Wesfarmers reported FY25 EBIT of $4,186 million, growth of 5%. The result was helped by higher equity profits and lower depreciation, so EBITDA growth of 3% is a better proxy of the performance in the year. Bunnings, Kmart and Officeworks outlook for earnings growth is modest with limited margin expansion likely as depreciation rises and cost savings are largely offset by cost inflation. We expect WesCEF EBIT to fall 15% in FY26e given larger losses for lithium and lower ammonia prices.

Sigma reported FY25 network sales growth for Chemist Warehouse of 14% and EBIT at $903 million, up 47%. The company reported a continuation of double-digit like-for-like sales growth with a lift in profit margins for the underlying Chemist Warehouse business. We forecast EBIT growth of 22% in FY26e ahead of revenue growth of 15%. Margins will be helped by penetration of Wagner private label, operating leverage from strong comp sales and the increasing synergies over the next four years.

Lovisa reported FY25 EBIT of $139 million, up 8%. Gross margins improved 100bp, to 82.0%. The trading update of 5.6% comparable sales growth was an acceleration on the strong 2H25. We lift our sales and gross margin forecasts but also our cost assumptions given 27% cost growth in 2H25.

Harvey Norman reported FY25 PBT growth of 9% with much stronger growth of 19% in 2H25. Sales trends are strong at the start of FY26e, which bodes well for the year ahead. However, the company was lapping a weak result from a year ago. We forecast FY26e comp sales growth of 4.5% for Australia and 6.0% for New Zealand. With better sales, what profit margin upside can we expect? Given Harvey Norman’s margins are near long-term average and cost growth may rise in FY26e, we expect the operating leverage to be a little lower than usual. PBT margins may rise 70bp. We forecast group network sales growth of 6% and PBT growth of 18% in FY26e.

Domino’s reported FY25 EBIT of $198 million, down 5%. The result showed very weak sales trends across all geographies and EBIT margin declines for Asia are a concern given the significant store closures should have improved profitability.  Franchisee profitability is flat and well below healthy levels, raising the risk of more store closures. The decision to reduce discounting is dangerous in our view as the margin uplift may be wiped out by lower transaction volumes.

New Zealand has been a challenging retail market for most companies over the past 18 months. However, there are clear signs retail sales are likely to improve. Rate cuts of 250bp that began in August 2024 are starting to boost incomes and recent sales trends have been stronger. We expect NZ retail spending to rebound to 3.6% growth in FY26e, up from 0.6% growth in FY25. The three retailers with the largest sales exposure and upside to better NZ sales trends are Ampol, Harvey Norman and Bapcor.  NZ could account for 2%-3.5% in operating profit growth for these companies.

Endeavour Group reported a weak FY25 result with EBIT down 12%. There were mixed fortunes with Retail earnings down and Hotels up.  Recent sales trends suggest a similar dynamic in FY26e. However, we see more cost savings and less headwinds from its One Endeavour restructuring costs. We make EPS downgrades of 5% in both FY26e and FY27e given lower Retail sales and some gross margin pressure. Endeavour’s balance sheet has high gearing. When combined with its management changeover in January 2026, the risks are growing that an equity raising is used to improve its balance sheet and provide the capital to turnaround the business.

The Australian national accounts for the June 2025 quarter explain the strength in retail sales over the same time period. In the quarter, household income rose 7.6% and the seasonally adjusted savings rate dropped by one percentage point. Broader consumer spending rose 4.8% in the June quarter and retail spending rose 4.2%, the strongest rate of growth in two years. Can the retail sales momentum continue? With income growth likely to slow in FY26e, a further drop in savings will be needed to support retail spending. We expect retail spending to rise 3.9% in FY26e, ahead of FY25 at 3.3% growth.

The latest household spending indicator (replaces Retail Sales series) showed retail sales growth of 4.8% for July 2025, up from 3.8% in June 2025. The strongest growth was in “other” retailing, which includes online pure-play, pharmacy and recreational goods. Department stores had a surprisingly strong result and household goods was solid too. We expect growth rates to hover close to 4% over the remainder of 2025.

Coles reported FY25 EBIT up 7.5% on a 52-week basis. Growth was stronger in Supermarkets, partly offset declines in Liquor and higher overheads. Coles has had a strong start to FY26e sales in Supermarkets, which we largely attribute to market share gains. The combination of better sales, one-off costs from last year rolling off and supply chain savings should support group EBIT growth of 12.5% in FY26e. We expect growth to then step down to 5%-7% in FY27e and beyond.