Woolworths Ltd, Australia’s largest retailer, booked a 6% rise in half-year profits on Friday, hitting the top end of a forecast it lowered last month.The company posted net profit after tax of $1.16 billion for the 27 weeks to 2 January. Last month, Woolworths cut its profit growth target for the first half of its financial year from 8-11% to 5-6%, citing lower consumer spending and the poor weather seen in Australia in recent months. The retailer’s EBIT was up 6.2% to $1.79 billion,... ...Read more »

Foodbank, Australia’s largest hunger relief organisation, had its resources put to the test in recent months in the face of the natural disasters in Queensland and Victoria.However, the charity said that outstanding support from food and grocery industry partners played a valuable role in the response effort, ensuring food and other household supplies were and continue to be available wherever and whenever they are most needed. Only days into the New Year, a call for help was made to Foodbank’s... ...Read more »

Woolworths Ltd has once again played down speculation that its chief executive Michael Luscombe is preparing to stand down from his post.Reports have dogged Woolworths over the past month that Luscombe is looking to retire. In an interview at the beginning of February, Luscombe noted that “all of us will retire at some time”. The comment sparked speculation that the Woolworths MD and CEO will stand aside, particularly given the mounting pressure that the supermarket operator is coming... ...Read more »

After tasting and critiquing their way through 2,283 entries, the judges at the 2011 Macquarie Group Sydney Royal Wine Show have chosen their top drops of 2011, with chardonnay the stand-out favourite. Peter Lehmann Wines from Tanunda in South Australia led the way, taking out the coveted Macquarie Group Perpetual Trophy for its 2005 Margaret Semillon – as well as prizes for Best Semillon and Best White Wine. The Barossa-based winery was delighted to accept another accolade for a product that... ...Read more »

Clean Seas has returned a stronger-than-expected half-yearly result, with the company’s kingfish business generating cash flow for the first time. The company’s after-tax loss for the half year ending December 31 was $9.3 million, compared to $14.1 million in the previous half-year, and the company said it expects a positive impact on earnings in the current half year due to the nature of the lifecycle of the fish produced. The company attributed its results improvement to operational... ...Read more »

New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra has installed five large milk vats in Christchurch, which will be filled with fresh water by the company’s tankers, for use while the city’s earthquake-shattered water infrastructure is repaired. CEO Andrew Ferrier says the vats will be installed in locations around the city as recommended by Civil Defence. “Having these vats will give more people access to the water they desperately need. We will have a tanker on stand-by to re-fill the vats as the... ...Read more »

Wesfarmers has seen earnings in its its food retail division rise as it works to implement its turnaround strategy. Coles said that for the half ended 2 January, EBIT was up 18.3% to $575 million , while revenue grew 5.9% to $16.06 billion. Wesfarmers’ food and liquor division recorded a 22.1% rise in EBIT to $12.8 billion. Comparable-store sales were up 6.4%. Revenue from Wesfarmers’ convenience division grew 3.9% to $3.2 billion, with comparable-store sales growth slowing to 1.5%... ...Read more »

US spice maker McCormick is working to build its presence in developing markets, with the company looking for 12% of its turnover to come from these markets by 2015, up from 9% in 2010. The company sees India as a key part of this strategy, with McCormick chairman, president and CEO Alan Wilson outlining “four avenues of growth” in the country. Wilson highlighted the importance of the market, saying that the country has five times the spice use than than of the US. He added that while... ...Read more »

FlyBuys, the joint venture begun by Coles, Shell and NAB, is now fully owned by the supermarket giant, after an annoucement that they had bought out the 50% share of their last remaining partner, NAB, for an undisclosed sum. The loyalty program, which is the fifth largest in the world with over 10 million cardholders, annouced a record 400,000 new cardholders in 2009, in a demographic 12 years younger than the program’s average. At the time, Coles attributed the program’s growth to the... ...Read more »

Spanish food processor Ebro Foods has improved its A$600m offer for Ricegrowers, the Australian company that sells through the SunRice brand.In a letter to shareholders, Sunrice chairman Gerry Lawson said on Friday (11 February) that Ebro would guarantee to purchase all the medium-grain rice grown in Australia at the benchmark price of California rice for seven years, up from five previously. Ebro would then automatically roll this over for another seven years in the absence of a material adverse... ...Read more »