Coles Group Stock

Coles Group Limited engages in the ownership and operation of retail stores in Australia and New Zealand. The Company supplies a range of food and non-food items in supermarkets, discount department stores, liquor stores, office supplies stores, automotive service centers, fuel outlets and online.

The Company primarily trades under the names of Coles, Bi-Lo, Coles Express, Coles Online, Liquorland, Vintage Cellars, 1st Choice Liquor Superstore, Kmart, Kmart Tyre & Auto, Target, Target Country, Officeworks, and Harris Technology. In New Zealand, the Company trades as Kmart.

Retail Operations

The Company operates in all Australian States, the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory, and New Zealand. In New Zealand, the Company’s stores are primarily located in the North Island. The company’s brands are reported under four groups: Food, Liquor & Fuel; Kmart; Officeworks; and Target.

Food, Liquor & Fuel Group

The group comprises Supermarkets, Coles Liquor, Coles Express and Coles Online. The Supermarkets brand comprises the Coles and Bi-Lo brands.

Coles: The brand operates stores across Australia. The supermarkets offer customers a range of fresh food, groceries and general merchandise. Coles offers both national and housebrand products. Coles operates an Internet shopping service called Coles Online.

Bi-Lo: Bi-Lo operates stores.

Coles Liquor: Coles Liquor operates liquor sites, with representation in all states except Tasmania. Coles Liquor operates four brands: Liquorland, Vintage Cellars, Theo’s and 1st Choice Liquor Superstore.

Coles Express: Coles Express operates fuel and convenience stores across Australia. Coles Group has a supply agreement with Shell for fuel and lubricant products, and operating leases for the service station sites. The sites are branded both Coles Express and Shell.

KMART

Kmart: Kmart operates stores in Australia and New Zealand. Kmart stores are located in suburban shopping centers in major cities and in regional shopping centers, and cater for the needs of a range of customers by offering various goods. The stores sell a range of items, including sporting goods, toys, electrical appliances and apparel, with a mix of international and national brand names, as well as private labels.

Kmart Automotive: During 2006, Kmart acquired the service centers located at 92 Shell service stations.

OFFICEWORKS

Officeworks operates 3 brands, Officeworks Superstores, Officeworks BusinessDirect and Harris Technology. The Company operates Officeworks and Harris Technology stores. Officeworks is the major office supplies retailer for small to medium sized businesses, home offices and individual consumers. Officeworks offers a range of approximately 10,000 products, including stationary, consumables, business machines, office furniture and printing services.

TARGET

Target: Target offers its customers apparel and soft homewares. Target’s principal products include womenswear, intimate apparel, menswear, childrenswear, accessories, soft homewares, electrical, toys and other general merchandise.

Target Country: Stores trading as Target Country. These stores are located primarily in rural and regional communities, and offer a range of Target merchandise, predominantly apparel and soft homewares such as manchester and tableware.

Acquisitions

In June 2006, the Company acquired the Hedley Hotel Group. The Hedley Hotel Group included hotels, retail liquor stores and sites for an additional 17 1st Choice Liquor Superstores in Queensland.

In December 2006, the Company acquired Mr. Corks Liquor Group and the Talbot Hotel Group. Mr. Corks Liquor Group comprises hotels, stores, and liquor stores/drive thru bottle shops trading under the name of Mr. Corks. The Talbot Hotel Group comprises hotels, liquor barns, and detached bottle shops.

Dispositions

In June 2006, the Company sold the Myer department store business to TPG-Newbridge Capital.

Competition

Coles and Bi-Lo compete against the Woolworths supermarket chain (operating as ‘Safeway’ in Victoria). Coles Liquor through its major brands, Liquorland, Vintage Cellars, and 1st Choice Liquor Superstore competes against the Woolworths chain. Coles Express competes against other retailers in the fuel and convenience industry, including Mobil, BP, Caltex, Woolworths Petrol+ (a retail venture between Woolworths and Caltex) and 7-Eleven. In the food and liquor promotional scheme using fuel, the primary competitor is Woolworths Petrol+ and Woolworths/Caltex co-branded service stations. In Australia, the Company’s Kmart, Target and Target Country chains compete against Woolworths’ Big W and Millers Retail for apparel.

History

The Company was founded in 1914. It was formerly known as Coles Myer, Ltd. and changed its name to Coles Group Limited in November 2006.