Grocery retail giant Woolworths Ltd
(ASX:WOW) has reported an 11.4% rise in first half profit this morning and announced a $400 million share buyback.
Net profit after tax for the six months to December 31, 2009 came to $1.095 billion compared to $983 million for the same period a year ago.
Revenue rose 4.2% to $27.2 billion, with CEO Michael Luscombe saying the company has strongly grown profits while driving 3,500 prices in its Australian Supermarkets business lower than a year ago.
Woolworths declared an interim dividend of 53 cents a share up from 48 cents a share last year.
Woolworths reaffirmed its earnings guidance of between 8 and 11% growth for fiscal 2010 on an increase in sales in the upper single digits.
Woolworths fiscal 09 profit was $1.8 billion.
