MARKET SHARE – AUSTRALIA

Private-label brands lose their stigma

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 11-Dec-14

The market share of Australian supermarkets’ private-label brands has risen from 18 per cent to 21 per cent in the last two years. Research by Nielsen also shows that 76 per cent of consumers believe that the quality of home brands has improved. Kosta Conomos of Nielsen says that Generation Y in particular is embracing private-label groceries, and he forecasts that the market share of house brands will top 25 per cent within five years

CORPORATES
THE NIELSEN COMPANY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, COLES GROUP LIMITED, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD

iiNet to tackle Optus, Telstra for NSW growth

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 24-Nov-14

CEO David Buckingham says listed ISP iiNet is keen to lift its market share in New South Wales against dominant telcos Telstra and Singtel Optus. Australia-wide, the company ranks just behind Optus, with 950,000 broadband subscribers to 1.03 million. iiNet’s sharemarket capitalisation has grown 380%-plus to $A1.3bn since 2009, as it has purchased rivals including Internode, Adam Internet and TransACT. While iiNet has only a 15% share of the overall fixed broadband market, in the segment of national broadband network connections it is 20%

CORPORATES
IINET LIMITED – ASX IIN, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS LIMITED – ASX SGT, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, INTERNODE SYSTEMS PTY LTD, ADAM INTERNET PTY LTD, TRANSACT COMMUNICATIONS PTY LTD, TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM, M2 GROUP LIMITED – ASX MTU, CIMB SECURITIES INTERNATIONAL (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NBN CO LIMITED

George Weston Foods hungry for acquisitions

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 11-Nov-14

George Weston Foods boasts a 34 per cent share of Australia’s packaged bread market, and CEO Andrew Reeves says it aims to topple market leader Goodman Fielder. George Weston has ramped up its marketing activities in the last several years and reduced its production and distribution costs. Reeves says the group will consider growth options such as joint ventures or acquisitions in sector such as specialty and artisan breads

CORPORATES
GEORGE WESTON FOODS LIMITED, ASSOCIATED BRITISH FOODS PLC, GOODMAN FIELDER LIMITED – ASX GFF, WILMAR INTERNATIONAL LIMITED, FIRST PACIFIC COMPANY LIMITED, TIP TOP BAKERIES, PRIMARK STORES LIMITED, AB MAURI, LION PTY LTD, COCA-COLA AMATIL LIMITED – ASX CCL

Competition watchdog won’t call for Woolies liquor split

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Original article by Julie-Anne Sprague
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 22 : 6-Oct-14

A former Woolworths executive has claimed that the retail giant has too much market power in the liquor sector. Tony Leon says Woolworths should be forced to divest one of its liquor chains, as its market dominance allows it to put pressure on liquor suppliers. However, Australian Competition & Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims says forcing companies to offload assets should not be within the regulator’s purview, arguing that it can already address concerns about abuse of market power

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, BWS – BEER WINE SPIRITS, DAN MURPHY’S, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, COLES GROUP LIMITED, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, IBISWORLD PTY LTD, LIQUORLAND (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, VINTAGE CELLARS (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, FIRST CHOICE LIQUOR SUPERSTORE, AUSTRALIAN LEISURE AND HOSPITALITY GROUP LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL RETAILERS ASSOCIATION LIMITED, STEVE’S LIQUOR, METCASH LIMITED – ASX MTS, AUSTRALIAN LIQUOR MARKETERS PTY LTD, CELLARBRATION PTY LTD, BOTTLE-O, IGA LIQUOR

IAG focuses on the bottom line

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Original article by Michael Bennet
The Australian – Page: 21 : 20-Aug-14

Insurance Australia Group (IAG) has announced a 2013-14 full-year net profit increase of 59% to $A1.23bn, as gross written premiums also lifted 3% to reach $A9.8bn. The 12-month distribution has been boosted 8.3% to $A0.39, and on 19 August 2014 the stock closed $A0.03 higher at $A6.20. CEO Mike Wilkins said the Australian-listed company would focus on improved margins rather than to defend market share, as smaller rivals such as Youi, Budget and Progressive as well as supermarket chains and major banks expand their business

CORPORATES
INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG, QBE INSURANCE GROUP LIMITED – ASX QBE, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, ALLIANZ AUSTRALIA LIMITED, YOUI PTY LTD, BUDGET DIRECT INSURANCE AGENCY PTY LTD, PROGRESSIVE DIRECT INSURANCE COMPANY, NRMA INSURANCE LIMITED, SGIO INSURANCE LIMITED, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Ten loses share of free TV as Seven and Nine surge

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Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 29-Jul-14

Seven West Media boasted a 41.3 per cent share of metropolitan TV revenue in the first half of 2014, which is 0.8 per cent higher than previously. Nine’s revenue share rose by 0.9 per cent to 38.6, but the Ten Network’s share was 1.8 per cent lower at 20.1 per cent. Ten’s Louise Barrett notes that the network’s ratings have risen markedly in recent months after a poor performance earlier in the year

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, FREE TV AUSTRALIA LIMITED, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Big screen challenge for Apple

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Original article by Paul Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 1-Jul-14

Apple is under pressure to produce a larger smartphone to regain market share in Australia. Telsyte said that Google’s Android operating system holds 51 per cent of the local market of 16 million users, while Apple’s iOS holds 42 per cent. Apple will begin production of a larger "phablet" iPhone in August 2014. Telsyte MD Foad Fadaghi said that a larger model will probably allow Apple to regain lost market share

CORPORATES
APPLE INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, TELSYTE PTY LTD, NOKIA OY AB, BLACKBERRY LIMITED, SAMSUNG CORPORATION, SONY CORPORATION, LG CORPORATION, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS LIMITED – ASX SGT, VODAFONE HUTCHISON AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

BGC, Metricon team up

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Original article by Nick Lenaghan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 42 : 26-Jun-14

The market leader in the Western Australian residential construction sector is BGC, a group that also has building materials assets. It has been the largest home builder nationwide as well for most of the past 10 years, only occasionally surpassed by Metricon. The number of new home starts in 2013 was 3,400 for BGC and 2,800 for Metricon. The two have now formed a new joint venture named Homefirst, which will initially be active in the Melbourne market’s budget segment

CORPORATES
HOMEFIRST, BGC (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, METRICON HOMES