RETAIL TRADE – AUSTRALIA

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

Williams top shoe store ahead of The Athlete’s Foot

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 17-Jun-19

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey shows that Williams has Australia’s most satisfied shoe store customers, with a customer satisfaction rating of 88% in April 2019, ahead of The Athlete’s Foot on 86% and Spend Less Shoes on 78%. Overall, some 1.4 million Australians shop at a shoe store in an average four-week period, and 82% are satisfied with their experience. Analysis by gender shows that about 880,000 women and 580,000 men shop at shoe stores in an average four weeks. Meanwhile, analysis by generation reveals that 470,000 Australians in Generation X shop at shoe stores in an average four weeks, nearly a third of all shoe store shoppers, and easily the largest market by generation for Australian shoe stores. Generation X also represents the largest share of customers for Williams, The Athlete’s Foot and Payless Shoes.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, WILLIAMS, THE ATHLETE’S FOOT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SPENDLESS SHOES PTY LTD

Woolies to cut specials to restore price trust

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 & 24 : 31-May-19

Grocery giant Woolworths has joined rival Coles in admitting that it is too dependent on price discounting to boost sales growth. Woolworths’ Peter McNamara says the weekly price discounts strategy is adversely affecting consumers’ trust in prices over the long-term. Like Coles, Woolworths is shifting its focus to an ‘everyday low price’ model rather than large prices discounts that are offered for one week only. Ben Gilbert of UBS expects Australia’s food and liquor market to record sales growth of around four per cent in 2019 and 2020.

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, WOOLWORTHS SUPERMARKETS, COLES GROUP LIMITED – ASX COL, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN FOOD AND GROCERY COUNCIL

Autobarn tops customer satisfaction in March

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 6-May-19

Autobarn has again topped key rivals Supercheap Auto and Repco in the very competitive Auto store category in the Roy Morgan Satisfaction program to be Australia’s top Auto store in March, with a customer satisfaction rating of 89%. The greatest growth in customer satisfaction was recorded by Repco, with an increase of 3%. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says that Autobarn with a customer satisfaction rating of 89%, currently holds a narrow lead for customer satisfaction ahead of competitors Supercheap Auto (88%) and Repco (87%), with very high ratings for all three Auto stores. The Roy Morgan customer satisfaction program is based on in-depth interviews with over 50,000 Australians each year as part of the Roy Morgan Single Source survey.

CORPORATES
AUTOBARN PTY LTD, ROY MORGAN LIMITED, OCPER AUTO PARTS PTY LTD

Woolworths bites the bullet on Big W

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 2-Apr-19

Woolworths has advised that it will close 30 of its Big W department stores, which will reduce the number of outlets by about 16 per cent. Two of Big W’s distribution centres will also be closed as part of the restructuring program, which will result in a one-off impairment charge of $370m. Woolworths has forecast that Big W will post a loss of least $80m in fiscal 2019, but CEO Brad Banducci says the retail giant is committed to restoring the chain to profitability. The store closures could result in the loss of up to 1,000 jobs, but Woolworths hopes to redeploy many employees.

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, BIG W DISCOUNT STORES, EG GROUP, PLATO INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Retailers at risk as consumers tighten belts

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 25-Mar-19

Insolvency firm SV Partners has stated that 916 Australian retail outlets are at "high to severe risk of collapse" in the next 12 months. Its forecast is based on data from credit bureaus and providers. An online retailer with turnover of more than $1 billion is one of the businesses that are considered to be under threat. Deloitte Access Economics has stated that retail sales growth will fall to 1.6 per cent in 2019 as consumers curtail their spending; well-known retailers to have failed in recent months include Roger David and Shoes of Prey.

CORPORATES
SV PARTNERS PTY LTD, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, ROGER DAVID STORES PTY LTD, SHOES OF PREY PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, ED HARRY MENSWEAR, NAPOLEON PERDIS COSMETICS PTY LTD, BEDS ‘R’ US PTY LTD

Myer cuts another 50 jobs as sales fall

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 22-Mar-19

Myer Holdings has stressed that customer-facing staff will not be affected by the department store group’s latest job cuts. CEO John King has advised that 50 employees will be retrenched, primarily in store administration, marketing and merchandising roles. Myer is expected to shed further jobs when it begins reducing the amount of space it leases in some of its stores. Myer retrenched 30 executives and managers in August 2018, shortly after King took the helm.

CORPORATES
MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, HOUSE OF FRASER HOLDINGS PLC, TOURISM AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, J WALTER THOMPSON AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, OGILVY AUSTRALIA

Reprieve for Myer as profits rise

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 17 & 27 : 7-Mar-19

Department store group Myer Holdings has posted a 2018-19 interim profit of $38.4m, compared with a writedown-marred loss of $476m for the previous corresponding period. Myer’s underlying profit was up 3.1 per cent at $41.3m, but sales fell by 2.8 per cent to $1.67bn. CEO John King says Myer will continue to sale overseas fashion brands, but it will seek to increase its in-house brands’ share of group sales from 17.5 per cent to 20 per cent.

CORPORATES
MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, DAVID JONES LIMITED, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED

Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards 2018: Australia’s most service-oriented retailers announced

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 4-Mar-19

The winners of the 14 retail categories in the Roy Morgan 2018 Customer Satisfaction Awards include a mix of first-timers and veterans. Kmart (Discount Department Store of the Year), Discount Drug Stores (Chemist/Pharmacy of the Year) and Ikea (Furniture/Electrical Store of the Year) are among the first-time winners. Among the repeat champions were Foodland (Supermarket of the Year), Myer (Department Store of the Year), Bunnings (Hardware Store of the Year), Rebel (Sports Store of the Year) and The Reject Shop (Discount Variety Store of the Year for the seventh year running).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, DISCOUNT DRUGSTORES PTY LTD, IKEA TRADING PTY LTD, FOODLAND AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, REBEL SPORT LIMITED, THE REJECT SHOP LIMITED – ASX TRS

House slump hits Harvey Norman

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 & 22 : 1-Mar-19

Furniture and electronics retailer Harvey Norman has posted a 2018-19 interim net profit of $222.8m, which is 7.3 per cent higher than previously. Its Australian franchised stores recorded sales of $2.95bn for the period, a decline of 1.7 per cent, and there was an 0.6 per cent fall in same-store sales. However, its overseas stores boasted sales of $1.07bn, an increase of 12.1 per cent. Chairman Gerry Harvey is confident that Harvey Norman’s overseas stores will eventually contribute 50 per cent of its earnings.

CORPORATES
HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX HVN, ALLERON INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED, IKEA