Australia's Wesfarmers logs 5% annual profit rise on strong segmental growth
(Reuters) -Australian conglomerate Wesfarmers Ltd said annual profit rose 4.8%, just ahead of analyst forecasts, as elevated living costs sent new shoppers to its budget department store chain Kmart, offsetting the impact of a renovation slowdown on its hardware unit. The result shows the benefit of diversification at the country's biggest listed conglomerate which also owns pharmacies, an office supplies chain, an industrial chemicals business and a lithium mine that is scheduled to start making sales next year. For years the Perth-headquartered firm has grown most of its profit by ri...