Woolworths' Big W loss missed one key cost: the quick departure of its boss

Big W spoiled the turnaround celebrations at Brad Banducci's Woolworths on Wednesday, which was led by its 13,000 strong poker machine business - but is that any reason to wipe Sally Macdonald from the history books?

Woolies' annual report made no mention of the former Oroton boss, who lasted less than a year as head of the troubled Big W business. And there was no mention of her exit package, either.

Not to worry, Woolies was happy to report to investors that it was throwing its shares at other senior executives, like Banducci, to get them to stay.

Banducci received 16,912 shares - currently worth $460,000 - from share rights that vested last financial year "as part of a retention strategy during the early stages of the transformation of the business".

Woolies' legal boss and company secretary Richard Dammery also received retention shares, as did chief number cruncher David Marr and the head of its "portfolio division", Colin Storrie.

The company said these "retention incentives" were intended to ensure stable leadership and continuity "during times of difficult business performance."

"These share rights vest at the end of a specific period, provided that the executive remains employed by the Woolworths Group at the vesting date."

That doesn't sound too hard, does it?

The good news for investors is that the retailer is not looking so scary after dumping its hardware disaster and clawing back the ground it was losing in the supermarket sector.

"Retention awards have only been made in the past where the board determined there was a significant retention risk," said the annual report.

"No retention share rights were granted in FY17 to any executive KMP (key management personnel)."

Woolies' newest recruit, supermarket boss Claire Peters, certainly got off to a running start at the group.

In time-honoured tradition, she received a big bonus to compensate her for the retention and performance incentives left behind at her previous employer, Tesco.

As far as CBD can tell, this amounts to $2.7 million worth of stock and cash that are "not subject to any further performance conditions other than continued employment" at Woolies.

And for those getting carried away with talk of how well the grocery business is going for Woolies, the Alliance for Gambling Reform points out that poker machines accounted for more than 10 per cent of its earnings before interest and tax for the first time.

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