GROCERY TRADE – AUSTRALIA

Supermarket break-up powers called for

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Original article by Tom McIlroy, Ronald Mizen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 19-Mar-24

The Greens want the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission to be given powers to apply for a court order to break up companies that abuse their market power. Greens senator Nick McKim says supermarkets are the focus of the proposed divestiture laws, although he emphasises that the ACCC could also use these powers to target companies in other sectors. Meanwhile, the Australian Retail Association has rejected claims that grocery giants Coles and Woolworths are price-gouging, contending that the duopoly’s sales and costs have increased much faster than their profits over the last five years.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION, COLES GROUP LIMITED – ASX COL, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW

Metcash swings back into the black

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Original article by Valerina Changarathil
The Australian – Page: 15 : 29-Jun-21

Grocery, hardware and liquor wholesaler Metcash released its results for the year to 30 April on 28 June, with Metcash reporting an after tax profit of $239 million. This compared to a loss of $56.8 million for the previous corresponding period, while underlying profit jumped 27 per cent to $252.7 million. Revenue was up almost 10 per cent to $14.3 billion, while operating cash flow increased from $117.5 million to $457.5 million. Metcash declared a dividend of $0.095, while it announced an off-market share buyback of about $175 million.

CORPORATES
METCASH LIMITED – ASX MTS

Retail invasion over as Kaufland beats a retreat from the Australian market

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 15 & 23 : 23-Jan-20

Shares in grocery retailers Coles and Woolworths rallied on 22 January, after German supermarket group Kaufland announced that it has abandoned plans to expand into the Australian market. Kaufland has advised that its 200 employees in Australia will receive their full entitlements; the majority had previously been employed by Coles or Woolworths. Schwarz Group is believed to have invested about $500m in Kaufland’s Australian operations, with plans to open at least 20 stores across the country.

CORPORATES
KAUFLAND STIFTUNG & CO KG, SCHWARZ GROUP, COLES GROUP LIMITED – ASX COL, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW

Metcash stands its ground as share price falls

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 19 : 25-Jun-19

Grocery wholesaler Metcash has posted a net profit of $192.8m for the year to 30 April, following a loss of $148.2m previously. The group’s underlying profit was three per cent lower at $210.3m, but revenue increased by 1.8 per cent to $12.7bn. CEO Jeff Adams says Metcash is confident that its restructuring program, which includes further cost reductions, will pay off. Metcash shares fell 9.8 per cent on 24 June, closing at $2.84.

CORPORATES
METCASH LIMITED – ASX MTS, COLES GROUP LIMITED – ASX COL, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW

Coles CEO’s $1bn refresh gambit

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 19-Jun-19

Coles Group has outlined plans to reduce costs by $1bn over the next four years in a bid to arrest the 20 per cent downturn in earnings over the last two years. The proceeds from the cost-cutting program will be redirected to initiatives such as refurbishing stores and enhancing Coles’ online operations. Coles plans to open about 10 new stores in 2020, compared with 21 in 2019. It also intends to refurbish 75 stores in 2020, up from 50 in fiscal 2019. Coles shares closed 3.44 per cent higher at $13.21 on 18 June.

CORPORATES
COLES GROUP LIMITED – ASX COL, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, COSTCO WHOLESALE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TARGET AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, VERTIUM ASSET MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

Online grocery shoppers are a small but lucrative market

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 15-Apr-19

New research from Roy Morgan shows that Australian grocery shoppers aged 14+ who bought groceries from Woolworths online in the year to December 2018 spent an average of $186 a week, compared to only $103 for those buying from Woolworths’ ‘bricks and mortar’ stores. The same trend is evident for Coles, with grocery shoppers spending $158 at Coles Online in an average week, compared with $97 on average for those shopping at a ‘bricks and mortar’ store. The huge difference in spending patterns between the online and ‘bricks and mortar’ stores is driven by women, who spend far more on average via the online outlet than via the physical store.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS SUPERMARKETS

Woolworths and Aldi grow grocery market share in 2018

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 8-Apr-19

Roy Morgan’s latest ‘Supermarket & Fresh Food Currency Report’ shows that Woolworths increased its share of Australia’s total grocery market to 34% in 2018, an increase of 1.4ppts. Coles’ share of the total grocery market fell 1.6ppts to 27.6% in 2018, while Aldi’s market share grew by 0.5ppts to 11.4% and IGA’s market share was down 0.4ppts to 7.1%. Over the last year Woolworths has grown its market share in dollar terms across all four fresh food sub-categories (fresh meat, fresh deli, fresh bread, and fresh fruit and vegetables) and increased its lead over nearest rival Coles. The report is compiled from data collected as part of Roy Morgan’s Single Source survey, which involves more than 50,000 in-home, face-to-face interviews each year, including more than 12,000 detailed surveys of grocery and fresh food buying behaviour.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, COLES GROUP LIMITED – ASX COL, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, IGA

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

Suppliers revolt over Woolies’ plan to cut data

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 19 : 1-Oct-18

Woolworths will make changes to the sales data it provides to suppliers as from 2019. The retailer states the data will be of a much broader nature, with intellectual property and competitive information being protected from being shared with rival companies. However, suppliers have expressed concern about the proposed changes, stating that not having access to specific sales data will leave them "defenceless" if Woolworths decides to stop stocking their products. They are also concerned that Woolworth’s private label brands will benefit from the changes.

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, AUSTRALIAN FOOD AND GROCERY COUNCIL

$40b+ fresh food market dominated by fruit & veg & meat

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 23-Apr-18

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that Australia’s $40 billion+ fresh food market is dominated by the two staples of fresh fruit/vegetables (45.6% of the market) and fresh meat (33.7% of the market). The survey, which was carried out in the year to December 2017, also shows that fresh bread has a 7.5% share of the fresh food market, ahead of fresh deli (6.8%) and fresh seafood (6.4%). Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says competition in Australia’s fresh food market is heating up as ‘Big 2’ supermarkets Woolworths and Coles aggressively grow their fresh food market share at the expense of niche competitors. Recent research by Roy Morgan shows that they now account for over 50% of Australia’s fresh food market.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS SUPERMARKETS