SYDNEY, June 27, 2026, 09:02 (AEST)
- Coles shares finished Friday at A$24.41, rising 1.5%. Volume reached 2.10 million at the 4 p.m. AEST update, according to Coles Group.
- The stock ended right at its 52-week high. Friday’s volume came in roughly one-third under the 3.08 million average, according to Google Finance.
- Coles and Woolworths will have their supermarket prices watched by the ACCC starting July 1, as a new excessive-pricing ban kicks in. ACCC
- Coles has set Aug. 25 for its FY26 investor day. The July pricing review comes first and is the next near-term event before those full-year numbers. Coles Group
Coles Group Ltd ASX:COL ended the financial-year trading week at its highest level in a year, a defensive trade ahead of a new regulator file opening on supermarket margins.
Coles ended the week up 3.2%, climbing from A$23.66 to A$24.41 after moving higher in four out of five sessions. Shares finished at their session high on Friday. The ASX is closed Saturdays, so Friday’s close is the last trade. Investing
S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) edged up 15.5 points, or 0.18%, to 8,764.20 on Friday. Consumer staples and miners led gains. Woolworths Group Ltd ASX:WOW was up 0.75%. Coles gained 1.45%. That was a stronger move than the broader market. News
Volume is the key metric here. Coles reached a 52-week high, but only on 2.10 million shares, which is under its usual 3.08 million average. The high didn’t come with big volume, so this wasn’t a big re-rating trade. Instead, the stock pushed higher on light turnover. Investors tend to use it as an earnings safe haven when the index is volatile.
Coles shares are trading at a premium now, with a price-earnings of 32.28 and dividend yield at 2.99%, according to Google Finance. The stock sits roughly 21% over its 52-week low of A$20.10, so investors are paying up for steady supermarket cash flow even as pricing rules tighten. Google
ACCC to start tracking big supermarket prices from July 1
The ACCC said Friday it will start monitoring supermarket pricing from July 1. The new rule hits supermarket giants with more than A$30 billion yearly sales. That means only Coles and Woolworths right now. There’s no set line for excessive grocery prices; regulators will check supply costs and what they consider a reasonable margin. ACCC
ACCC Acting Chair Catriona Lowe said grocery prices are still a “key concern” and the regulator will look closely at products where excessive pricing could “cause the most harm to consumers”. The ACCC said it will use reports from consumers and suppliers along with supermarket pricing, margins and sales revenue to make its product list. ACCC
July 1 is now a data point for shareholders. Big supermarkets have to hang onto pricing records for at least three years—covering retail prices, sales figures, purchase and running costs, and what they pay suppliers. The ACCC can look at those records if anything flags in its checks. ACCC
Ray Steinwall, an adjunct professor at UNSW Law, said this week the law will be “tough to apply” and puts big supermarkets “on notice” that their pricing is “being watched”. Steinwall noted the rule doesn’t define what counts as a significantly excessive price or set a benchmark for reasonable profit. UNSW Sites
Coles’ most recent operating update offers some reasons for the share price holding up. Supermarket sales revenue climbed 4.0% in the third quarter, or 5.7% if tobacco is left out. eCommerce sales for supermarkets jumped 24.8%. Liquor sales dropped 3.9%. Chief Executive Leah Weckert described supermarket growth as “above-market sales growth.” She said inflation, excluding tobacco, eased to 0.8% from 1.7% in the second quarter. Investing
That shifts next week’s focus squarely onto margins instead of total sales. Coles is up with investors thanks to gains in supermarket volumes, but shares are close to their high while the ACCC looks ready to examine the detailed price, cost and margin numbers supporting that growth.
