Woolworths Gains Even as ASX 200 Drops, Defensives in Demand

Woolworths Gains Even as ASX 200 Drops, Defensives in Demand

June 11, 2026

Sydney, June 11, 2026, 17:11 AEST

Woolworths Group ended Thursday at A$38.09, matching its session high after bouncing from a low of A$37.63, per the company’s own share-price page. Woolworths outperformed the broader Australian market, with the S&P/ASX 200 dropping 20.10 points, or 0.23%, to 8,633.20.

Woolworths finished Wednesday at A$37.63, adding A$1.15, or 3.15%. The move came as consumer staples stocks rallied. The S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Staples Index jumped 3.87% to 12,657.00 in the same session. Coles and other retail shares also traded higher.

Supermarket stocks traded higher as investors looked at rising oil, inflation concerns, and geopolitical uncertainty. “Consumer staples such as Coles and Woolworths gained as investors sought the relative safety of businesses with resilient demand,” Marc Jocum, senior product and investment strategist at Global X ETFs, told ABC. ABC News

Woolworths moves jobs offshore, shares rise

ABC said Woolworths plans to offshore hundreds of corporate jobs, with the consultation process set to start on Wednesday. The company would not say how many of its about 10,000 corporate staff might go, and did not confirm details. ABC reported teams in People, IT and Finance are expected to be hit. Woolworths shares traded 1.75% higher at A$37.12 by midday Wednesday.

The latest ASX announcements for Woolworths didn’t include a new price-sensitive trading update over the last 48 hours. The list had a June 5 Appendix 3Y for Scott Perkins and showed “Third Quarter Sales Results” from April 30 as the most recent price-sensitive operating update. Australian Securities Exchange

Woolworths said in April that third-quarter group sales rose 4.5% from last year to A$18.095 billion. Australian Food sales climbed 5.9% to A$13.828 billion. Group eCommerce sales hit A$2.7 billion, up 20.2%. Woolworths said the outlook was more uncertain but said it would keep its focus on being customers’ first choice.

Woolworths CEO Amanda Bardwell said in the Q3 update that the Middle East conflict was “creating greater uncertainty for our customers, suppliers and team.” Later, Woolworths said it stood by its outlook for Australian Food EBIT growth in fiscal 2026, expecting mid-to-high single digits, but dropped the line about reaching the upper end of the band. Direct fuel costs in Q4 and spending to support shoppers through higher inflation were cited by the company.

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