Low-price retailer Big W has reported a 122.5 per cent lift in its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), hitting $70 million for the first half of FY26.
This comes off the back of a 1.8 per cent lift in total sales to $2.64 billion.
This also joins a gross margin bump up by 83 basis points to 31.2 per cent, with EBIT to sales percentage up 143 basis points to 2.6 per cent.
Most of the total sales lift came from its e-commerce channel, with sales there up 12.5 per cent or by $36 million to $331 million.
Store sales lifted just 0.5 per cent to $2.3 billion.
Big W also reported a doubling in sales for its marketplace channel, with total sales there hitting $33 million.
“Total dollars transacted under the Big W brand (total gross transaction value sales) increased by 5.8 per cent,” the retailer’s parent company Woolworths Group reported. “Significant clearance activity in the prior year led to lower items during the half, with a comparable item decline of 1.5 per cent.
“However, this was offset by an increase in average selling prices from a higher mix of full price sales.”
By trading segment, Big W’s clothing category is reportedly improving, benefitting from an improved range and availability, with improvements in the quality and weight of spring/summer stock and a cleaner F25 autumn/winter exit.
Matching the jump in e-comerce sales, Woolworths Group reported that online GTV sales of $562 million increased 35.1 per cent compared to the prior year, with eCommerce GTV penetration reaching 19.5 per cent in the half. This is 4.2 points above the prior year.
Average weekly traffic to the Big W website and app increased by 18 per cent in the half.
The retailer also noted that stock loss increased on the prior year due to the completion of its radio frequency identification (RFID) rollout in clothing in the half, and is expected to normalise over the financial year.
“CODB (%) decreased by 60 bps to 28.5 per cent, with lower depreciation and amortisation resulting from the F25 impairment, productivity improvements, and above-store cost savings partially offset by the addition of marketplace costs following the integration of Big W Market into Big W during the half.”
Looking into the new year, Woolworth Group reported that Big W remains on track to be EBIT and cash flow positive in F26. However, the overarching company added that Big W’s profitability is significantly weighted to the first half.
Sales in the first seven weeks of the second half are flat on the prior year, with higher growth in full-priced sales offset somewhat by lower clearance sales.