How did the Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) share price perform over the first quarter of the 2022 financial year? As you probably know, we run on a 'July to June' financial year here in Australia. That means the first 3-month quarter of the financial year runs from 1 July to 30 September.
Well, that's the quarter we've officially just finished up with. So how did Woolworths go?
Woolworths share price has strong start to FY22
Well, let's first start off with the broader S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). It turns out that the ASX 200 had a pretty uneventful quarter, just going on the numbers. It started the financial year at 7,313 points, and finished up at 7,332.2 points on Thursday. That puts its quarterly performance at a gain of 0.26%. Not terrible, but nothing to write home about, one could say.
So let's get to the Woolworths share price. Woolies started the financial year at a share price of $38.13. On Thursday, Woolworths shares closed at $39.13, up exactly $1 as it turns out. That puts the company's quarterly performance at 2.62%, a lot healthier than the ASX 200.
It's the first full quarter Woolworths has had since the supermarket giant spun out its drinks and liquor division as Endeavour Group Ltd (ASX: EDV) in late June. This would have helped pad out the returns of any Woolworths shareholders who have owned the company since before the spin-off. That's because Endeavour shares have fared even better than Woolworths over the quarter just gone, rising by almost 11%.
Woolworths delivered its well-received FY21 earnings report during the quarter, back in August to be specific. Back on 26 August, the company announced sales growth of 5.7% to $67.28 billion and an increase in earnings before interest and tax of 13.7% to $3.66 billion.
Woolies also flagged a dividend increase for the company's final dividend for FY21, which will come in at 55 cents per share. Investors will receive this payout on 8 October. In addition, Woolworths announced a $2 billion off-market share buyback program, which was also well-received from investors at the time.
