The 2023 financial results are the first to be presented by new Coles boss Leah Weckert.Credit:Eamon Gallagher
Sales increased by 5.9 per cent to $40.5 billion,but the result missed market expectations,with analysts homing in on falling profit margins and the damage from rising retail crime.
The retailer revealed that total stock loss,which includes theft and product markdowns,was up by 20 per cent compared to last year due to rising levels of crime across the business.
Weckert said thetheft explosion was an industry-wide issue,with retailers in the UK and US also raising concerns over retail crime as the cost of living crunch intensified across the globe.
“What is driving it? It has correlated quite closely with an increase in the cost of living pressures - I do think that is something that is at play here,” she said.
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“But we have also seen an increase in the organised crime side of stock loss as well,which is more coordinated and tends to focus on products in non-food areas,affecting large amounts[of stock] at the one time.”
Coles’ management told analysts on a call on Tuesday that the company was investing in a variety of methods to combat this,including having more security guards,rolling out smart gates that stop consumers from exiting a store without paying,and implementing trolley locks,which prevent shoppers from filling a trolley and then leaving the store.