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Mother’s Day love: fewer Aussies spending more

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Original article by
Australian Retailers Association – Page: Online : 7-May-25

A survey by the Australian Retailers Association and Roy Morgan has found that 30 per cent of Australians are set to celebrate Mother’s Day in 2025, which equates to seven million people. This is 2.7 million fewer people than in 2024, although the projected average spend is up from $102 last year to $141. In total, Australians are expected to spend $1 billion on Mother’s Day this year, which is virtually unchanged from a year ago despite tighter household budgets. Some 37% of respondents say flowers will be their gift of choice, while 20 per cent will opt for food and beverages. Other popular gifts include gift vouchers (10%), personal care items (10%), clothing and shoes (9%) and house-related gifts such as homewares and gardening hardware (7%). The ARA’s Fleur Brown says that special spending events like Mother’s Day help to keep the retail sector resilient.

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AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION, ROY MORGAN LIMITED

PM’s $1.65b refinery in offshore JV

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 17 : 23-Apr-25

RareX and Iluka Resources have teamed up to make a joint bid for the right to develop the Mrima Hill rare earths project in Kenya. The two companies propose to ship ore from Mrima Hill to Western Australia, and process it at Iluka’s Eneabba rare earths refinery which is under construction. RareX’s MD James Durrant says the company has spent several years building trust and relationships in Kenya amid growing interest in the Mrima Hill deposit among countries such as the US and China. Iluka has received more than $1.6bn in taxpayer support for the Eneabba refinery.

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RAREX LIMITED – ASX REE, ILUKA RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX ILU

Women’s boot brand Wittner collapses

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Original article by Sarah Perillo
The Australian – Page: 17 : 17-Apr-25

Women’s footwear brand Wittner has become the latest casualty of challenging market conditions in Australia’s retail sector. Sal Algeri and David Orr from Deloitte have been appointed as the administrators of Wittner, which has a network of more than 20 stand-alone stores and about 25 concession stores within David Jones and Myer outlets. Wittner was founded in 1912, and the administrators have emphasised that it will continue to trade as they seek a deal to sell or recapitalise the business.

CORPORATES
WITTNER SHOES, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED

Time to buy, says James Hardie

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Original article by Cameron England
The Australian – Page: 15 & 23 : 25-Mar-25

Australian-listed building materials group James Hardie Industries has defended its move to acquire US-based Azec, which makes outdoor living products such as decking and siding. James Hardie CEO Aaron Erter says the two companies’ products are complementary, and the $US8.75bn ($13.93bn) deal is expected to generate annual synergies of around $US350m. Erter has also downplayed concerns about pursuing the deal amid the current political and macroeconomic uncertainty, contending that they will be well-placed to benefit when the market recovers.

CORPORATES
JAMES HARDIE INDUSTRIES PLC – ASX JHX, THE AZEC COMPANY INCORPORATED

Nine formally appoints Matt Stanton as chief executive

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Original article by Calum Jaspan
The Age – Page: Online : 14-Mar-25

Media company Nine Entertainment has announced that it has formally appointed Matt Stanton as its CEO, with chair Catherine West said the board was delighted to do so after an extensive search for Mike Sneesby’s successor. Sneesby had stepped down in September after an ongoing period of share price decline and a rocky few months for Nine, and Stanton had been acting as interim CEO since then. He had previously been Nine’s chief strategy and financial officer, while companies that he worked for before joining Nine include Woolworths and Bauer Media, where he had been CEO.

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NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC,(SPACE)WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW,(SPACE)BAUER MEDIA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Coles laments $500m in sales lost to rivals

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 4-Mar-25

Coles’ internal analysis suggests that competition from non-grocery retailers has cost it about $400m worth of sales in categories such as personal care and household products over the last four years. It is estimated that Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and independent grocery stores have lost about $500m in sales to pharmacies, hardware stores and online-only retailers such as Temu and Amazon. Coles aims to counter this by ramping up its investment in the ‘health and home’ product category. Woolworths CEO Amanda Bardwell also recently noted that the group’s growth in sales of non-food products has been below that of previous years.

CORPORATES
COLES GROUP LIMITED – ASX COL, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, TEMU, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED

Nine flags cuts amid advertising downturn

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Original article by James Madden
The Australian – Page: 15 & 23 : 26-Feb-25

Nine Entertainment Company has posted a 2024-25 interim net profit of $95.1m, which is 29 per cent lower than previously. EBITDA fell by 15 per cent to $268m, and revenue was steady at $1.39bn. The media group has advised that it will seek to generate cost savings of $100m across its operations over the next two years, and interim CEO Matt Stanton has indicated that the restructuring will involve some job cuts. Stanton also stated that the Domain property listings business is a key part of Nine’s growth strategy, in the wake of a $2.6bn bid for Domain from US-based CoStar Group.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, DOMAIN HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX DHA, COSTAR GROUP INCORPORATED

Nine CEO met CoStar boss weeks before Domain bid

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 : 25-Feb-25

Nine Entertainment will release its half-yearly results today, with investors and analysts certain to question acting CEO Matt Stanton about CoStar’s bid for Domain. The US real estate firm has made a $2.40 per share for Domain, the online property classifieds platform that is 60 per cent owned by Nine and which is considered by many to be its most valuable asset. It can be revealed that CoStar founder Andy Florance met with Stanton when Florance was staying with former federal treasurer Joe Hockey in Sydney over the Christmas break, and that the two discussed possible opportunities involving CoStar and Domain.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, COSTAR GROUP INCORPORATED, DOMAIN HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX DHA

AFL fans expected to fork out as Saturday live coverage goes behind paywall in 2025

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Original article by Jack Snape
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 19-Feb-25

Foxtel and its Kayo Sports streaming service will have exclusive live broadcasts of AFL matches on Saturdays in Victoria and Tasmania during the 2025 season. The live and exclusive coverage will also apply to the first eight rounds of the home-and-away season in other states, under the new $4.5bn broadcasting rights deal between the AFL, Foxtel and the Seven Network that began this year. Foxtel CEO Patrick Delany is confident that fans will be willing to pay to watch live coverage of AFL matches.

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FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, KAYO SPORTS, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM

Murdochs at war – through media

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Original article by Myriam Robin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 18-Feb-25

A dispute among the members of the Murdoch family over the future control of their media empire has been aired in public in recent days, with particular reference to an interview with James Murdoch. The dispute centres around the attempts of Rupert Murdoch to change the terms of a family trust so that his favoured son Lachlan gets sole control of it, while his siblings James, Elisabeth and Prudence miss out on what would be eventually gaining a majority control of it. Rupert Murdoch’s efforts have so far failed, and an appeal against a legal decision that went against him is not likely to succeed. It is suggested that the dispute could be settled by buying out James, Elisabeth and Prudence on terms that are more favourable than the 60 per cent of market value that they have been offered.

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