Woolworths Group Managing Director and CEO Brad Banducci will retire and leave the company in September this year.
He has spent 13 years with Woolworths, and eight and a half years as Group CEO.
He will be replaced by Amanda Bardwell following the release of the Group’s 2024 financial year results.
His decision comes just days after the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) screened an interview in which Mr. Banducci denied claims of price gouging, and then walked out.
Contentious Interview
Dressed in an employee uniform, Mr. Banducci spoke to ABC reporter Angus Grigg, who asked: “Rod Sims, the former head of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), says that we have one of the most concentrated supermarkets [sectors] in the world, is he lying?”Banducci claimed: “It’s not true,” adding that Mr. Sims was “retired, by the way.”
Mr. Grigg then said: “I don’t think you would impugn his integrity and his understanding of competition law. He retired 18 months ago.”
Mr. Banducci then asked if that part of the interview could be removed, admitting “I shouldn’t have said that.”
Told that everything he said was on the record, he stood up saying, “I think I’m done” and walked out. He can be heard saying, “I do this with good intent. I don’t do this with bad intent.”
He later returned to finish the interview saying: “Let’s keep going.”
‘Amazing Calibre’: Woolworths Chair
The Chair of Woolworths Group, Scott Perkins, said Mr. Banducci had “led a remarkable turnaround and transformation ... He has engendered a customer first, team-first culture, worked to strengthen existing businesses and build digital, eCommerce and analytics capabilities that are seen by our peers as world-leading. Most importantly, he has built a team of amazing calibre.“The test of any CEO is to leave the business in much better shape than when they started. On that simple metric, history will judge Brad to have been one of Woolworths Group’s finest leaders.”
Ms. Bardwell, currently in charge of WooliesX, the division responsible for the digital side of the business, had been appointed following an extensive international search process, Mr. Perkins said, noting she had taken the operation from “infancy in 2015, to a $7 billion market leading business”.
She has a Bachelor of Business in Marketing from the Queensland University of Technology and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of NSW, plus nearly 30 years of experience in retail, 23 years at Woolworths.
Substantial Loss
In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) announcing the personnel change, the company also revealed a substantial overall loss of $781 million (US$511 million5) due to write-downs in the value of two of its businesses.However, overall profits were up by 2.5 percent, thanks to a jump in revenue.
Mr. Banducci, 59, leaves with share options that could be worth as much as $24 million.He already owns fully paid shares that could be worth $10.6 million.
On top of that, he also has share rights that are not subject to any performance criteria and which, at today’s trading price, would be worth $1.8 million. Added to that is a package of further rights subject to performance measures being met. These are estimated to be worth another $12 million.
His 2023 total remuneration was $8.6 million. Pro-rata, that could mean he will be paid another $6.5 million until he retires.
