Woolies FY26 Lands Wednesday After Coles Beats Consensus | It’s On Sale Daily Brief, 26 August 2026

Neil Fairhead

CEO, It’s On Sale

Wednesday morning briefing for Australian shoppers. Day two of the biggest reporting week in Australian retail: Woolworths Group hands down its F26 full year result before market open this morning, and it lands the day after Coles beat consensus with underlying NPAT of 1.26 billion dollars up 13.7 per cent and a bumper 78 cent full year dividend. The Woolworths result matters at the shelf: analysts expect group revenue of 71.64 billion dollars, and the Australian Food division has already extended its Lower Shelf Price programme to 1,035 products. On Thursday, Wesfarmers rounds out the trio with Bunnings, Kmart and Officeworks. Meanwhile BIG W has switched on national same day delivery through DoorDash, Amazon remains in the Federal Court over Prime Video ads, and today s live sale scan pulls up Lightspot at 89 per cent off lighting as the top pick.

Woolworths F26 Result Lands This Morning: What Shoppers Should Watch

Woolworths Group releases its F26 full year results to the ASX before market open Wednesday 26 August. The Investing.com F26 preview has consensus at group revenue of about 71.64 billion dollars and full year EPS of about 1 dollar 26 (a strong recovery from FY25 s 78 cent EPS after the Federal Court remediation charge). Half year F26 (27 weeks to 4 January 2026) already delivered group sales of 37.1 billion dollars up 3.4 per cent, EBIT before significant items of 1.66 billion up 14.4 per cent, and an interim dividend of 45 cents per share up 15.4 per cent, per the Woolworths half year announcement. The third quarter update (13 weeks to 5 April 2026) then showed Australian Food sales up 5.9 per cent (7.3 per cent excluding tobacco) and group eCommerce up 20.2 per cent to 2.7 billion dollars, per the 3Q26 announcement.

The consumer read: with the Lower Shelf Price programme now extended to 1,035 products, per Retail Insight Network coverage on 24 August, Woolworths has telegraphed that price is the battlefield. If Woolies matches or beats consensus this morning, expect the Everyday Rewards weekly Boost offers to sharpen from Thursday and more Half Price shelf tags to appear alongside the extended Lower Shelf Price range. Everyday Rewards had 10.7 million active members at the end of Q3, so any earnings beat is likely to be reinvested into member specific pricing to keep the loyalty gap over Coles Flybuys. If Woolies misses, watch for a more aggressive Prices Dropped campaign through September and October to defend basket share into the school holidays.

Coles Beat Consensus Yesterday: The Read for Everyday Rewards vs Flybuys

Rewinding one day: Coles Group reported FY26 group sales of 45.58 billion dollars up 2.8 per cent, EBIT excluding significant items of 2.32 billion up 9.9 per cent, and underlying NPAT of 1.255 billion up 13.7 per cent, per James Mickleboro at The Motley Fool Australia. Statutory NPAT was 1.09 billion after 235 million dollars of significant items (165 million after tax) from the September 2025 Federal Court ruling on the Fair Work Ombudsman underpayment case, per Sue Lannin at ABC News. Supermarkets EBIT grew 12.2 per cent and eCommerce Supermarkets sales jumped 26.4 per cent to 5.6 billion dollars. The full year dividend lifted 13 per cent to 78 cents per share, with a fully franked final of 37 cents. Shares rose 2.43 per cent on the day, per the Investing.com earnings call transcript.

What this means at the trolley: Coles is now the benchmark for both grocery pricing and online. eCommerce up 26.4 per cent tells you Coles Same Day and Rapid Delivery are being used more and being defended with sharper Half Price online only lines. Liquor was the weak point (sales down 3.3 per cent, EBIT down 47.8 per cent), so expect First Choice, Liquorland and Vintage Cellars to run harder Half Price and Member Locked wine promos through the September school holidays. For Flybuys members the strategic read is that Coles will keep leaning on the 5,000 point bonus offers on weekly shops to defend basket share when Woolies drops today. Practical action: check the Flybuys app for personalised offers before your Wednesday shop, and use the Coles Mastercard or Digital Wallet path where the 4 cent per litre fuel voucher stacks with the offer.

Wesfarmers Files Thursday: Bunnings, Kmart, Officeworks and Priceline

Wesfarmers rounds out the reporting trio on Thursday 28 August 2026, per the GO Markets ASX retail earnings preview. Half year F26 already showed group revenue up 3.1 per cent to 24.2 billion dollars and NPAT up 9.3 per cent to 1.6 billion, so the Thursday number will hinge on the second half performance of Bunnings (up against strong prior year winter comparables), Kmart (a discretionary category that has been holding up on value pricing) and Officeworks (which reset margins during the back to school period). Priceline sits inside the Health division and has been quietly rebuilding foot traffic through Sister Club promotions.

For shoppers the Thursday number sets the tone on discretionary through spring. If Bunnings comes in soft, watch for a step up in the Bunnings PowerPass member offers and end of aisle clearance on winter heating (a strong signal to buy a heater at the closeout price now while ranges reset for spring). If Kmart holds momentum, expect the Anko own brand pricing to stay flat rather than lift, which is good news for the household budget on kitchen basics, storage and bed linen. Officeworks always runs sharp promotions on printer ink and Apple education pricing through September, so a strong result usually means those discounts hold. Practical action: if you are refreshing a home office or kids desk for term four, price check across Officeworks, Kmart, and Anko at both retailers before Thursday.

BIG W Turns On National Same Day Delivery Through DoorDash

BIG W has switched on same day delivery nationwide through a new DoorDash partnership, first reported by Lorna Gloria at Retail World Magazine on 17 August and confirmed by the Woolworths Group newsroom on 18 August. The service gives Australian households a five hour turnaround on Book Week costumes, everyday essentials, kids clothing and thousands of BIG W lines across select postcodes nationwide. This lands right as BIG W has been rebuilding its stand alone systems platform, which management has told the market is now on track to deliver positive EBIT and cash flow for F26, per the Woolworths 3Q26 announcement.

Consumer read: BIG W has just closed a delivery gap that Amazon and Kmart have been exploiting. The DoorDash pipe means BIG W can now compete with Prime Same Day on essentials in metro postcodes without needing a Prime membership. Best use: last minute Book Week costumes for the September school holidays, forgotten birthday gifts, and top up on kids clothing basics when you are away from a BIG W store. Delivery fees stack on the DoorDash side, so it makes sense on baskets above 30 dollars where the same day fee is a fraction of the retail price. Watch for BIG W to run introductory Free Delivery over promotional thresholds through DoorDash to seed the habit before Christmas.

Amazon Prime Video ACCC Case Still Live in the Federal Court

The ACCC v Amazon Australia Federal Court proceeding (VID702 of 2026) remains active, with the regulator targeting five unfair contract terms said to have been used to add ads to Prime Video and charge an extra 2 dollars 99 a month between November 2023 and August 2025. Sarah Thompson and Anthony Macdonald at the AFR report ACCC chair Gina Cass Gottlieb said Amazon left subscribers with no choice but to pay more to maintain the service they had originally signed up for. The regulator is seeking penalties, declarations and refunds on behalf of more than one million Australian annual Prime subscribers affected during that window.

For Australian households the practical action is straightforward: if you paid the ad free upcharge on an annual Prime subscription between November 2023 and August 2025, keep any billing emails, credit card statements and the associated receipts. Any eventual refund order will depend on Amazon being able to identify affected accounts, and the paper trail is on the subscriber s side. In the meantime, our position is unchanged: the safest path for the Christmas retail run is Australian owned stores with local fulfilment, predictable returns and Australian consumer law protections. That is why every store featured in today s Top 5, and every store in the Today s Sales pool, is Australian owned.