COL - Coles Group

[rcw1]

Good evening
Coles taking abit of a run at it...

15 minute chart

Kind regards
rcw

 

[Garpal Gumnut]

Well done @rcw1 . I'd been meaning to look at COL again but didn't.

$1.35 run from $16 in 2+ weeks is nice.

gg

 

[divs4ever]

Well done @rcw1 . I'd been meaning to look at COL again but didn't.

$1.35 run from $16 in 2+ weeks is nice.

gg

well COL is stubbing it's toe less than the major rival ( and seems to have kept the alcohol arm , a better 'safe-haven' than the major rival ,perhaps ? )

i still glance at MTS and wonder if i should risk burnt fingers again

i hold COL ( courtesy of the WES demerger ) and WOW ( 'free-carried' ) ( so no cash at risk in either stock )

 

[Dona Ferentes]

COL is back above $18 and has recovered from its drop last Aug when poor reporting numbers saw it tumble.

WOW, by contrast, is 10 per cent below. The Feb numbers saw Coles pull ahead and WOW slip.

 

[mullokintyre]

Bought in COL today with the proceeds from sale of PDI.
Joins my stake in metcash as a more long term investment..
Mick

 

[sptrawler]

Bought in COL today with the proceeds from sale of PDI.
Joins my stake in metcash as a more long term investment..
Mick

I hold COL and sold out of WOW a few years back, I just think COL carries less baggage than some of the others.

 

[divs4ever]

I hold COL and sold out of WOW a few years back, I just think COL carries less baggage than some of the others.

while i still hold COL ( after reducing to use the cash off-market in April 2023 ) i seriously have reduced the WOW holding , by something like 95%

depends on what you call baggage , COL still has a liquor arm on board while WOW still has BIG W

now sure COL might do liquor better ( than now EDV ) but you would have to wonder when will the 'activists' see that as soft target ( to short COL)

cheers

will be thinking of adding ( real cash ) to COL sub $15 , currently i am happy to let 'the profits ' run

 

[Dona Ferentes]

Coles reported full-year revenue of $43.68bn, up 4.4 per cent, as net profit lifted 1.8 per cent to $1.118bn. The revenue and profit was slightly ahead of consensus market expectations. A dividend of 32c ff was declared.

CEO Leah Weckert said that Australians were pulling on a number of levers to cut down their spending in the face of cost of living pressures such as eating less meat, or known as “meat free Monday”, buying cheaper cuts of meat, private label and driving further to get a good deal on groceries.

She said 90 per cent of shoppers were making changes to the food and grocery budgets.

Addressing the media after Coles released its full-year results, Ms Weckert said its customer research had also shown that consumers were still concerned about mortgage, rent and other bills.

“Many Australians continue to feel cost of living pressures. Our surveys tell us that mortgages and rents, fuel, rising energy bills and groceries are at the top of factors affecting the household budget."

“To minimise spend, customers continue to eat more at home, cut back on treats, eat less red meat and reduce their alcohol consumption. It’s no surprise that they are selling us great specials and promotions, competitively priced products and loyalty programs are even more important when deciding where to shop.”

Ms Weckert said the rise of “meat free Monday” was a phenomenon that the supermarket was witnessing, while its private label brands were growing at double the rate of branded food and groceries.

 

[Dona Ferentes]

made it to $19 intraday; highest for 2 years.
..

Ms Weckert addressed concerns about profits, emphasising efforts to reduce costs and maintain affordable prices for shoppers.
“The company’s net profit after tax is 2.6 per cent, consistent with the previous year, with significant cost management efforts resulting in a $238 million saving "
“For every $100 the customer spends with us, we make $2.60, or less than three cents on every dollar, and that profit rate has remained constant now for the last couple of years.”

Unlike grocery, Coles’ liquor stores – including Liquorland, First Choice Liquor and Vintage Cellars – had an unsteady start to the new financial year as revenue fell by 1.4 per cent, hobbled by the CrowdStrike outage in July and soft discretionary spending.

Across its 856 supermarkets, earnings before interest and tax margin was 5.2 per cent – up from 4.8 per cent. The number was supported by cost control and containing theft and loss, which was a big issue last year, Ms Weckert added.

 

[mullokintyre]

COL 52 week high.
Not bad given it only went ex div on 3rd this month.
Mick

 

[divs4ever]

COLES RESPONSE TO ACCC PROCEEDINGS

Coles Group Limited (ASX:COL) was today advised that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has commenced civil proceedings against Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd in the Federal Court of Australia alleging contraventions of the Australian Consumer Law regarding the Coles Down Down program between February 2022 and May 2023.
The ACCC proceedings allege Coles increased the prices of at least 245 products before placing them on Down Down promotions at prices that were higher than, or the same as, the price at which each product had ordinarily been offered for sale before the price increase.
It is alleged that Coles made representations that the prices of the products were discounted and that these representations were false and misleading.
The allegations relate to a period of significant cost inflation when Coles was receiving a large number of cost price increases from our suppliers and, in addition, Coles’ own costs were rising, which led to an increase in the retail price of many products.
Coles sought to strike an appropriate balance between managing the impact of cost price increases on retail prices and offering value to customers through the recommencement of promotional activity as soon as possible after the establishment of the new non-promotional price.
In line with our values, Coles takes compliance with the Australian Consumer Law extremely seriously, and places great emphasis on building trust with all stakeholders, especially our customers.
Coles is acutely aware of the cost-of-living pressures affecting households and continually seeks to deliver value to our customers.
We do this in a variety of ways including promotional campaigns, every day low prices, Coles Own Brand and Flybuys.
The Down Down program is one type of promotional campaign involving a longer-term reduction in the retail price of a product, and has been important in delivering lower prices to our customers and driving volume for our suppliers for many years.

Coles intends to defend the proceedings.

i hold COL ( courtesy of the WES spin-off )

 

[finicky]

'Market Matters' morning note includes this thought on Coles:

Coles Group Ltd (COL) $18.03

Last week, we looked at rival Metcash, but as so often occurs, a lot can happen in a week! It is old news now how Woolworths (WOW) and Coles Group (COL) have fallen foul of the ACCC with over $4bn wiped off their combined market cap since the regulator accused them of telling shoppers they had dropped prices when they had actually increased them before they subsequently reduced them – doesn’t sound too good. The public regard of the big supermarkets is reminiscent of the banks during their regulatory scrutiny a few years ago, and with an election looming next year, politicians are likely to compound the mood in search of votes. However, the banks have rallied substantially from their lows after the banking enquiry 2017-19, and it could be the same for the major supermarkets this time, although the current process is likely to be much faster. Public opinion is expected to fall further as the ACCC findings are released, but where else will we shop? Nowhere in MM’s opinion. Aldi and independents are definite beneficiaries, and in today’s tough financial times, some consumers now do their primary shopping at Aldi and cherry-picking promotions at WOW & COL, leading to smaller basket sizes with higher promotional participation rates, at the majors, i.e. reduced margins. But over time, other tailwinds are likely to more than offset this small dent in earnings. The fines will likely be huge, with various eye-catching numbers tossed around. Hence, with uncertainty surrounding both, if MM were to buy the current pullback, we would like to do so on a cheap valuation—therein lies the issue. Coles, which has been our preferred pick of the two majors through 2024, is only trading 5% below its average P/E of the last 5-years, which is “ok” when we consider how briefly it’s dipped below 20x in recent years, but today its public enemy number one, or two, and it still feels rich, considering what’s unfolding. MM likes the risk/reward towards COL when it’s trading on a P/E sub 20x. Become a Member - Market Matters Become a Member Market Matters - ASX buy recommendations marketmatters.com.au Held

 

[Dona Ferentes]

 

[qldfrog]

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I offloaded wow after my first big shopping experience there this year .but sadly kept mts

 

[divs4ever]

I offloaded wow after my first big shopping experience there this year .but sadly kept mts

have recently bought back into MTS ( and willing to nibble more in a downtrend )

given the current trend of WOW finding ways to stumble , i sense a ( small ) window of opportunity for MTS ( i already hold some COL courtesy of WES demerger )

my WOW holding is completely de-risked , so can sit in the bottom drawer accumulating via the DRP