Woolworths group CEO Ian Moir was brimming with confidence when he plunged his group into the A$2.15bn (R21.5bn) acquisition of Australian department store chain David Jones (DJ) in June 2014. The move, Moir boldly declared, was "transformational" for Woolworths. The reality was that Moir had committed Woolworths to the worst strategic blunder in its 87-year history. In its year to June 2017, Woolworths impaired the value of its investment by a huge $712.5m (R6.93bn). This was a tacit acknowledgement that it had grossly overpaid for DJ. The amount represented more than a third of the original acquisition price. Profit-wise DJ is on the skids. In Woolworths’ year to June 2017 profit before tax came in at 25.3%, a reduction of $127m, and it decreased another 37.7% in the half-year to December, to $66m.
The DJ debacle has left Moir’s position as CEO looking vulnerable, but he is putting up a brave front. At the half-year results presentation he declared: "We are fighters, not qui...
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