Wesfarmers posts 4% rise in annual profit, announces additional $1.1 billion capital return

(Reuters) -Wesfarmers, Australia’s biggest non-food retailer, reported a near 4% rise in its annual profit on Thursday, driven by strong performances in its units Bunnings and Kmart Group, and announced an additional A$1.7 billion ($1.10 billion) capital return.

The apparel-to-lithium conglomerate’s net profit after tax excluding significant items for the full year ended June 30 came in at A$2.65 billion, compared with A$2.56 billion last year and a Visible Alpha consensus estimate of A$2.64 billion.

($1 = 1.5389 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Himanshi Akhand and John Biju in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)