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Wesfarmers

The Wesfarmers Way, Long-term growth

To deliver a satisfactory return to shareholders
Wesfarmers’ primary objective

The Wesfarmers Way

Wesfarmers owns a portfolio of businesses, led by Bunnings hardware stores and Kmart, with Officeworks, a chemicals, energy, and fertilisers division, a health business, and a lithium mine. Each division runs itself, measured on its return on capital, under one objective and four strategies.

Strengthen existing businesses through operating excellence and satisfying customer needs

  • Low prices. Keep Bunnings on its pillars of lowest prices, widest range, and best experience, and Kmart on everyday low prices.
  • Productivity. Run productivity agendas the ‘People-first, Digitally-enabled’ way, digitising operations and using AI to cut costs.
Year to 30 June 2026
  • Bunnings’ earnings rose 5.1% to $2,455 million and Kmart Group’s 6.0% to $1,109 million, after its retailers cut prices on thousands of products.
  • Officeworks’ earnings fell 22.2% on the one-off costs of moving to a low-cost operating model.

Bunnings earns more than the other five divisions combined

Wesfarmers’ revenue grew 3.4% to $47.3 billion in 2026 and its profit 8.3% to $2.9 billion. Bunnings made $2,455 million of it before tax, more than the other five divisions combined, and Kmart Group $1,109 million.

Bunnings Group$2.5bn+5.1%Kmart Group$1.1bn+6%WesCEF$473m+18.5%Officeworks$165m−22.2%Wesfarmers Health$76m+18.8%Industrial and Safety$76m−26.9%

Earnings before tax and revenue in 2026, on one scale for each measure; changes are on 2025. Industrial and Safety’s 2025 included Coregas, since sold, and it moved into Bunnings Group on 1 July 2026.

Lithium above nameplate at Mt Holland

WesCEF’s share of spodumene concentrate from the Mt Holland mine was 209,000 tonnes in 2026, above both guidance and its share of nameplate capacity. The refinery’s ramp-up was slowed by odour issues, and Wesfarmers plans about $200 million in 2027 to expand the mine and concentrator.

Nameplate share, about 190kt

209kt

WesCEF’s share of spodumene concentrate in 2026. For 2027 Wesfarmers expects production in line with nameplate, about 190kt for its share.

The pile’s area is the year’s tonnes; its outline is WesCEF’s share of nameplate capacity.

  1. Measure each business on the capital it uses.

    Wesfarmers judges its divisions on return on capital, and Bunnings earned 69.2% in 2026. We recommend measuring each part of a business on what it earns from the money it ties up, so growth never hides a poor return.

  2. Keep the objective above the strategies.

    Wesfarmers has one primary objective, a satisfactory return to shareholders, and four strategies in service of it. We recommend writing the objective first and testing every strategy against it, so the plan has one answer to what it is for.

  3. Let the divisions run themselves.

    Wesfarmers gives each division a management team accountable for its own long-term strategy and day-to-day performance, with capital and support from the centre. We recommend deciding what the centre owns and what each business owns, and writing it down.

Sources

  1. 1. Wesfarmers Limited (2026). 2026 Annual Report. Wesfarmers. wesfarmers.com.au
  2. 2. Wesfarmers Limited (2026). 2026 Full-year results. ASX announcement, 27 August 2026. s2.listcorp.com

Headwater is not connected with Wesfarmers. Wesfarmers, Bunnings, Kmart, Anko, Officeworks, Priceline, Blackwoods, and OnePass are trade marks of their owners. Updated 29 September 2026.

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