Big W’s earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) for the first half of FY24 is expected to be “materially below” the prior year, according to its parent company Woolworths Group.
The latest expectations come after Big W recorded a 5.5% decline in sales over the first quarter of FY24 in October last year, to $1.13 billion.
Woolworths Group claimed it was a more challenging half for Big W, as well as its New Zealand Food segment, with its core Australian Food market - including supermarkets and WooliesX - remaining solid.
Woolworths Group’s unaudited EBIT is expected to be between $1.682 billion to $1.699 billion, up from $1.637 million in the first half of FY23. This represented an EBIT growth in the range of 2.8%-3.8%.