Countdown FY earnings slip 3.7% on record revenue

Countdown FY earnings slip 3.7% on record revenue
Pattrick Smellie
By Pattrick Smellie Aug. 25 (BusinessDesk) - The Countdown supermarket chain posted a 3.7 percent drop in annual earnings due to a combination of food price deflation, competitive pressures and increased team-based performance payments as part of a customer service improvement programme. Earnings before interest and tax fell to $313.9 million in the 52 weeks to June 26, from $326 million the previous year, its ASX-listed parent company Woolworths announced. When normalised for team performance-based bonuses, Countdown's ebit for the year...