COMPETITION – AUSTRALIA

Regional banks seek level playing field

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 45 & 50 : 29-Mar-18

The Productivity Commission has received a joint submission from six regional banks in which they call for regulatory reforms to ensure that they remain competitive against larger rivals. Amongst other things, they have argued that the Federal Government’s implicit guarantee to bail out the "big four" in the event of a financial crisis gives them a competitive advantage when seeking funding via wholesale debt markets. The regional banks have also called for changes to the policy that requires them to have higher levels of capital for loans that have an equivalent risk.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, AMP BANK LIMITED, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, ME BANK, MYSTATE LIMITED – ASX MYS, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Foxtel bows to demand by adding movie greats

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 26 : 5-Mar-18

Foxtel’s executive director of television, Brian Walsh, says broadcasters must offer exclusive content in order to remain competitive as viewers shift to watching films and TV shows on demand. Foxtel will increase the number of film channels it offers to 10 with the launch of Foxtel Movie Greats on 23 March. It will feature classic Hollywood films that have been digitally remastered in high definition. Foxtel will also add more than 1,200 classic films to its Foxtel Now on-demand service.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, FOXTEL NOW, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, HBO, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS

Life yet in department stores says Macy’s exec

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Original article by Patrick Hatch
The Age – Page: 20 : 16-Jan-18

Terry Lundgren, the executive chairman of US department store chain Macy’s, says Australian retailers should aim to compete with Amazon by offering unique products and a unique shopping experience. Lundgren is upbeat about the outlook for department stores, and says they can survive by adapting their business models to reflect changes in the sector. Macy’s has scaled back its store numbers in recent years and opened discount outlets in some of its stores. Myer Holdings has adopted the same strategies in Australia.

CORPORATES
RH MACY AND COMPANY INCORPORATED, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, BLOOMINGDALES, BLUEMERCURY, TJ MAXX, NATIONAL RETAILERS FEDERATION

Oligopolies aren’t that bad: Grattan

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 4-Dec-17

Research conducted by the Grattan Institute suggests that concerns that Australia’s economy has too many oligopolies are over-stated. Jim Minifie of the Grattan Institute says it found that Australian companies which dominate their markets only account for around 15 per cent of the economy, and that Australia is not really any different to other comparable economies when it comes to the number of oligopolies. He notes that the supermarket sector has become less concentrated since the global financial crisis, although the banking sector has become more so.

CORPORATES
GRATTAN INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, COSTCO WHOLESALE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, HIH INSURANCE LIMITED

Woolies’ warning to suppliers

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

Woolworths chairman Gordon Cairns has urged food and grocery suppliers to think carefully before putting their goods for sale on Amazon. Speaking at its AGM on 23 November, he said retailers such as Woolworths might find that they could not compete with Amazon’s prices, and so might decide to start selling more of their private label goods in preference to brand-name products. CEO Brad Banducci said that Uber Eats could be as a big a threat to Woolworths’ business as Amazon over the next year.

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, UBER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BIG W DISCOUNT STORES, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, BP AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Amazon’s retail invasion begins

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Original article by Sue Mitchell, James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 23-Nov-17

Australian retailing is set for its biggest shake-up in decades on 23 November, when Amazon "soft-launches" its electronic commerce operations, with a full launch expected on 24 November. Ben Gilbert from UBS says Amazon’s arrival in Australia is likely to have a detrimental impact on the profit margins of local retailers, as they will have to invest more in delivery and service, as well as lowering their prices. However, he believes investors have perhaps over-reacted to Amazon’s pending arrival in terms of how much they have pushed down the share price of local retailers.

CORPORATES
AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX HVN, GREENCROSS LIMITED – ASX GXL, SUPER RETAIL GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUL, DYSON APPLIANCES LIMITED, BREVILLE GROUP LIMITED – ASX BRG

Amazon threat and opportunity

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Original article by Simon Evans, Michael Bailey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 12 : 2-Nov-17

US-based e-commerce giant Amazon is widely tipped to enter the Australian market before the end of 2017. Delegates at a retail summit on 1 November were told that the arrival of a new competitor will be good for Australian retailers, with Launa Inman arguing that it will force them to improve their online offerings. Small Business & Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell says Amazon will face close scrutiny to ensure that its contracts are fair, while Australian Retailers Association executive director Russell Zimmerman stressed the need to ensure that Amazon complies with Australia’s penalty rates regime.

CORPORATES
AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE AUSTRALIAN SMALL BUSINESS AND FAMILY ENTERPRISE OMBUDSMAN, AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, BILLABONG INTERNATIONAL LIMITED – ASX BBG, TARGET AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, THEICONIC.COM.AU

More mergers from media changes: ACCC

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Original article by Supratim Adhikari
The Australian – Page: 19 : 1-Nov-17

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims expects cross-media ownership law reforms to prompt further consolidation in the media sector. However, he has told a Communications & Media Law Association event that any such merger proposals must ensure that media diversity is maintained. He added that media diversity is already being affected by the growing market power of digital giants Google and Facebook.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA LAW ASSOCIATION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, NBN CO LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS

Open market the death of car makers

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Original article by Simon Evans
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 18-Oct-17

Holden’s share of Australia’s new car market has fallen from about 20 per cent in the 1990s to just seven per cent. Holden will be the last car maker to cease local manufacturing when its Adelaide plant closes on 20 October. Former Mitsubishi Motors Australia CEO Tom Phillips says local car-makers struggled due to the influx of international car brands, with some 65 models competing in a relatively small market in terms of population. He adds that a change in consumers’ vehicle preferences also contributed to the demise of the local industry.

CORPORATES
GM HOLDEN LIMITED, MITSUBISHI MOTORS AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION AUSTRALIA LIMITED, FORD MOTOR COMPANY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, FLINDERS UNIVERSITY

Kaufland bid a shock to industry veteran

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Original article by Simon Evans
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 10-Oct-17

Businessman Roger Drake says Australia’s supermarket sector is the most competitive it has been in four decades. Competition is set to intensify with confirmation that Kaufland will enter the local market. It recently paid $A25m for a 3.6-hectare site in Adelaide, and Drake says he had expected the German group’s first store to be in Sydney or Melbourne. Drake notes that independent greengrocers appear to have been hit harder by Aldi’s entry to the South Australian market than the Foodland stores that he owns in the state.

CORPORATES
KAUFLAND STIFTUNG & CO KG, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, FOODLAND AUSTRALIA LIMITED, DRAKE FOODMARKETS, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BIG W DISCOUNT STORES, CBRE PTY LTD