G41 Food Retailing

Woolies to return $1.7b to shareholders

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 13-Nov-18

Shaun Cousins of JP Morgan estimates that the sale of Woolworths’ fuel retailing business will reduce earnings per share by 7.4 per cent in 2020 and 8.1 per cent in 2021. However, the impact on EPS would be lower if Woolworths opts to return the proceeds of the sale to shareholders via a buyback. Woolworths is widely tipped to return most of the sale proceeds to investors, having initially flagged its intention to use some of the funds to reduce to debt and finance store refurbishments.

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, EG GROUP, MASTERS HOME IMPROVEMENT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BP PLC, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, BIG W DISCOUNT STORES, AUSTRALIAN LEISURE AND HOSPITALITY GROUP LIMITED, ENDEAVOUR DRINKS

Woolworths lures back fickle shoppers to regain share

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 & 24 : 2-Nov-18

Woolworths has advised that its Australian supermarkets recorded same-store sales growth of 1.8 per cent in the September quarter, compared with 3.1 per cent in the three months to June. In contrast, Coles posted same-store sales growth of 5.1 per cent, due to its successful Little Shop promotion and its decision to extend an offer of free reusable shopping bags. However, Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci says same-store sales improved in September and October. Woolworths’ average food prices fell by one per cent in the September quarter as it extended price discounts to more grocery products.

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, WOOLWORTHS SUPERMARKETS, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BIG W DISCOUNT STORES, ENDEAVOUR DRINKS, AUSTRALIAN LEISURE AND HOSPITALITY GROUP LIMITED, DEUTSCHE BANK AG

Rising food prices to stoke CPI

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 19-Oct-18

Consumers have been told to expect to pay more for their weekly food bill, due to factors such as the weaker Australian dollar, higher fuel prices and drought-related crop shortages. Food prices at Coles increased for the first time in almost 10 years in the September quarter, while the major supermarket chains have indicated that they are prepared to pass on supply-driven price rises in food categories such as chicken and bread. Meanwhile, National Party MP Llew O’Brien has called for a royal commission into Coles and Woolworths over what he claims is their failure to support farmers during the drought.

CORPORATES
COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, AUSTRALIAN FOOD AND GROCERY COUNCIL, INGHAMS GROUP LIMITED – ASX ING, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Coles shifts focus from price to convenience

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 16-Oct-18

Coles’ Little Shop plastic groceries promotion helped it to achieve a 5.1 per cent increase in same-store food sales in the September quarter, as did its free plastic bags offer. However, new MD Steven Cain said it is unlikely to achieve the same sort of growth in the December quarter. With Coles in the process of becoming a stand-alone company as it demerges from Wesfarmers, Cain says his priorities include making life easier for customers by adopting new convenience store formats and improving its online business.

CORPORATES
COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

Wesfarmers to outline Coles move

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 19 : 4-Oct-18

There is speculation that Wesfarmers could release the scheme booklet for its proposed demerger of Coles before 15 October, when the supermarket chain will announce its sales figures for the first quarter of 2018-19. JPMorgan has upgraded its forecast for same-store sales growth from 2.5 per cent to four per cent. In contrast, the firm has scaled back Woolworths’ same-store sales growth expectations from 1.8 per cent to 1.3 per cent. However, Shaun Cousins of JPMorgan expects Woolworths to outperform Coles in the medium-term.

CORPORATES
WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS SUPERMARKETS, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Australians’ alcohol consumption lowest since the 1960s

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Original article by Alex Gluyas
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 4-Sep-18

The average amount of total pure alcohol consumed by Australians over the age of 15 in 2016-17 was 9.4 litres, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on 3 September. This represents the equivalent of 224 stubbies of beer, but Louise Gates from the ABS notes the comparable figure in 1974-75 was over 500 stubbies. With alcohol consumption in Australia now at its lowest since the 1960s, Melbourne bottle shop owner Ross Smith says consumers are choosing quality over quantity

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, ALCOHOL BEVERAGES AUSTRALIA

The battle for the $2.9bn fresh bread market

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 3-Sep-18

Australia’s $2.9 billion fresh bread market is dominated by the two supermarket giants Woolworths Group and Coles Group who represent a combined 51.9% of the fresh bread market, according to the latest Roy Morgan results in the year to June 2018. Supermarkets now comprise over two-thirds of the entire fresh bread market, with the remaining 31% split between specialty bread shops including Bakers Delight, Brumby’s Bakery and other bread shops, and between delicatessens, milk bars, convenience store and other stores. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says although Woolworths and Coles have now comprised over 50% of the fresh bread market for over five years, the success of Bakers Delight and Aldi in growing market share shows there is space for nimble competitors.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BAKER’S DELIGHT HOLDINGS LIMITED, BRUMBY’S BAKERIES HOLDINGS LIMITED, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, IGA DISTRIBUTION PTY LTD

Foodland leads, Woolworths the biggest improver

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 2-Jul-18

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey shows that customer satisfaction with Foodland in the six months to May was 95.5%. It was again the top performer among the big five supermarkets, despite showing a decline of 2.3% points over the last 12 months. Aldi had a customer satisfaction rating of 91.8%, followed by Woolworths (90.0%), Coles (88.5%) and IGA (85.4%). These are the latest results from Roy Morgan’s "Retail Satisfaction Report-Supermarkets", which is based on in-depth personal interviews conducted face-to-face with over 50,000 Australians per annum in their own home, including over 11,000 main supermarket shoppers.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, FOODLAND AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS SUPERMARKETS, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, IGA

Stand-alone Coles to turn up dial on capex

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 26 : 8-Jun-18

Coles has indicated plans to boost capital expenditure after it is demerged from Wesfarmers, in part because the food and liquor retailer needs to refurbish stores. Coles may need to raise capital in order to finance its expenditure plans, depending on the amount of debt that Wesfarmers decides to leave it with. Coles MD John Durkan says he anticipates that the total Australian grocery market will grow by around three per cent a year.

CORPORATES
COLES GROUP LIMITED, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, METCASH LIMITED – ASX MTS, WAVESTONE CAPITAL PTY LTD, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, STANDARD AND POOR’S (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED

Dan Murphy’s holds off surge in Cellarbrations satisfaction

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 1-Jun-18

Dan Murphy’s has won the Roy Morgan Liquor Store Monthly Customer Satisfaction Award for April, with a customer satisfaction rating of 94.5%. The win for Dan Murphy’s tops off a hat-trick of wins for the retailer over the last three months, just ahead of rival Cellarbrations on 93.8%. The current top five most satisfying liquor stores have improved their customer satisfaction ratings over the last 12 months. Dan Murphy’s is up 3.1ppts while second-placed Cellarbrations is up 12.4ppts – an average improvement of over 1ppt per month. Analysing the broader liquor store chains shows that Woolworths-owned Endeavour Drinks Group has a group customer satisfaction of 92.4%, just behind Metcash’s Australian Liquor Marketers (ALM) on 93%.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, DAN MURPHY’S, CELLARBRATIONS, ALDI LIQUOR, FIRST CHOICE LIQUOR SUPERSTORE, IGA LIQUOR, BWS – BEER WINE SPIRITS, CELLARMASTER WINES PTY LTD, ENDEAVOUR DRINKS GROUP, WOOLWORTHS LIQUOR, METCASH LIMITED – ASX MTS, AUSTRALIAN LIQUOR MARKETERS PTY LTD, THE BOTTLE-O, PORTER’S LIQUOR, COLES GROUP LIMITED, LIQUORLAND (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, COLES LIQUOR, VINTAGE CELLARS (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, LIQUOR MARKET