As at 26 September 2025

Executive Summary

Key highlights

In this report, we assess WHL’s FY25 results, released in September 2025, and evaluate their implications on our view.
Financial results at a glance:
• During the period, the group saw sales up 6.1%, adEBIT down 10.9% and adHEPS down 19.2%.
• Sales performance was largely led by the Food segment, which was up 11% with 7.7% LFL growth and price
movement of 5.3% showcasing positive volume growth, presenting a strong hold when it comes to its customer base. FBH’s sales were up 4.7% with LFL sales up 5.1% and price inflation of 5.3% showcasing flat volumes as the segment pushes towards more full-priced sales in its strategy. CRG was down 5.4% in A$, with LFL down 6.8% being a testament to the bleak macro backdrop in Australia, which also saw the segment’s GP margin down 390bps.
• adEBIT performance was largely a factor of CRG’s 135.3% underperformance due to a negative macro backdrop in Australia, FBH’s -9.1% performance driven by operating expense growth of 5.7% and Financial Services -3.1% performance driven by a 3.5% decrease in net interest income. The performance of the three segments offset the performance of Food (+7.4%), driven by strong LFL sales growth and cost control to expand its GP margin by 20bps.
• FY26’s first seven weeks see Food’s sales up 6.9% (1H26 price inflation expected between 4.5%-5.5%), FBH sales up 8.3% (1H26 price inflation expected between 4.5%-5.5%) and CRG’s sales up 1.2%. CRG’s first seven weeks’ performance shows improvement in momentum compared to FY25’s performance of the segment.

Analyst thesis

Our recommendation is based on:
• Low valuations on a risk-adjusted basis, considering all three segments and the current consumer environment.
• We expect Food to continue to be a stellar performer, holding its margins and expanding on volumes while
increasing prices.
• CRG provides upside potential from a recovery in consumer spending with easing inflation and decreasing interest
rates.
• We expect FBH’s turnaround to continue with full-priced sales being a large portion of its revenue.
• However, considering the upside, we highlight risks presented by the consumer environments in both clothing regions (South Africa and Australia). Consumers in both regions continue to face macro pressure as evident in CRG’s performance and FBH’s volume pressure. We anticipate the risks to be offset by the strength of the Food business.