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There is no sound basis in the available figures for naming Endeavour Group, Coles or Woolworths the best investment. They have different business mixes, and the reported figures here cover different financial years and use different measures. Endeavour combines liquor retail with licensed hotels; Coles and Woolworths are food-led retailers with liquor operations. Compare segment performance, cash generation, debt and leases, dividends and valuation—not headline sales alone.
This comparison is dated 4 October 2026. It uses Endeavour’s detailed FY25 operating figures, Coles’ FY26 results highlights and the confirmed release date of Woolworths’ FY26 results. It is company analysis, not personal financial advice.
How the businesses differ
Endeavour Group: liquor retail plus hotels
Endeavour operates Dan Murphy’s and BWS, alongside a portfolio of licensed hotels. The company describes its network as more than 1,740 stores and 350 hotels, with more than 5.6 million active My Dan’s members. Those are company-reported descriptions, not independent measures of market share.
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The distinction matters to an investor: liquor retail and hotels have different trading drivers, and Endeavour reports them as separate segments. A group total can therefore conceal opposing trends within the business.
#1 Best Overall
Coles: food-led retail with liquor and digital operations
Coles is the most food-led of the three comparisons, while also operating liquor stores. Its FY25 strategy described three priorities: being a destination for food and drink, developing a digital omnichannel experience, and improving operational efficiency while investing in its network.
Woolworths: broad food retail, with figures to check in its FY26 report
Woolworths Group publishes results for its Australian Food, New Zealand Food, BIG W and Group businesses. Its FY26 full-year results were dated 26 August 2026. Use Woolworths Group’s Australian reporting; do not confuse it with Woolworths Holdings Limited, the South African company.
Rank #2
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What the reported figures say—and do not say
The figures below are useful starting points, not a like-for-like ranking. Endeavour’s detailed numbers are FY25; Coles’ highlights are FY26. Woolworths’ FY26 figures are not stated in the information summarized here, so no numeric three-company comparison is presented.
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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →| Company and period | Reported figures | Important qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Endeavour Group, FY25 | A$12.058 billion Group sales; A$926 million Group EBIT; A$426 million attributable NPAT. | Endeavour’s FY25 annual report. FY25 had 52 weeks; FY24 had 53. Use the report’s normalised 52-week comparisons for year-on-year segment trends. |
| Coles Group, FY26 | A$45.6 billion group sales revenue; A$2.3 billion group EBIT excluding significant items; A$1.1 billion NPAT. | Coles FY26 results highlights. The EBIT figure excludes significant items; consult the annual report for its statutory reconciliation and segment detail. |
| Woolworths Group, FY26 | Group and segment figures: not stated in the figures summarized here. | Woolworths FY26 results were dated 26 August 2026. Use that report to obtain aligned segment, earnings, cash-flow and balance-sheet figures before comparing results. |
Do not divide one company’s earnings by another’s sales to infer relative profitability. The periods differ, the businesses have different segment mixes, and Coles’ EBIT figure explicitly excludes significant items. A meaningful margin comparison requires consistent periods and definitions, with adjustments clearly identified.
Why Endeavour’s FY25 segment split matters
Retail was weaker; hotels grew
Endeavour reported FY25 Retail sales of A$9.950 billion and Hotels sales of A$2.108 billion. On its normalised 52-week comparison, Retail sales fell 1.2%, while Hotels sales rose 4.1%. The different directions are more informative than the group sales total by itself.
Endeavour attributed Retail pressure to subdued liquor spending and supply-chain disruption that reduced product availability during the Christmas peak. Hotels sales grew over the same normalised comparison. These explanations are the company’s account of performance, not an independent assessment of the causes.
Online growth is not a direct cross-company score
Endeavour said Retail online sales grew 7.0% in FY25 and represented 8.7% of Retail sales. Coles reported 26.4% Supermarkets eCommerce sales growth in FY26. The percentages have different periods and denominators: one is Endeavour Retail online sales growth and penetration, the other is Coles Supermarkets eCommerce growth. They cannot establish which company has the stronger digital business or better online economics.
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For another period-specific Coles reference, its FY25 results reported Supermarkets eCommerce sales growth of 24.4% and normalised Liquor eCommerce sales growth of 7.2%. Those FY25 channel figures should not be compared directly with Endeavour’s Retail online metric without aligning definitions and periods.
Costs and strategy need follow-up in later reporting
Endeavour recorded A$80 million of One Endeavour costs in FY25. The company described One Endeavour as a program to build a standalone technology platform independent from Woolworths. Treat that as a FY25 program description; later reporting is needed to establish its current status, costs and results.
In her FY25 annual-report statement, then-CEO Kate Beattie said Endeavour remained confident in its brands, assets and licences, and the resilience of its businesses. That is management’s view, not independent evidence of future performance.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What to compare before forming an investment view
Headline growth answers only part of the investment question. For all three companies, use the same reporting period where possible, separate each major business, and check how reported or adjusted measures are defined.
- Segment sales and earnings: Compare the relevant food, liquor, hotel and other operations separately. Check whether reported growth is like-for-like, includes new sites, or has been adjusted for a different number of trading weeks.
- Margins and cash generation: Review operating margins alongside operating cash flow. Sales growth alone does not show how much cash a business generates or how efficiently it uses capital.
- Debt and leases: Compare borrowings and lease obligations on a consistent basis. Store and hotel networks can carry substantial lease commitments, so debt figures that exclude leases may not describe the full fixed-payment burden.
- Capital expenditure: Check spending on store renewals, new sites, hotels, supply chains and technology against cash generation. A large network or digital investment is not automatically an advantage; its returns matter.
- Dividends: Review dividends per share, payout relative to earnings and cash flow, and the company’s balance-sheet capacity. Yield changes with the share price and should be calculated using a stated price date and dividend basis.
- Valuation: Refresh share prices and compare consistent trailing or forecast measures. Current comparable valuation inputs are not stated here, so these results alone cannot show which share is cheaper.
Can you rank the three shares from these results?
No. Endeavour’s FY25 figures and Coles’ FY26 highlights are not simultaneous, and Woolworths’ FY26 figures are needed for a current three-way comparison. Even aligned operating results would not settle the investment question without comparable valuation, debt and lease, cash-flow, capital-spending and dividend analysis. The sensible next step is to read all three FY26 annual reports and compare their definitions and reporting periods before drawing a ranking.
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