Wesfarmers posts higher earnings, lifts dividend in FY26 results

The Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) share price is in focus today after the company posted a statutory net profit after tax (NPAT) of $2,874 million for FY26, supported by strong results from Bunnings, Kmart Group and WesCEF, and a higher fully-franked ordinary dividend.

What did Wesfarmers report?

• Revenue rose 3.4% to $47,274 million
• Statutory NPAT of $2,874 million (down 1.8% vs FY25 including significant items; up 8.3% excluding them)
• Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) grew 7.3% (excluding significant items)
• Full-year fully-franked ordinary dividend up 7.8% to 222 cents per share
• Free cash flow increased 15.8% to $3,992 million
• Return on equity (R12) improved to 35.5%

What else do investors need to know?

The year saw strong performances from the biggest divisions: Bunnings lifted earnings by 5.1% with consistent sales growth across categories, while Kmart Group’s transformation projects and value-driven strategy drove earnings up 6.0%. WesCEF’s earnings rose 18.5%, as its lithium business swung into profit, offsetting pressures from ammonia pricing affected by global supply disruptions.

Officeworks faced a 22.2% drop in earnings, mainly due to one-off transformation costs, but still managed to grow sales by 3.7%. In a significant move, Blackwoods and Workwear Group transitioned into Bunnings Group from 1 July 2026 to strengthen the commercial offer.

Wesfarmers invested in growth across its portfolio, including expanding the Mt Holland lithium mine, digital transformation initiatives, and AI-powered customer assistants in key retail brands. The company also reduced its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by almost 22% year on year.

What did Wesfarmers management say?

Wesfarmers’ managing director, Rob Scott, commented:

Our businesses focused on mitigating cost pressures through productivity initiatives and were able to deliver more value, better service and increased convenience for our retail and business customers. As households continued to experience cost of living pressures, our retail businesses dropped prices on thousands of products during the year to support household budgets.

What’s next for Wesfarmers?

Wesfarmers says it remains well placed to deliver satisfactory long-term returns, guided by a portfolio of resilient, high-quality businesses and a strong balance sheet. The company expects to continue investing in store networks, supply chains and digital capabilities, even as higher labour and operating costs persist across the industry.

Looking ahead, Wesfarmers flagged increased capital expenditure of $1.3 to $1.5 billion for FY27, particularly to support lithium production, store refurbishments, supply chain upgrades, and the start of a new joint venture in modular residential construction. Early trading in FY27 shows Bunnings’ sales growth is slightly ahead of the second half of FY26, with Kmart and Officeworks maintaining positive momentum. The group aims to leverage both its retail and health assets, as well as new digital platforms, to keep building long-term value.

Wesfarmers share price snapshot

The Wesfarmers share price has underperformed the S&P/ASX 200 index (ASX: XJO) over the past 12 months with a decline of over 9%.

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The post Wesfarmers posts higher earnings, lifts dividend in FY26 results appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Wesfarmers. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Wesfarmers. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips. This article was prepared with the assistance of Large Language Model (LLM) tools for the initial summary of the company announcement. Any content assisted by AI is subject to our robust human-in-the-loop quality control framework, involving thorough review, substantial editing, and fact-checking by our experienced writers and editors holding appropriate credentials. The Motley Fool Australia stands behind the work of our editorial team and takes ultimate responsibility for the content published by The Motley Fool Australia.