful ratio or ranking requires aligned periods, scopes and earnings definitions.

Why Wesfarmers’ profit comparison needs context

Wesfarmers reported FY2026 revenue growth of 3.4% year on year. Statutory NPAT fell 1.8%, while NPAT increased 8.3% excluding significant items in the prior year. Wesfarmers reported no significant items in FY2026; FY2025 included items related to the Coregas sale, winding up a property structure and Catch transition costs. The direction of the profit comparison therefore depends on whether the measure is statutory or excludes those prior-year items. These are company-reported comparisons in the FY2026 results.

The results also show how the group’s mix contributes. Wesfarmers reported the following FY2026 segment revenue and earnings. Segment earnings are presented after lease interest; they are not the same measure as group EBIT.

Wesfarmers segment FY2026 revenue FY2026 earnings
Bunnings Group A$20,399 million A$2,455 million
Kmart Group A$11,751 million A$1,109 million
WesCEF A$3,138 million A$473 million

All segment values are company-reported for FY2026 in the Wesfarmers results. Officeworks, Wesfarmers Health, Industrial and Safety and the lithium business are among the group’s other activities, so these three divisions do not represent the whole company.

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Do the share prices show which company is cheaper?

No. The available market snapshots put WES at A$76.22 and COL at A$23.03 on 2 October 2026. Those are nominal share prices on that date, not measures of relative value: a share price by itself does not account for the number of shares, earnings, cash flow or debt. The retrieved Woolworths share-price page did not expose a quote in its page text, though its share-price tools are available. Check live market data and the companies’ latest disclosures for current prices; the cited snapshots are not a complete three-company comparison.

To assess valuation, investors typically compare measures such as price-to-earnings and enterprise value to earnings or cash flow. Use figures from the same market date and a consistent earnings basis; otherwise, the multiple can create a false impression of which stock is cheaper. The available figures here do not provide synchronized valuation multiples for all three companies.

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What to compare before investing

A practical comparison should use the same reporting period and market date, and cover more than headline sales or the share price. For each company, check:

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  • Business mix and cyclicality: identify how much the company depends on supermarkets, discretionary retail, industrial operations or other activities.
  • Growth: compare revenue and like-for-like sales on comparable definitions, and distinguish reported growth from growth affected by acquisitions, disposals or other changes.
  • Operating profitability: align statutory or adjusted measures, segment scope and treatment of significant items before calculating margins or multiples.
  • Cash flow and capital needs: examine cash generated after operating costs and investment, alongside the spending needed to maintain or expand the businesses.
  • Balance sheet: compare debt and lease obligations using consistent definitions, rather than relying on profit figures alone.
  • Dividends: check per-share distributions, franking, payout sustainability and the cash available to fund them. Wesfarmers’ reported 222 cents per share was fully franked for FY2026; comparable dividend details are not stated here for Woolworths or Coles.
  • Valuation: calculate relevant earnings- and cash-flow-based measures using share prices from the same date and comparable financial periods.
  • Risks and outlook: read each company’s current results and announcements for its own risks, trading conditions and guidance; historical FY2026 results alone do not establish future performance.

For Woolworths, the FY2026 announcement, presentation and annual report were listed as dated 26 August 2026 on the company’s results archive; the ASX announcements page provides the primary releases. Coles’ investor page and Wesfarmers’ investor centre provide company materials for checking additional measures.

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This is general information, not personal financial advice. The FY2026 evidence supports a comparison of business mix and selected reported results, but not a complete ranking of valuation, suitability or expected returns. Company shares carry risk, and a comparison cannot determine whether an investment is appropriate for an individual.

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

ASX investingAustralian sharesColes Groupretail stocksWesfarmersWoolworths Group

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