Australia's Woolworths unveils major restructure

Woolworths Ltd will book restructuring costs of up to A$1 billion ($746 million) as part of a restructuring that will axe 500 jobs and slow supermarket store rollouts, while considering the sale of online retailer Ezibuy, the Australian grocer and department store company said on Monday.

The overhaul at Woolworths comes amid increasing competition from foreign entrants, including German discount chain Aldi .

Woolworths Chief Executive Officer Brad Banducci, who took the top role in February, said earnings before interest and tax from continuing operations, before significant items, would be between A$2.55 billion and A$2.57 billion in 2016.

Woolworths owns discount department store Big W, which announced early July plans to cut more than 180 jobs across Australia, on the back of poor performance across its stores and a loss in the 2015-16 financial year.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Big W said the company would be combining two manager positions into one single role across every store in Australia.

"It's a challenging time in the retail market," the spokesperson said, adding that a review is currently under way.

"This poor performance requires us to make some changes.
"Big W has asked managers to ensure that their staff hours are aligned with peak customer shopping times."

(Reporting: Reuters and Benjamin Fitzgerald)