The country's top grocer's underlying net profit attributable was A$929 million ($608.31 million) for the half-year ended Dec. 31, compared with A$907 million reported a year ago. That missed an LSEG estimate of A$941 million.

The company declared an interim dividend of 47 Australian cents per share, compared with 46 Australian cents apiece declared last year.

($1 = 1.5272 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Sameer Manekar and Rishav Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)