Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci to step down in wake of train wreck television interview

Woolworths boss Brad Banducci has stepped down in the wake of a train wreck television interview during which he attempted to walk out.

Mr Banducci, who has been in the top job since February 2016, will leave in September, the company announced on Wednesday. He has been with the company for 13 years.

Woolworths has appointed Amanda Bardwell as Mr Banducci’s replacement, commencing September 1 on a $2.15 million fixed remuneration package. She has been the managing director of the company’s food ecommerce division, WooliesX, since May 2017.

Mr Banducci, 59, said the board had been flexible with the timing of his decision, including delaying the announcement given the recent events.

Those events included attempting to walk out of an interview with Four Corners after commenting on former Australian Competition and Consumer Commission boss Rod Sims, and political pushback on Woolworths’ decision to not sell Australia Day merchandise.

But Mr Banducci said he chose to proceed with the original plan.

“The best thing was to stick to the plan and it did occur to me to delay but actually that wouldn’t have been authentic,” he said.

“It was a collective call from all of us but in particular for me to make the announcement today. I do believe in the circle of life — it’s been eight years since I got this privilege and it felt right to close the circle the way it started.”

Woolworths chair Scott Perkins says plans for Mr Banducci’s retirement began mid-last year.

Mr Perkins, who paid tribute to Mr Banducci’s record in his eight years leading the retailer, said Woolworths was committed to executive leadership renewal and had kicked off interviews with suitable candidates the middle of last year.

Those interviews continued into this year, he said, adding plans for the timing of Mr Banducci’s retirement were made some time ago.

“Absolutely, the timeline has been completely unaffected by external events of the last couple of weeks.,” Mr Perkins told journalists on Wednesday.

“I can be absolutely emphatic . . . there has been no change to the timetable, no expedition at all.

“There’s been an ongoing dialogue with Brad as to when was the best time for him and the best time for Woolworths for that succession to be really activated. During the middle of last year, we started to focus on this a little bit more intently.”

Supermarket pricing has become a political hot potato, with seven inquiries either launched or announced into groceries. The Federal Government and Opposition have increased pressure on the two major companies, citing concern for consumers as cost of living pressures rise.

But as Mr Banducci pointed out on Wednesday in Woolworths’ half-year financial results, inflation in food has continued to moderate, meaning price reductions in fruit, vegetables and meat.

“Managing cost-of-living pressures remains the key issue for our customers and we are focused on helping our customers to spend less every time they shop with us,” he said, echoing recent marketing campaigns.

“Across the group, we also helped our customers to spend less through our low price and seasonal prices dropped programs, personalised member rewards, affordable own brands, digital tools and weekly specials.”

Mr Banducci’s decision comes in Woolworths’ 100th year and financial analysts have noted his ability in turning the company around. When he started in the top job, the debacle of the Masters hardware foray was still smarting and the company had lost billions.

He sold off non-essential divisions of the business, including floating its liquor and hotels division into a separate ASX-listed company, now known as Endeavour, which owns Dan Murphy’s and BWS.

The share price has also jumped, with a Tuesday closing price of $35.87 — valuing the company at nearly $44 billion — a far cry from lows of $18 just after he took over.

“Brad has led a remarkable turnaround and transformation of the group,” Woolworths chair Scott Perkins said.

“He has built a team of amazing calibre. Woolworths Group has been fortunate to have Brad as its leader and he has indeed helped us to be better together.

“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 becomes the first female chief executive of Woolworths and means for the first time, Australia’s two major supermarkets will be led by women — Leah Weckert was appointed Coles chief executive in February last year.