Wesfarmers chair Michael Chaney cashes in $2.8m in shares but won’t say how he’ll spend it

Wesfarmers chair Michael Chaney’s Christmas just got a bit merrier after he cashed in $2.8m in shares but he’s not sharing how he plans to spend it.

Wesfarmers chair Michael Chaney has offloaded $2.8m in shares. Pictures: Colin Murty

Wesfarmers chair Michael Chaney has given himself a Christmas bonus by cashing in $2.8m in shares but says how he plans to spend it will remain a secret.

Mr Chaney, who joined the retail conglomerate more than 40 years ago, sold 37,347 shares, 43 per cent of his holding, raising $2.8m for “financial planning purposes”.

The sale leaves him with 50,000 shares in the company, more than three times the holding of other directors apart from chief executive Rob Scott, who owns 1.1 million shares worth $41.1m and paying $1.2m in annual dividends.

Mr Chaney declined to comment further on the sale when asked by The Australian, apart from noting he still had a large shareholding and by definition could sell only if he didn’t know anything other shareholders didn’t know.

Mr Chaney was Wesfarmers managing director from 1992 to 2005 before retiring and returning 10 years later as chair, replacing Bob Every.

The sale of the shares comes as the retail sector remains under unprecedented focus from regulators and politicians.

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission and the Senate have launched probes alleged price gouging by supermarket giants Woolworths and Coles.

At the Wesfarmers annual meeting in October Mr Chaney defended the role of big business and hit out at “political leaders of all persuasions”.

The company that owns a portfolio of iconic brands, including Kmart, Bunnings and Officeworks, raked in $44bn in revenues across the 2024 financial year.

“There is, I believe, too little appreciation of the huge contribution large businesses like Wesfarmers make to the Australian economy, and it is worth pointing out just how significant that contribution is,” Mr Chaney said at the October AGM.

The company reported a statutory net profit after tax of $2.6bn for the full year ended June 30, an increase of 3.7 per cent on the previous year.

“Now for some external parties, profit seems to be a dirty word,” Mr Chaney told the AGM.

“But it is important to understand how profitable businesses are essential to our economy and future prosperity.

“For one thing, companies have to be profitable in order to continue to operate – to do everything I just listed, like employing people, sourcing products and services from suppliers, providing customers what they need, and supporting their communities.”

In 2001, when Mr Chaney was Wesfarmers managing director, he sold 200,000 shares, raising $6m and leaving him with 402,889 shares. At the time, his stated reason then was to invest in property.

The shares last week were sold at $75.53 a share compared to Friday’s close at $73.65, which reflected a 28.1 per cent gain for the year.

In December, Wesfarmers’ board told the ASX the company contributed $1.5bn in government taxes and other charges, paying an effective company tax rate for its Australian operations of 28.8 per cent.

It said Wesfarmers created wealth of $44.4bn, of which $6.3bn related to salaries, wages and other benefits to its 120,000 staff, $28.8bn to suppliers for raw materials and inventory, and $4.4bn for rent, freight, services and other external expenses.

Wesfarmers said it reinvested $1bn into the businesses, while distributing $2.2bn to its 495,000 shareholders in fully franked dividends.