Margin Call: Roger Corbett still very much riding on Woolworths’ wagon
Some shoppers on social media went nuts, apparently not convinced by Corbett’s racial analogy.
There were calls for a Woolies boycott in protest over Corbett’s televisual intervention, prompting the company to issue a statement declaring he was a “former employee” whose views didn’t reflect those of the group.
The only complication is that Corbett, who lives by the harbour at Mosman, is still very much part of the group.
When Corbett finished his stint as a “consultant” to the Woolies board mid-last year he was thrown a bone in the form of a director’s seat — the chairmanship no less — of revenue and profit booze powerhouse ALH Group, which is 75 per cent owned by Woolworths and 25 per cent by pub baron and Corbett’s friend Bruce Mathieson.
In the year to the end of June, ALH turned over $4.3 billion for a bottom line profit of $207 million (that’s about 15 per cent of Woolies’ total earnings). Demonstrating Corbett is far from opposed to all things worldly, ALH’s expansive portfolio includes electronic gaming, sports bars, bistros, restaurants, cafes, retail liquor, accommodation, nightclubs and wagering assets.
The group employs 15,500 staff nationwide at more than 330 licensed venues and in excess of 550 retail liquor outlets that include alcohol warehouse Dan Murphy’s and sister chain BWS.
Corbett was a director of ALH between 2002 and 2008, much of that stint overlapping with his time as Woolies CEO.
His recent appointment to the chair means he now signs-off on the ALH audited accounts.
An ALH spokesman declined to comment on Corbett’s pay as chairman or on his comments concerning same sex marriage.
But if you follow the money, it’s clearly still a broad, boozy church in the wider Woolies empire.
Beer anyone?
Read the full Margin Call column tomorrow in print and online
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