For Bunnings UK and Ireland.
At its recent annual general meeting, newly appointed managing director, Rob Scott told shareholders that losses are expected to increase in the 2018 financial year for Bunnings in the United Kingdom and Ireland as trading remains challenging for Homebase as the conversion from Homebase to Bunnings continues.
“Our focus is on strengthening the management team to support the transformation and instilling stronger execution across the business. The establishment of Bunnings in the UK will take time and we will be disciplined with how we invest further capital,” he said.
On the contrary, the outlook for Bunnings Australia and New Zealand is positive given the strength of its customer offer, Scott said. Wesfarmers also expects further growth ahead for Kmart as it delivers customers exceptional value. “Following the growth of Kmart in recent years, Target now represents a much smaller part of our department stores division. Target continues to implement its transformation plan to improve performance,” Scott said.
He also noted that Officeworks continues to perform “extremely well” and will continue to implement its every channel strategy to drive growth in stores and online.