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Woolworths’ full-year profit has soared by almost 78 per cent, despite another tough year of managing the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic for its customers.
The supermarkets operator said net profit for 2020/21 after significant items totalled $2.1 billion, compared to $1.2 billion in the previous year, as sales rose by more than 5 per cent.
“It was another challenging year for our team and communities but also a year where we achieved a lot together,” CEO Brad Banducci said in a statement on Thursday.
“COVID will continue to have a profound impact in F22 but making any further predictions about the year ahead remains very difficult.”
Mr Banducci said vaccination rates in Australia were key to the outlook.
“It has become clear that vaccination is key to the safety of our team and the easing of restrictions, and we are committed to supporting vaccination efforts across the broader community,” he said.
Woolworths also announced a $2 billion off-market share buy-back, after delivering an improved final dividend of 55 cents per share for 2020/21 to shareholders.
That takes the dividend for the year to $1.08 per share, up 14.9 per cent.
