News: WOW UPDATE 1-Australia's Woolworths annual profit up 13 pct, flags slow start to fiscal 2019

(Adds other performance metrics, CEO comment)

Aug 20 (Reuters) - Australia’s Woolworths Ltd (WOW) said on Monday that full-year underlying profit rose 12.9 percent as massive price cuts attracted more shoppers to its stores, but added that sales so far in fiscal 2019 had slowed.

The country’s biggest grocery store chain reported an underlying net profit, which excludes one-offs, of A$1.61 billion ($1.18 billion) for the year to June, compared with A$1.42 billion a year ago.

On a statutory basis, profit rose 12.5 percent to A$1.73 billion.

Woolworths has been cutting shelf prices to lure back shoppers from rival Wesfarmers Ltd's (WES) supermarket chain Coles and discounters like Germany's ALDI Inc since closing a loss-making hardware joint venture that had forced it to charge more to maintain margins.

Comparable store food sales rose 3.1 percent during the fourth quarter, beating Coles, which posted a 1.8 percent rise in comparable sales growth last week.

Woolworths on Monday flagged, however, that sales in its Australian food division in the first seven weeks of fiscal 2019 slowed, citing customers' warming up to the removal of single-use plastic bags as one of the reasons.

It also said sales so far this year were also hurt by meat, fruit and vegetable deflation.

"We expect sales momentum to improve over the course of the half," Chief Executive Brad Banducci said.

In June, it cancelled an A$1.8 billion sale of its petrol stations to BP Plc BP.L , after it was blocked by Australia's antitrust regulator.

Woolworths declared a final dividend of 50 Australian cents per share, the same as last year. It also declared a 2018 special dividend of 10 Australian cents a share.

($1 = 1.3669 Australian dollars)