The Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) share price will be one to watch on Thursday.
That's because the conglomerate has just released its half year results.
Let's see how the Bunnings and Kmart owner performed.
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Wesfarmers share price on watch on results day
- Revenue up 3.6% to $23.49 billion
- Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) up 4.7% to $2.3 billion
- Net profit after tax up 2.9% to $1.47 billion
- Earnings per share up 2.9% to 129.4 cents
- Fully franked interim dividend up 4.4% to 95 cents per share
What happened during the half?
For the six months ended 31 December, Wesfarmers reported a 3.6% increase in revenue to $23.49 billion thanks to growth across almost all segments.
The key Bunnings business reported a 3.1% increase in sales to $10.26 billion. Whereas Kmart Group recorded a 2% lift in sales to $6.2 billion. Management notes that their everyday low prices, market-leading offers, and strong execution supported transaction and sales growth.
Wesfarmers' Officeworks segment recorded a 4.7% lift in sales to $1.75 billion. This was driven by above-market growth in technology.
The star performer during the half was the WesCEF segment, which recorded a 9.5% increase in sales to $1.2 billion after benefiting from spodumene concentrate sales and higher fertiliser sales volumes.
Close behind was the Wesfarmers Health business, which delivered an 8.9% jump in revenue to $3 billion. This was supported by growth in the consumer segment, including the acquisition of SILK Laser, and higher sales in pharmaceutical wholesale.
These businesses helped offset softer performances from the Industrial and Safety segment and the Catch online business. Though, the latter is now be wound down.
On the bottom line, Wesfarmers reported a 2.9% increase in net profit after tax to $1.47 billion. This allowed the company's board to increase its fully franked interim dividend by 4.4% to 95 cents per share.
How does this compare to expectations?
It looks like this result could have fallen short of expectations for sales but outperformed on earnings.
For example, the team at Goldman Sachs was forecasting sales growth of 6.3%, EBIT growth of 2.4%, and earnings per share growth of 2.8%.
Whereas Wesfarmers reported growth of 3.6%, 4.7%, and 2.9%, respectively.
Management commentary
Wesfarmers' managing director, Rob Scott, was pleased with the result in a challenging environment. He said:
During the half, cost of living and cost of doing business pressures continued to significantly impact many households and businesses. In this environment, the divisions remained focused on long-term shareholder value creation, investing in even greater value, service and convenience for customers. Proactive efficiency and digitisation initiatives helped mitigate higher costs, while enabling divisions to enhance the customer experience.
The Group's largest divisions performed well, with Bunnings and Kmart Group's everyday low prices, market-leading offers and strong execution driving growth in transactions, sales and earnings. The retail divisions benefited from households prioritising value, and from new and expanded ranges and offerings that helped grow their addressable markets.
Outlook
No guidance has been given for the remainder of FY 2025. However, Wesfarmers revealed that its retail divisions continued to trade well in the first six weeks of the second half. It said:
Bunnings and Officeworks maintained solid sales momentum, with sales growth broadly in line with the first half of the 2025 financial year. Kmart Group's sales growth was stronger compared to the first half of the 2025 financial year, supported by its unique Anko product offer.
The Wesfarmers share price is up 22% over the past 12 months.
