Woolworths class action

A class action is a legal action that is brought by a person (the Applicant(s)) on their own behalf and on behalf of a group of persons (Group Members) against another person, company or firm/s (Respondent(s)), where the Applicant(s) and the Group Members all have similar claims against the Respondent(s).

The Applicant(s) in a class action do not need to seek the consent of Group Members to commence a class action on their behalf, or to identify a specific Group Member or Members. However, Group Members can cease to be Group Members by ‘opting out’ of the class action before the Court-imposed deadline. The deadline for opting out has now passed.

The Woolworths Class Action was commenced on 10 September 2018 in the Victorian Registry of the Federal Court of Australia. The background to the Woolworths Class Action, in summary, is that:

1. on 29 August 2014 (being the start of the Relevant Period) Woolworths issued a profit guidance for the 2014/15 financial year (FY15), which included a statement that it expected to achieve net profit after tax (NPAT) growth for FY15 in the range of 4-7% above the previous year’s NPAT (FY15 Profit Guidance);
   
   
2. between 22 September 2014 and 27 November 2014, Woolworths made several statements in relation to its FY15 Profit Guidance;
   
   
3. on 27 February 2015, Woolworths announced its half year results and issued a revised profit guidance for FY15 which included a statement that it expected growth in FY15 NPAT before significant items would be towards the lower end of the current analysts’ consensus range of 1.8-6.6% NPAT growth (Revised FY15 Profit Guidance);
   
   
4. following that announcement, Woolworths’ share price declined by approximately 12% over the course of three trading days, from 27 February 2015 to 3 March 2015;
   
   
5. on 6 May 2015 Woolworths held an ‘Investor Day’, at which it made various statements which the Applicants alleged caused the market to doubt the Revised FY15 Profit Guidance; and
   
   
6. on 6 May 2015 Woolworths’ share price declined by approximately 5%.

In the Woolworths Class Action the Applicants alleged that:

1. between 29 August 2014 and 27 February 2015 Woolworths made representations relating to the FY15 Profit Guidance without having a reasonable basis for those representations; and/or
   
   
2. between 27 February 2015 and 6 May 2015 Woolworths made representations relating to the Revised FY15 Profit Guidance without having a reasonable basis for those representations; and/or
   
   
3. at all times between 29 August 2014 and 6 May 2015 there was information concerning the FY15 Profit Guidance and/or the Revised FY15 Profit Guidance that ought to have been, but was not, disclosed by Woolworths to the ASX; and
   
   
4. consequently, throughout the whole of the Relevant Period:

a) Woolworths contravened various provisions of the ASX Listing Rules, the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth) and the Australian Consumer Law by failing to comply with its continuous disclosure obligations and/or engaging in conduct that was misleading or deceptive (or likely to mislead or deceive); and

b) the price of Woolworths Shares was inflated above their true value and/or the price that would otherwise have prevailed, thereby causing loss to persons who entered into a contract to acquire Woolworths Shares during that period (for which Woolworths is liable to compensate the Applicants and Group Members).

The detailed allegations are set out in the Applicants’ Further Amended Statement of Claim filed with the Federal Court on 25 May 2020. Woolworths denied the allegations made against it, and Woolworths’ responses to the allegations are set out in its Defence to the Further Amended Statement of Claim filed with the Federal Court on 3 July 2020. Copies of these (and other) documents can be downloaded from this page (under the heading ‘Relevant documents’ above), or by contacting Maurice Blackburn, whose contact details are set out above.