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Wesfarmers is not a supermarket equivalent to Woolworths or Coles: it is a diversified group with major businesses in home improvement, discount department stores and chemicals, alongside other retail and industrial operations. Its FY2026 results show scale and earnings from several divisions, but the available figures do not establish which of the three shares is cheaper or likely to deliver the best return. To compare them, separate business mix from financial performance, and compare valuation measures only when their definitions and dates match.
How is Wesfarmers different from Woolworths and Coles?
Wesfarmers’ results reflect a mix of businesses rather than a supermarket-led group. In FY2026, its largest divisional contributors included Bunnings Group, Kmart Group and WesCEF. Other operations include Officeworks, Wesfarmers Health, Industrial and Safety, and its lithium business. Woolworths Group and Coles Group are more concentrated in retail food, although each has other activities. That difference matters: their sales, margins, investment needs and exposure to consumer or industrial conditions do not arise from identical business models.
Wesfarmers Managing Director Rob Scott said the company’s businesses worked to mitigate cost pressures through productivity initiatives. That is management’s account of the result, not an independent assessment of whether those actions will continue to support earnings. See the Wesfarmers FY2026 results announcement for the company’s full commentary and reporting details.
What do the latest FY2026 figures show?
The companies’ reported figures offer a snapshot of scale, but the measures are not all directly comparable. Wesfarmers’ reporting period ended 30 June 2026. Coles’ figures below are rounded highlights, and its EBIT is explicitly stated excluding significant items. Woolworths’ official results archive lists FY2026 reports dated 26 August 2026, but comparable figures are not stated on the archive page itself.
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| Company | FY2026 reported figures available here | How to read them |
|---|---|---|
| Wesfarmers | Revenue: A$47,274 million; group EBIT: A$4,493 million; statutory NPAT: A$2,874 million; fully franked ordinary dividends: 222 cents per share. Source: FY2026 results. | Revenue rose 3.4% year on year. Statutory NPAT fell 1.8%, while NPAT excluding prior-year significant items rose 8.3%. FY2026 had no significant items; FY2025 included items related to the Coregas sale, winding up a property structure and Catch transition costs. State whether a comparison is statutory or adjusted. |
| Coles Group | Group sales revenue: A$45.6 billion; group EBIT excluding significant items: A$2.3 billion; NPAT: A$1.1 billion. Source: FY2026 investor highlights. | These are rounded company highlights. EBIT excluding significant items should not be treated as equivalent to another company’s statutory or differently adjusted EBIT. |
| Woolworths Group | Comparable revenue, EBIT, NPAT and dividend values are not stated on the linked results-archive page. Source: FY2026 results archive. | The archive lists the FY2026 full-year announcement, presentation and annual report dated 26 August 2026. Use those documents to extract the figures before making a three-company numerical ranking. |
Wesfarmers also reported Bunnings revenue of A$20,399 million and segment earnings of A$2,455 million; Kmart Group revenue of A$11,751 million and earnings of A$1,109 million; and WesCEF revenue of A$3,138 million and earnings of A$473 million. In the segment table, “earnings” are presented after lease interest, so they are not the same measure as group EBIT. These figures help show where Wesfarmers’ reported activity sits, but should not be added or compared with another group’s EBIT without checking scope and accounting definitions. Wesfarmers FY2026 results.
How should you compare these retail shares?
A useful comparison needs more than revenue or headline profit. Build it from aligned measures, using the same reporting period, accounting basis and market date wherever possible.
- Map business exposure. Identify each group’s main businesses and how much earnings depend on food retail, discretionary retail, home improvement or industrial activities. A diversified group can have different growth drivers and risks from a supermarket-focused company.
- Compare sales growth on a consistent basis. Separate total revenue growth from like-for-like sales growth where the companies disclose it. Acquisitions, disposals and changes in business scope can move total revenue without showing the performance of established stores.
- Align profitability measures. Check whether EBIT or NPAT is statutory, adjusted, before or after significant items, and whether segment figures include lease interest. Do not rank one company’s adjusted EBIT against another’s statutory EBIT as if they were identical.
- Check cash generation, capital needs and leverage. Review operating cash flow, capital expenditure, lease obligations, debt and other balance-sheet commitments in the full annual reports. Profit alone does not show how much cash is available for investment, debt reduction or shareholder distributions.
- Assess dividends in context. Compare dividend per share, franking, payout against earnings and cash flow, and whether the payment is ordinary or special. A larger dividend figure by itself does not show that a dividend is more sustainable.
- Compare valuation at one market date. Use consistent share prices and share counts to calculate measures such as price-to-earnings or enterprise value relative to earnings. Match the earnings period and definition to the valuation measure, and account for debt and leases where relevant.
For the underlying disclosures, use the companies’ primary-source pages: Wesfarmers investor centre, Woolworths ASX announcements and Coles investor page.
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteWhich share is cheaper based on the reported prices?
None can be identified as cheaper from the nominal share prices alone. The latest retrieved snapshots here are dated 2 October 2026; they are not a synchronized three-company valuation comparison.
| Share | Reported price | Qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Wesfarmers (WES) | A$76.22 on 2 October 2026 | Nominal price; check the Wesfarmers investor centre for a current quote. |
| Coles (COL) | A$23.03 on 2 October 2026 | Nominal price; check the Coles investor page for current investor information. |
| Woolworths (WOW) | Not available in the retrieved text of the official share-price page | Use the company’s share-price tools to check a current quote. |
A share’s price per unit does not reveal what the market is paying for each dollar of earnings or cash flow. The WES and COL figures are also dated, so they should not be treated as current quotes after 2 October 2026.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the available comparison does—and does not—establish
The FY2026 figures show that Wesfarmers and Coles reported revenue or sales revenue of similar broad scale, while their reported NPAT figures differ. Those numbers alone do not establish relative profitability or investment value: the reporting measures, business mix and significant-item treatment need to be checked, and a comparable Woolworths figure must be taken from its full-year documents. The figures available here also do not provide synchronized valuation multiples, forecasts or enough aligned cash-flow and balance-sheet evidence to name the cheapest share or predict which will deliver the best return.
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This is a general company comparison, not personalized financial advice. Before acting, review the latest company reports and ASX announcements, refresh market prices, and consider whether each business’s risks and dividend profile fit your circumstances.
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