Coles Liquor has announced its FY26 results, with sales revenue declining by 3.3% in FY26 to $3.5 billion as a result of “ongoing cost-of-living pressures and subdued consumer sentiment”.

However, Coles said its rate of decline moderating to 2.5% in the fourth quarter. It also reported positive sales growth across its convenience portfolio for the year, which accounts for more than 90% of its store footprint, with growing demand for convenience, product innovation and smaller pack sizes influencing channel and category mix.

It follows Endeavour Group announcing its FY26 results, which saw sales rise 1.3% to $12.2 billion.

Both major retails noted that promotional activity across the sector was elevated, particularly in the large format end of the market.

Coles said: “The financial result for FY26 was below our expectations. We have completed a strategic review of the business and are now executing a program to improve the financial performance by creating a more integrated food and drink proposition, optimising the store network and simplifying the operating model.

Coles Group Managing Director & CEO Leah Weckert said the company’s performance was pleasing given the challenging operating environment, including continued cost-ofliving pressures, geopolitical uncertainty and greater regulatory complexity.

“We are now investing in the next phase of growth, including through an accelerated store opening and renewal program, coupled with a clear strategy to improve the performance of our liquor business which will ensure Coles can maintain its growth trajectory,” she said.

Moves to close under-performing stores

Coles said it was executing a multi-year program to reposition its liquor business in response to changing consumer
preferences.

The program is focused on:

• Creating a more integrated food and drink experience across supermarkets and liquor through eCommerce and loyalty platforms and introducing relevant grocery ranges into liquor stores
• Optimising the network, with greater emphasis on supermarket co-locations
• Simplifying the operating model by consolidating above-store functions, removing duplication and streamlining
  decision-making. New enterprise arrangements will also provide greater flexibility for team members to work
  across the supermarket and liquor store networks.

As part of this program, in FY26, Coles opened 16 co-located stores, closed 26 stores and commenced integrating a
number of supermarkets and liquor systems to improve insights and decisions.

This program will continue in FY27, with approximately 20 new co-located stores scheduled to open and approximately 30 stores to close as part of the company’s staged exit from non-strategic locations.

Coles said its sales trajectory in liquor strengthened across the first eight weeks of FY27 relative to 4Q FY26. It said its convenience portfolio continued to deliver positive growth, while performance in the warehouse portfolio also improved.