Strong sales lift supermarket giant Woolworths to huge $1.5bn profit

SUPERMARKET giant Woolies has outstripped rival Coles for the third consecutive quarter, posting a massive full-year profit.

Supermarket giant Woolies has unveiled a $1.53 billion full-year profit. Picture: Supplied

WOOLWORTHS has unveiled a $1.53 billion full-year profit and lifted its crucial comparable food sales by 3.6 per cent per cent, suggesting heavy grocery discounting is pulling shoppers back to the supermarket giant.

Woolies has bounced back from last year’s writedown-heavy $1.23 billion loss as comparable supermarket food sales rose 6.4 per cent in the fourth quarter.

This outstripped fierce rival Coles for a third consecutive quarter.

But Woolworths’ discount department store Big W has continued to perform poorly,

It had a pre-tax earnings loss of $150.5 million and another 5.8 per cent fall in sales.