COL -0.93%: first half numbers for the supermarket company beat consensus today, however, shares fell thanks to the CEO stepping down. Sales were up 4% to $21.6b while EBIT jumped 14% to $1114m, 9% above consensus at $1023m. The beat was driven by a strong supermarket outcome which saw gross margins up 43bps. Liquor was a miss, offset by a beat in Express. Supermarkets have returned to growth since the turn of the new year, supporting a reasonable set-up to hit expectations for the 2H. The surprise came with CEO Steve Cain departing after 5 years in the role, to be replaced by Leah Wreckert, an executive that’s been with the company since 2011.
MM is neutral COL, preferring MTS
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