Woolworthe turnaround continues, page-32

Realistically, they need to get their act together rather than flogging off the fuel division.

There are endless opportunities to increase the profitability of that division if you ignore the fuel component altogether. One aspect would be to streamline the majority of functions inline with supermarkets rather than operating each as an entity separate from the main group.

Without getting awfully specific, Woolworths selling 'Petrol' off would basically be a matter of switching out Alarm 'Back To Base', A few computers, EFT Terminals and removing a logo here and there. Its almost as if it is intended to operate as if it were to be dropped in the event of a rapid exit strategy - and they've been in fuel nearly 30 years give or take a few.

Gives you an idea of how 'detached' it actually is.