RETAIL TRADE – AUSTRALIA

Bushfires likely to impact Australian retailers, analysts say

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Original article by Dominic Powell
The Age – Page: Online : 9-Jan-20

Bryan Raymond of Citigroup says the bushfires crisis is likely to have a near-term impact on major retailers, as the smoke blanketing large cities will reduce foot traffic and some stores in bushfire-affected areas have closed temporarily. Hardware and outdoor equipment retailers are expected to be among the hardest hit, although Raymond notes that they may receive a boost as the nation rebuilds after the disaster. He adds that there is unlikely to be much impact on the sales of grocery giants Coles and Woolworths.

CORPORATES
CITIGROUP PTY LTD, COLES GROUP LIMITED – ASX COL, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, METCASH LIMITED – ASX MTS, SUPER RETAIL GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUL, JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX HVN

Harris Scarfe to cut 440 jobs, shut 21 stores

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Original article by Lucas Baird
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 : 7-Jan-20

Failed department store group Harris Scarfe will be restructured prior to its sale. This will result in the closure of 21 stores nationwide, including eight in New South Wales and three in Victoria. This will leave 44 stores for prospective buyers of the group, which collapsed in late December. The store closures will result in the loss of about 440 jobs; Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees’ Association secretary Josh Peak says the union’s priority will be to ensure that retrenched workers receive their full entitlements.

CORPORATES
HARRIS SCARFE HOLDINGS LIMITED, SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION, DELOITTE RESTRUCTURING SERVICES, ALLEGRO FUNDS PTY LTD, GREENLIT BRANDS

Yuletide bounce falls flat for shops

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 3 : 24-Dec-19

AMP Capital’s Shane Oliver says the bushfire crisis is likely to affect consumer sentiment during the retail sector’s crucial Christmas trading period. He notes that consumer confidence had already been dampened by factors such as low wages growth, a high underemployment rate and economic uncertainty. The Australian Retailers Association has forecast that consumer spending will by rise 2.6 per cent to $52.7bn between 14 November and 24 December, while it expects spending at post-Christmas sales to rise 2.4 per cent to $18.7bn.

CORPORATES
AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

2019 post-Christmas retail sales to grow 2.3% to $18.7 billion

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 23-Dec-19

Roy Morgan’s annual post-Christmas retail sales forecasts, conducted in conjunction with the Australian Retailers Association (ARA), project that Australians are set to spend $18.72 billion across retail stores during the post-Christmas trading period, an increase of 2.3% from a year ago. The post-Christmas retail sales are expected to have a slightly lesser rate of growth than the larger pre-Christmas sales due to the growing impact of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend sales in late November, which have gained prominence in the last few years. The ABS Retail Sales data for October showed seasonally adjusted sales of $27.57 billion, unchanged on September. The lower than expected result doesn’t augur well for pre-Christmas sales which are now forecast to increase by between 2.5% to 2.6% on a year ago to $52.7 billion, a lower forecast range than previously released. Growth in retail expenditure is predicted across all six categories measured.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION

Stagnant wages and rising debt point to weak Christmas spending

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Original article by Euan Black
The New Daily – Page: Online : 19-Dec-19

Research by the Commonwealth Bank shows that 12 per cent of Australian adults will do most of their Christmas shopping at the last minute. Meanwhile, 26 per cent will look for discounts to save money on their Christmas shopping. The Commonwealth Bank’s chief economist Michael Blythe says growth in consumer spending is likely to be weak in 2019. Jim Stanford from the Centre for Future Work says factors such as small pay rises and high debt have prompted consumers to reduce their spending.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, THE AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE LIMITED. CENTRE FOR FUTURE WORK

Dollar’s fall lifts retailers’ spirits

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 21 : 10-Dec-14

The latest Deloitte Access Economics retail forecasts study shows that the sector can expect higher margins during the 2014 Christmas period, due to the fall of the Australian dollar against the US currency. The overall sales growth figure for the calendar year is tipped to be 5.4%, compared with 3% on average per annum since 2010. The Australian National Retailers Association (ANRA) also forecasts turnover in the second week of December to reach $A7.6bn. However ANRA CEO Anna McPhee notes that retail sector margins have declined in the past three years

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL RETAILERS ASSOCIATION LIMITED, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Catalogues hit the mark with shoppers

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Dec-14

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that 53 per cent of Australians aged 14+ read one or more store catalogues in an average week during the year to September 2014. Some 56 per cent bought a product as a result of seeing it in a catalogue. The survey also shows that 41 per cent of Australians read supermarket catalogues in an average week, and 58 per cent of these people buy items from the catalogues. Meanwhile, 38 per cent of readers buy something from a chemist’s catalogue, followed by liquor store catalogues (33 per cent)

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, DICK SMITH HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX DSH, WESFARMERS BUNNINGS LIMITED, IKEA TRADING PTY LTD

JB Hi-Fi tunes in to smaller stores

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 26-Nov-19

Consumer electronics retailer JB Hi-Fi will open its first ‘Express’ store in Melbourne’s Southbank precinct on 26 November. CEO Richard Murray says the 68sq m store will target cash and carry buyers who want to make small purchases. JB Hi-Fi is capitalising on the growing trend toward small-format retail stores, with plans to open more stores in airports and office towers that are similar in size to the 250sq outlet at Sydney Airport’s international terminal. Murray says JB Hi-Fi is looking at opening additional stores at airports.

CORPORATES
JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, COLES GROUP LIMITED – ASX COL, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, DAVID JONES LIMITED

2019 Christmas retail sales to grow 2.6% to $52.7 billion

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

Roy Morgan’s annual Christmas retail sales forecasts conducted in conjunction with the Australian Retailers Association indicate that Australians will spend over $52.7 billion across retail stores during the Christmas trading period. This is an increase of 2.6% from the $51.4 billion of retail expenditure during the 2018 Christmas trading period. Growth in retail expenditure is predicted across all six categories measured, with spending on Food expected to grow by 3.2% from a year ago to nearly $21.7 billion. Also set to grow strongly will be Apparel, including clothing, footwear and accessories, up 3% to almost $4.2 billion. Hospitality businesses are forecast to grow by 2.3% to an expenditure of well over $7.4 billion, and an impressive $8.8 billion is expected to be spent on Household Goods this Christmas, an increase of 0.6% from a year ago. Department stores are set to experience slower growth than other categories, up by 0.5%, to overall spending of almost $3 billion. The category combining ‘Other retailing’, which includes online retailing, is predicted to experience the fastest growth of all, up by 3.7% to spending of over $7.6 billion.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION

JB Hi-Fi says low interest rates a double-edged sword for retailers

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 25-Oct-19

JB Hi-Fi has advised that its Australian stores recorded same-store sales growth of 3.7 per cent in the September quarter, while its New Zealand arm’s same-store sales were up 3.8 per cent. JB Hi-Fi CEO Richard Murray says group sales are still expected to increase by about 2.2 per cent to $7.65bn in 2019-20. He notes that while consumer confidence has improved since the 18 May federal election, the cash rate’s fall to a record low has also prompted some fears about the state of the economy.

CORPORATES
JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, THE GOOD GUYS, NICK SCALI LIMITED – ASX NCK, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL