Woolworths

Woolworths has reported that net profit for the full-year of 2008/09 hit A$1.8bn, up 12.8 per cent on the previous fiscal year after government spending helped boost consumer demand.

However, despite a year that defied the current global economic slowdown, the group warned that it was anticipating slowing annual profit growth for 2009/10, with spending hard to predict without continued government stimulus.

As a result, Woolworths said in its financial release that it expected growth of 8-11 per cent through 2009/10.

'Discretionary spending will continue to be influenced by macro-economic factors, such as interest rates, petrol prices and confidence around employment,' the group said in the release.