Coles  signalled on Thursday there is no end in sight for the supermarket price wars it kicked off a year ago in Australia as sales results for the December quarter confirmed it continued to close the gap on larger rival Woolworths.

''Coles will continue to have a very strong focus on delivering value for its customers and will continue to invest in price,'' said Richard Goyder, CEO of Coles owner Wesfarmers, using the company terminology for the savage price cuts on milk last year and on fruit and vegetables last week.

''As long as you can get more customers and sell more product, get efficiencies in your business and efficiencies through the supply chain, you can continue to do it,'' Goyder said. The perception of price leadership, he said, had been invaluable in attracting shoppers who generated a record number of transactions in its supermarkets the week before Christmas.