About Wesfarmers Ltd

Wesfarmers Limited engages in the hardware retailing, coal mining, gas processing and distribution, industrial and safety product distribution, insurance, chemicals and fertilizers manufacture and rail transport businesses. The company operates its business in six segments: Hardware; Energy, including Coal and Gas and power; Industrial and safety; Insurance; Chemicals and fertilizers; and other activities. Hardware Segment Bunnings: Bunnings operates as a retailer of home and garden improvement products and building materials, supplying the do-it-yourself customers, builders and contractors in Australia and New Zealand. Bunnings operates approximately 210 stores across all states and territories of Australia and both islands in New Zealand. WA Salvage: WA Salvage Pty, Ltd specializes in selling a discounted building materials and bargain variety merchandise and purchases products in bulk, including downgraded, superseded and liquidated stock. The company operates 125 Warehouses, 85 Traditional stores, and 18WA Salvage stores. Energy Segment The company’s Energy segment comprises three coal businesses, three gas businesses, a power business and support activities. The coal interests are the Curragh mine in Queensland’s Bowen Basin (coking coal for export markets and steam coal for domestic markets), the Premier Coal mine at Collie in Western Australia’s south-west (steam coal for domestic markets), and a 40% interest in the Bengalla mine in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales (steam coal for both export and domestic markets). Energy’s gas and power businesses are Wesfarmers Kleenheat Gas Pty Ltd (LPG distribution and marketing), Wesfarmers LPG Pty Ltd (LPG production) a 40 per cent interest in Air Liquide WA Pty Ltd (industrial and medical gases) and Energy Generation Pty Ltd (power generation for regional areas). Curragh, Queensland: Wesfarmers operates the Curragh mine situated 200 kilometres west of Rockhampton in Queensland’s Bowen Basin. The mine produces around seven million tonnes of coking and steam coal annually. Export coking coal is transported 300 kilometres by rail to the Port of Gladstone where it is shipped to customers in Japan, South Korea, South-East Asia, and Europe. Curragh’s steam coal is produced for domestic power generation and transported by rail directly to both the Stanwell Power Station near Rockhampton and the Gladstone Power Station. Wesfarmers is working on the development of Curragh North, which would double the recoverable coal reserves available. Premier, Western Australia: The Premier Coal open-cut mine near Collie, 200 kilometres south of Perth, produces around 3.5 million tonnes of coal per annum. The coal is mainly sold under long-term contract to its major customer, the state government-owned Western Power, for domestic power generation. Premier Coal also supplies the mineral sands processing industry in Western Australia. Premier Coal’s product is low in ash and sulphur content and is methane-free, providing a comparable emissions profile to that of natural gas in Western Australia. Bengalla, New South Wales: Wesfarmers has a 40% interest in the Bengalla open-cut coal mining joint venture, situated at Muswellbrook in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales. Coal and Allied manages the operation, which is capable of producing approximately six million tons of steam coal for both domestic and export purposes. Kleenheat: Kleenheat Gas is a major distributor and marketer of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and gas appliances to domestic, commercial, autogas, and industrial customers. Kleenheat Gas operates through an extensive Australia-wide network of depots, company-owned branches, dealers, agents and franchisees. Kleenheat Gas has a 50% interest in the Unigas joint venture, which supplies autogas to service stations in all mainland States and Territories of Australia, except Western Australia. Other activities include liquefied natural gas (LNG) operations and LPG distribution in Bangladesh. Wesfarmers LPG: Wesfarmers LPG owns and operates a plant in Kwinana, Western Australia, which extracts propane and butane from the natural gas stream flowing from Western Australia’s North-West Shelf gas fields via the Dampier to Bunbury pipeline. Wesfarmers LPG supplies much of Western Australia’s domestic liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) market, with the balance exported to Japan. The plant has the capacity to produce 350,000 tons of LPG per annum. Air Liquide WA: Air Liquide WA is a joint venture company between Wesfarmers Limited and Air Liquide Australia Ltd, and is part of the Wesfarmers Energy division. Air Liquide WA services the Western Australian, Northern Territory and some export markets with industrial and medical gases. Air Liquide WA’s Healthcare operations has recognition of the needs of the medical sector and supply approximately 700 home oxygen patients in Perth alone, on behalf of organizations, such as Silver Chain Nursing, Princess Margaret Hospital, and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. Other services include the provision of improved gas management systems to many hospitals in Western Australia and the development of new products and services associated with sleep-disordered breathing. Energy Generation: Energy Generation specializes in the supply of electricity to resource and industrial operations and for regional townships. Energy Generation engages in the design, construction, operation, and maintains both company-owned and customer-owned power supply infrastructure in addition to providing engine condition monitoring services. Energy Generation supplies electricity to the Mid-West region of Western Australia under a contract with Western Power Corporation. In addition, Energy Generation also operates a number of power stations for mining companies throughout regional Western Australia. Industrial and safety Segment Wesfarmers Industrial & Safety distributes industrial, engineering, and safety supplies in Australia and New Zealand. Wesfarmers Industrial & Safety has a network of approximately 254 locations across Australia and New Zealand operating under various different trading names. Blackwoods: Blackwoods distributes industrial and engineering supplies in Australia and New Zealand with approximately 142 locations stocking 400,000 product line items. Blackwoods also distributes in Southern Asia and the South Pacific. Blackwoods operates specialist product distribution networks under six trading names: Blackwoods - industrial products, Blackwoods Paykels - industrial products, Bakers - construction and industrial products, Atkins - electrical and industrial products, Motion Industries - power transmission and bearings, and Mullings Fasteners – fasteners. e-Business - Blackwoods engaged in e-business that invests in e-business technology and resources to offer customers major edge electronic business solutions. Its solutions are fully developed and supported in house by Blackwoods’ dedicated e-business team and the offering caters for all business sizes, types, needs, technology and processes. Protector Alsafe: Protector Alsafe was formed by the merger of the Alsafe Safety and Protector Safety Supply businesses. Protector Alsafe is Australasia's operates as a specialist safety distribution company dedicated to serving customers with an unparalleled range of specially selected quality products and brands. Protector Alsafe's operates a branch network of 55 locations offers sales and technical support backed by a team of safety specialists dedicated to offering Personal Protection solutions for the industrial marketplace. Its services include: national advice and technical assistance, product support from the branch network, training in use, care and maintenance, hazard assessment and cost analysis, total supply and management systems, and e-business solutions. NZ Safety, Protector Safety Supply and Packaging House: NZ Safety is New Zealand supplies safety products and services. NZ Safety operates through a network of 24 branches complementing an extensive product with industry specific education, training and consulting services. With 11 branches, Packaging House is the major distributor of packaging and related products in New Zealand. Wesfarmers Industrial & Safety operates three manufacturing facilities in New Zealand which produce head, hearing, eye and face protection, gloves, first aid supplies, rainwear, protective clothing and safety signage. Insurance Segment Wesfarmers Insurance Division comprises three general insurance companies, two premium funding businesses and an insurance software developer. The insurance operations comprise Wesfarmers Federation Insurance (WFI), Lumley General Insurance Australia (LGA) and Lumley General Insurance New Zealand (LGNZ). The premium funding businesses operate under the Lumley name in both Australia and New Zealand. The insurance division also includes a specialist general insurance software developer, Koukia, which is majority owned by Wesfarmers. Wesfarmers Federation Insurance: Wesfarmers Federation Insurance is an Australian based general insurer and is a major rural insurer in Australia, operating through approximately 75 outlets across the country. Lumley General Insurance: Lumley General Insurance (LGA) is an Australian based general insurance company specializing in commercial and fleet motor, marine and engineering business. In addition to general insurance, LGA operates an insurance premium financing business through its wholly owned subsidiary, Lumley Finance. Lumley General Insurance (NZ) - Lumley General Insurance (NZ) (LGNZ) is a New Zealand based general insurance business, based in Auckland, specializing in commercial motor, marine and engineering business. In addition to general insurance, LGNZ offers extended motor vehicle warranty and other financial services through its wholly owned subsidiary, Lumley Services (NZ) Limited. Lumley Technology - Lumley Technology is a software development house specialising in insurance IT software, as well as providing the IT support function to the operating entities of the Lumley Group. Koukia: The insurance division also includes a specialist general insurance software developer, Koukia, which is majority owned by Wesfarmers. Koukia aims to provide a world class general insurance software package to insurers worldwide. Chemicals and Fertilizers Segment CSBP: CSBP Limited supplies chemicals, fertilizers and related services to the mining, minerals processing, industrial and agricultural sectors in Australia. CSBP operates a major industrial complex at Kwinana in Western Australia and other complementary facilities in regional areas. CSBP Chemicals' core products include: ammonia; ammonium nitrate; sodium cyanide; chlorine, caustic soda and sulphuric acid. Australian Gold Reagents: Sodium Cyanide is manufactured and sold by CSBP for Australian Gold Reagents (AGR) a 75% owned joint venture. AGR's sodium cyanide is used in the mining industry for gold extraction. Other Activities Australian Railroad Group Pty, Ltd.: The Australian Railroad Group (ARG) is a major private rail freight operator in Australia and is 50% joint venture between Wesfarmers Limited and international rail operator Genesee & Wyoming Inc (GWI) of the United States. ARG provides rail freight services in Western Australia and South Australia. ARG is separated into two operating businesses; Rail Operations providing haulage and logistics rail services in Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales and the Northern Territory and WestNet Rail providing track maintenance and access services to customers in Western Australia. ARG carries approximately 50 million tonnes of rail freight annually. It operates 200 locomotives, 4,000 wagons, and operates approximately 10,000 kms of track. It is also part of the Alice Springs to Darwin Railway consortium. ARG transports grain, hauling approximately 10 million tonnes per annum in Australia. ARG’s main freight commodities include grain, iron ore, alumina, bauxite, gypsum, coal, nickel, and mineral sands. It also supplies contracted services, such as locomotives, wagons and crews to other third party rail operators, and customers. WestNet Rail provides track access to operators in Western Australia. Gresham Partners: Wesfarmers owns a 50% interest in Gresham Partners Group Limited, the holding company for the Australian investment banking activities of Gresham Partners. With offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, Gresham’s main activities are corporate finance, private equity and property advisory and investment businesses. Its corporate finance business is focused upon mergers and acquisitions; industry consolidations; and the provision of strategic financial advice Australian businesses. The private equity activities have been centered upon investing in management buy outs of significant commercial businesses. Gresham Private Equity has made nine significant investments, including the Australian automotive parts business Repco; the Australian ATM operator Cashcard; the Australian luxury power boat builder Riviera; and the New Zealand electrical appliance retailer Noel Leeming. Wesfarmers engages in the Investment and Advisory Committees of these Private Equity Funds, as well as providing a member of its Business Development team on secondment to Gresham Private Equity. Forest products: Wespine Industries, in which Wesfarmers has a 50% interest, operates in the Western Australian housing construction market. The group's active involvement in the forest products industry is its 50% interest in the Wespine plantation pine sawmill at Dardanup in Western Australia.