Retail Economics
Part of Retail investment and business change
Coles: reading a retailer's capital expenditure disclosures
Check the definition, timing and asset reconciliation behind a retailer’s capital expenditure figure.
Coles’ FY26 covered the 52 weeks to 28 June 2026. Its approximately $1.55 billion capital expenditure figure is FY27 guidance, not FY26 spending.
Coles reported $311 million in FY26 benefits from its Smarter Selling program. That is a benefits measure, not a capital expenditure amount; no FY26 capital expenditure label, definition or actual amount is stated.
Find the measure’s boundary
Read the exact label and definition before treating a figure as capital expenditure. Check its group or segment boundary, asset categories, cash or accrual basis, and treatment of asset sales and acquisitions where the disclosure specifies them.
For Coles, the stated approximately $1.55 billion is FY27 capital expenditure guidance. It is a forecast for the year after FY26 and cannot stand in for an FY26 actual.
Compare expenditure, cash and assets
| View | Where to look | Main limit |
|---|---|---|
| Company capital expenditure measure | Results release and its definition | May be accrued or exclude certain activities |
| Cash paid for long-lived assets | Investing section of the cash-flow statement | Excludes non-cash transactions and can differ in timing |
| Closing asset value | Balance sheet and asset notes | Also changes with depreciation, disposals and other adjustments |
AASB 107 requires information about historical changes in cash and cash equivalents through a statement of cash flows classified as operating, investing and financing activities. To compare cash paid with a capital expenditure measure, identify the exact investing cash-flow caption and amount for long-lived asset payments.
AASB 116 prescribes the accounting treatment for property, plant and equipment (PP&E) so users can discern information about investment in those assets and changes in that investment. A closing PP&E balance is not itself the period’s capital expenditure.
For Coles FY26, the exact investing cash-flow caption and amount for long-lived asset payments, the PP&E note reference, opening and closing balances, and depreciation and disposal movements are not stated. The company measure, cash paid and PP&E movement therefore cannot be reconciled numerically.
Coles’ $311 million in Smarter Selling benefits is distinct from capital expenditure and does not provide a spending figure for that reconciliation.
Ask what the spending bought
An aggregate capital expenditure figure does not show how spending is divided between renewals, capacity additions or new capabilities. Coles’ $311 million FY26 Smarter Selling benefits figure describes program benefits, not that spending split.
Keep actual spending separate from guidance. Coles’ approximately $1.55 billion FY27 guidance does not establish the amount or composition of FY26 capital expenditure.
State the supported conclusion
The FY26 measure stated here is $311 million in Smarter Selling benefits; it is not capital expenditure. The approximately $1.55 billion capital expenditure figure is FY27 guidance, not FY26 spending.
No FY26 capital expenditure label, definition or actual amount is stated, and the exact cash-flow and PP&E figures needed for comparison are also not stated. A numerical reconciliation of Coles’ FY26 capital expenditure, investing cash flow and PP&E movements cannot be made.
