COMPETITION – AUSTRALIA

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

Major airlines cashing in on Rexit

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Original article by Joseph Lam
The Australian – Page: 15 : 13-Nov-24

Data from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission shows that Qantas and Virgin have benefited from the collapse of Rex Airlines. The major carriers’ revenue per passenger on capital city routes has risen to $98.40, compared with $86.80 in July when Rex went into voluntary administration and ceased servicing these routes. The ACCC has warned that market concentration means that further increases in airfares are likely, while it may take some time for a serious third competitor to enter the domestic aviation market. Meanwhile, the federal government will provide Rex with $80m of taxpayers’ money to keep servicing its regional routes.

CORPORATES
REX AIRLINES PTY LTD, REGIONAL EXPRESS HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX REX, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

Qantas, Virgin defend higher fares in the wake of Rex’s exit from domestic trunk routes

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Original article by Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: Online : 18-Sep-24

Australia’s two major airlines have downplayed data which suggests that economy airfares have risen by more than 12 per cent since July. This coincided with the collapse of Rex Airlines and its withdrawal from capital city routes. Qantas contends that the Bureau of Infrastructure & Transport Research Economics’ data does not represent the average fares that customers are paying for domestic flights. Virgin Australia in turn argues that factors such as football finals and school holidays traditionally result in price variance in September compared with July.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED, REX AIRLINES PTY LTD, REGIONAL EXPRESS HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX REX, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS. BUREAU OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND TRANSPORT RESEARCH ECONOMICS

Bunnings boss rejects gouging claim

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Original article by James Thomson, Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 17-Sep-24

National Party senator Ross Cadell has reiterated his view that the pricing policies of so-called ‘big-box’ retailers such as Bunnings should be scrutinised by a parliamentary inquiry. However, Bunnings MD Mike Schneider has responded to suggestions that the hardware giant may have engaged in price gouging and abused its market power. He notes the company’s long-running ‘lowest prices are just the beginning’ advertising slogan, arguing that Bunnings puts a lot of work and capital into ensuring that it lives up to this claim.

CORPORATES
BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Rex’s expansion push could leave regional travellers paying the price

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Original article by Sezen Bakan
The New Daily – Page: Online : 31-Jul-24

Rex Airlines has advised that EY has been appointed as voluntary administrators of the Regional Express listed entity and a number of subsidiaries. Rex also announced that its fleet of Boeing 737s have been grounded and all flights on capital city routes have been cancelled; however, flights to regional destinations will continue to be serviced by its fleet of Saab 340s. Professor Pierre Benckendorff from the University of Queensland says airfares on capital city routes are unlikely to be affected if Rex is liquidated; he adds that airfares on regional routes could rise sharply due to lack of competition, and some routes may be discontinued.

CORPORATES
REX AIRLINES PTY LTD, REGIONAL EXPRESS HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX REX, ERNST AND YOUNG, UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND

Australia’s major supermarkets accused of purchasing properties to turf out independent stores

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Original article by Jonathan Barrett
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 12-Apr-24

The Senate inquiry into supermarket prices has been told that grocery giants Coles and Woolworths engage in land-banking to prevent smaller rivals from opening a store near their supermarkets. Grant Ramage, the CEO of Metcash’s food division, said the duopoly is also prepared to pay inflated prices to buy out rivals in order to stifle competition, while they have been known to buy retail properties that are tenanted by independent supermarkets and subsequently not renew their lease. Aldi Australia’s CEO Anna McGrath has told the inquiry that rival supermarket chains often reduce their prices when the Germany-based company opens a new store near their existing outlets.

CORPORATES
METCASH LIMITED – ASX MTS, COLES GROUP LIMITED – ASX COL, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD

‘Significant market concentration’: Australian farming lobby calls for poultry industry code of conduct

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Original article by Aston Brown
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 4-Apr-24

Australia’s poultry industry is the latest sector to come under scrutiny over concerns regarding alleged abuse of market power. The National Farmers’ Federation contends that a mandatory code of conduct is needed for chicken processors, given that they have enormous bargaining power in negotiations with chicken farmers. The chicken processing industry is dominated by Inghams Enterprises and Baiada Poultry, which supply about 70 per cent of the nation’s poultry meat. The NFF’s report notes amongst other things that lack of competition and unfair contract terms are issues of concern for poultry producers.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL FARMERS’ FEDERATION LIMITED, INGHAMS ENTERPRISES, INGHAMS GROUP LIMITED – ASX ING, BAIADA POULTRY PTY LTD

States sign up for new competition agenda to lift wages

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Original article by Shane Wright
The Age – Page: Online : 8-Mar-24

NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey has hosted a meeting of federal, state and territory governments that has been as acting as a possible starting point for new competition reforms that will in turn lead to higher wages. Many economists believe that the recent decline in global and Australian productivity is partly due to a lack of competitive pressures, which force companies to look at new ways to lift output or better utilise their staff. One issue that the meeting looked at was the growing use of non-compete and no-poach clauses in workplace contracts or agreements, with recently released research from the Australian Bureau of Statistics finding that 47 per cent of businesses imposed at least one form of restraint clause on their workers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Chalmers asks ACCC to probe deposit rates

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Original article by Ayesha de Kretser
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 & 15 : 11-Jan-23

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says consumers with savings accounts should consider switching banks to get a better deal, given that some banks still have low deposit interest rates despite eight increases in the cash rate during 2022. Chalmers contends that banks should treat their customers fairly with regard to savings accounts, and he has asked the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission to examine this issue in 2023. Analysis shows that smaller banks generally have much more competitive interest rates on deposit accounts than the nation’s four major banks.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

ACCC to target Google and Facebook again

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Original article by Aaron Patrick
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 6-Jul-21

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims says a US court’s recent rejection of an antitrust case against Facebook will not deter global regulators from taking further action against digital giants. However, rather than seeking to have companies such as Facebook and Google broken up, the ACCC will use two current inquiries into digital advertising services and digital platform services to try to limit their ability to exploit their market power. Both inquiries are slated to report to the federal government in coming months.

CORPORATES
GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION