Table:
|  | F19 | F18 |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| $ MILLION | 53 WEEKS | 52 WEEKS | CHANGE | CHANGE NORMALISED |
| Sales | 1,671 | 1,612 | 3.7% | 1.8% |
| EBITDA | 372 | 361 | 3.5% | 2.5% |
| Depreciation and amortisation | (111) | (102) | 9.9% | 9.9% |
| EBIT | 261 | 259 | 1.0% | (0.5)% |
| Gross margin (%) | 83.6 | 84.2 | (55) bps | (54) bps |
| Cost of doing business (%) | 68.0 | 68.1 | (12) bps | (18) bps |
| EBIT to sales (%) | 15.6 | 16.1 | (43) bps | (35) bps |
| Funds employed | 2,068 | 1,995 | 3.7% |  |
| ROFE (%) | 12.9 | 13.1 | (20) bps | (38) bps |
Paragraphs:
Hotels sales improvement in the second half was driven by Bars, Food and Accommodation, benefitting from venue refurbishments completed in the year.
Hotels sales increased by 3.7% in F19 or 1.8% on a normalised basis. Comparable sales increased by 1.9% with 3.0% growth in Q4. Sales growth accelerated in the second half due to continued growth in Bars, Food and Accommodation benefitting from venue refurbishments with 49 completed during the year. Gaming sales continue to be more subdued, particularly in Victoria. During the year, five venues were opened or acquired with 328 hotels at year‐end.
Normalised gross profit declined by 54 bps reflecting business mix and increasing input cost prices on Food margins. CODB was well controlled and declined by 18 bps on a normalised basis.
EBIT of $261 million decreased by 0.5% on a normalised basis reflecting a weaker first half trading performance. Normalised EBIT in the second half increased by 1.3%.
Normalised ROFE decreased by 38 bps due to an increase in funds employed driven by refurbishments and acquisitions of hotels.
Question:
What factors drove the hotels sales improvement in the second half?
Answer: Driven by Bars, Food and Accommodation, benefitting from venue refurbishments completed in the year.