WOOLWORTHS LIMITED ANNUAL REPORT 2008 REPORT ANNUAL LIMITED WOOLWORTHS ABN 88 000 014 675 ANNUAL REPORT 2008 HIGHLIGHTS COMPANY DIRECTORY Woolworths Limited Company Secretary Principal registered office in Australia Peter Horton 1 Woolworths Way Share Registrar Bella Vista NSW 2153 Computershare Investor Services Pty Limited Tel: (02) 8885 0000 Level 3 Web: www.woolworthslimited.com.au 60 Carrington Street BIG W Sydney NSW 2000 Web: www.bigw.com.au Tel: 1300 368 664 Fax: (02) 8234 5050 National Supermarkets Web: www.computershare.com.au Web: www.woolworths.com.au Auditor Woolworths’ Petrol 10.7% Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Tel: 1300 655 055 225 George Street Web: www.woolworthspetrol.com.au Increase in sales Sydney NSW 2000 BWS Tel: (02) 9322 7000 to $ 47.0 billion Contents Web: www.beerwinespirits.com.au Web: www.deloitte.com.au Dan Murphy’s Chairman’s Report 2 789 Heidelberg Road Managing Director’s Report 4 Alphington VIC 3078 – The Results in Brief 8 Tel: (03) 9497 3388 – Supermarkets 10 Fax: (03) 9497 2782 – General Merchandise 16 Web: www.danmurphys.com.au – Hotels 20 25.7% Dick Smith Electronics/Tandy – Capital Management 21 2 Davidson Street – Strategy and Growth 24 Increase in net Chullora NSW 2190 Board of Directors 28 Tel: (02) 9642 9100 Senior Management 30 profit after tax to Fax: (02) 9642 9111 Directors’ Statutory Report 32 Web: www.dse.com.au – Remuneration Report 35 $1,626.8 million – Auditor’s Declaration 55 Progressive Enterprises Limited Corporate Governance 56 80 Favona Road Financial Report to Shareholders 63 Mangere 2024 Auckland Shareholder Information 145 New Zealand Company Directory IBC Tel: +64 (9) 275 2788 Fax: +64 (9) 275 3074 Web: www.progressive.co.nz ALH Group Pty Ltd – Registered Office 1 Woolworths Way Bella Vista NSW 2153 Tel: (02) 8885 0000 Web: www.alhgroup.com.au – Victorian Office Ground Floor 16-20 Claremont Street 19.8% South Yarra VIC 3141 Tel: (03) 9829 1000 Increase in – Queensland Office Level 1 earnings before 152 Oxford Street The text pages of the report are printed Bulimba QLD 4171 on ENVI web paper which is PEFC certified, interest and tax Tel: (07) 3909 4800 carbon neutral and elemental chlorine free. to $2,528.8 million precinct.com.au 24.0% 43 Increase in Basis points earnings per reduction in cost share to 134.9 cents of doing business 24.3% Increase in dividend per share to 92 cents 1 chairman’S report to the shareholders CAPITAL MANAGEMENT and GROWTH In line with its strategy to increase market presence, Woolworths Limited is continuing its significant growth program. We have strong cash flows and relatively conservative levels of borrowings. However, given the present uncertainty in the debt and equity markets, it is considered prudent to defer any immediate capital management activity. The Board will continually assess this area in the context of EPS (cents) Dividend per share (cents) investment opportunities and changes in the financial markets. At present, the Company is maintaining reasonably strong levels of investment in existing businesses to uphold high standards of retail premises as a major competitive advantage. The Company has a consistent track record of growth, while 134.9 08 108.8 07 92.0 08 70.1 04 79.2 05 90.9 06 45.0 04 51.0 05 59.0 06 74.0 07 maintaining momentum in its core businesses. We are in the early stages of evaluating opportunities in adjacent businesses and internationally, with care and caution. Such opportunities must leverage the Company’s core strengths and would be likely to be in high-volume, low-margin businesses. Any international expansion would be undertaken in a prudent and disciplined fashion and meet the hurdles required for all capital investment decisions. CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENT SUCCESSFUL YEAR With greater economic pressure on Australians caused largely On behalf of the Board and management of Woolworths Limited, by international and domestic financial turmoil and rising prices I am pleased to present to shareholders our detailed reports on and shortages of oil and food, there has been a vast amount of another successful year of business operations. The year has seen commentary on the Australian food and petrol retailing sectors. Woolworths achieve growth and greater financial strength, whilst Woolworths participated fully in the major reviews set up by the simultaneously rewarding its shareholders. Australian Government. The outcomes, while identifying areas This success has been made possible by the classic Woolworths for improvement, restored some rigour and balance to the debate. formula of concentration on the fundamentals of running every CEO Michael Luscombe provides further comment on this area. part of our business, paying attention to details, developing our high quality people and fostering internal promotion and GOVERNANCE succession. Woolworths has invested in building rigorous programs across The following report by CEO Michael Luscombe provides a the broad spectrum of issues relating to sustainability, risk comprehensive review of the strategies followed by the Group’s management and proper governance procedures. High-quality businesses, and the never-ceasing efforts to improve service education and awareness programs are run continuously and quality levels for customers. throughout all businesses, and performance measures are used to monitor progress. FINANCIAL RESULTS There are separate sections later in this report on these topics. Woolworths Limited’s constant goal is to increase sales revenue by growing each sector of the business, while reducing unit costs PEOPLE via scale and efficiency. This in turn leads to earnings before One of the most significant factors in the continuing success interest and tax (EBIT) increasing at a higher rate than revenue, of the Woolworths Group has been, and remains, the quality which leads to earnings per share (EPS) improving each year of the people who are involved in every area. The engagement (unless affected by share dilution or other short term factors). and development of high-quality people is vital to the Company’s For 2008, revenue grew by 10.7% to $47.0 billion, net profit success. Education and advancement opportunities are important after tax (NPAT) by 25.7% to $1,626.8 million, and earnings in creating a positive environment where people want to grow per share by 24.0% to 134.9 cents. and contribute. The Board congratulates Michael Luscombe and his RETURNS TO SHAREHOLDERS management team, and all the other leaders and enthusiastic Total dividends per share for the year were 92 cents per share performers throughout the Woolworths Group, on another (fully franked), an increase of 24.3%. Return on Funds Employed outstanding year, building the strength of the business on (ROFE) reached a level of 31.4%. the solid and stable foundations established over recent years. 2 Woolworths Limited’s constant goal is to increase sales revenue by growing each sector of the business, while reducing unit costs via scale and efficiency. James Strong Chairman 3 Managing Director’S Report Overall, we are a strong Australian company with a good business outlook and sound stock performance. We are not a business which has achieved success by standing still. Building a world-class company takes time and effort and it was pleasing to have our hard work rewarded by being the first Australian company to break into the top-25 list of world retailers. Core Business Performance The continuous delivery of successful results across our core business is testimony to the success of our long term strategy. Innovation And Leadership By lowering our costs of doing business, we have created a world-class model of efficiency and logistical expertise. Embracing new technologies is allowing us to lead in every Despite a challenging economic environment and higher input way – not just in terms of financial performance but also best costs for suppliers, we continued to refine and improve all our practice. As a major retailer, we deal with thousands of payment brands to keep up with customer expectations and to seek new transactions every day, so it doesn’t take much to see why financial opportunities to add even more value to their shopping experience. services are an important part of the way we do business. We opened 30 new supermarkets during the year, which On 31 July 2007 one of the world’s largest financial transaction was ahead of our targeted range. We also opened 22 new switches became operational under the Woolworths Limited Dan Murphy’s and quite a number of smaller liquor outlets as banner, and has since processed more than 100 million card well. We are pleased with the rollout of the new BIG W format transactions. Operating our own switch, which drives our and our new-look Dick Smith store. We also opened a new EFTPOS terminals, provides us with control over an integral part business in Thomas Dux in Lane Cove, Sydney and the second of the business, and we are able to realise a considerable saving on store opened in Paddington, Sydney in August 2008. We’ve been every card payment we process. delighted with the customer response to that particular business. We are continuously looking for innovative and commercially We opened an additional 21 petrol canopies during the year, realistic solutions to reduce our environmental footprint and with including one alliance site with Caltex, and the nationwide a vast number of people visiting our stores every day, there is great rollout of our Everyday Rewards program has exceeded opportunity for showcasing our sustainable development in action. expectations with more than four million cards on issue. We officially opened two state-of-the-art “green stores” at Rouse We are in the process of commissioning two new liquor Hill, Sydney, and Victoria Harbour, Melbourne Docklands, and distribution centres, one in Melbourne and one in Sydney.