Australia's biggest retailer Woolworths Ltd had sacrificed short-term profit to lure customers with low prices, establishing an unassailable lead over rival Coles Group Ltd, a senior retail analyst said. Merrill Lynch researcher David Errington said Woolworths could have secured a full-year "trophy" profit growth forecast of up to 40 per cent rather than the more modest 25 to 27 per cent it now expected. Instead the retailer opted to plough profit back into lowering prices, in turn winning market share from rival Coles.