RETAIL TRADE – 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

Woolies takes $2.5bn hit as profit stagnates

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 19 : 21-Feb-19

Grocery giant Woolworths Group has posted a 2018-19 interim net profit of $979m, which is one per cent higher than previously. Net profit from continuing operations, rose by 2.1 per cent to $920m and sales were up 2.2 per cent at $30.704bn. Analyst say the half-year results were disappointing, and Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci has warned that the retail trading environment is likely to remain challenging in the second half. Shareholders will receive an interim dividend of $0.45 per share.

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, WOOLWORTHS SUPERMARKETS, BIG W DISCOUNT STORES, DAN MURPHY’S, ENDEAVOUR DRINKS, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, COLES GROUP LIMITED – ASX COL, EG GROUP

Roy Morgan predicts Christmas sales within 0.1% – again

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 18-Feb-19

Roy Morgan’s 2018 retail sales forecast, undertaken in conjunction with the Australian Retailers Association (ARA), predicted total retail sales growth of 2.9% to $51.479 billion for the most important retailing period of the year from 9 November to Christmas Eve. This is just 0.1% higher than the 2.8% growth achieved. The accuracy for 2018 matches the accuracy of a year ago, when Roy Morgan’s pre-Christmas sales forecasts were also within 0.1% of the actual retail sales for the period. There was growth across five of the six categories measured in the pre-Christmas period in 2018, with spending on Food growing the fastest, up 4% to $20.979 billion. Also growing impressively was the Clothing, Footwear & Accessories category, which grew 3.8% to $4.056 billion, while Other Retailing grew by 3.5% to $7.375 billion. All three of these categories grew at a slightly greater rate than Roy Morgan’s pre-Christmas forecasts. The Roy Morgan-ARA Christmas sales forecasts are based on data taken from the ABS Retail Trade Catalogue 8501.0. Note that online sales through Australian retail stores are included in the retail figures. Sales forecasts are determined by historical retail trade data from the ABS, Roy Morgan’s Consumer Confidence and unemployment data, and various other data relating to macro-economic conditions.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

JB Hi-Fi surges as tech reigns

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 19 : 12-Feb-19

Consumer electronics retailer JB Hi-Fi has posted a 2018-19 interim net profit of $160.1m, which is 5.5 per cent higher than previously. JB Hi-Fi has forecast that its full-year net profit will be within the range of $237m to $245m; full-year sales are expected to be $7.1bn, after sales totalled $3.843bn in the first half. CEO Richard Murray says consumers still seem to be buying gadgets such as smartphones and internet-connected fridges, at a time when many discretionary retailers are struggling.

CORPORATES
JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, THE GOOD GUYS, OPHIR ASSET MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

Housing bust, lower wages hit retail sales

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Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 2 : 6-Feb-19

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that retail sales fell by 0.4 per cent in December, while sales grew by just 0.1 per cent in the December quarter. The figures also show that Western Australia is the only state that did not experience a decline in retail sales during December. Gareth Aird of the Commonwealth Bank says consumer spending is being affected by the downturn in the housing market. He notes that this is particular evident in New South Wales, where house prices have fallen the most and retail sales were down 1.1 per cent in the December quarter.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Supermarkets increase dominance in fresh food

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 1-Feb-19

Australia’s total fresh food market (comprising meat, bread, deli, fruit, vegetables and seafood) now has an annual retail value of $38.8bn. Supermarkets currently hold 71.4% of this market, up from 69.0% 12 months ago and representing a continuation of a long-term trend. Woolworths has increased its lead over Coles in the 12 months to September 2018, with a market share gain in fresh food of 1.0% points (to 27.4%), compared to a gain of 0.6% points for Coles (to 24.6%). Aldi showed the second biggest gain, being up 0.8% points to 9.8%, leaving it in third place and well ahead of IGA on 6.0%. Of the smaller fresh food retailers, butchers showed the biggest decline, down 1.1% points to 7.0%, followed by fruit shops, down 0.7% points to 6.7%. These are some of the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s ‘Supermarket & Fresh Food Currency Report-September 2018’, which is based on in-depth interviews conducted face-to-face with over 50,000 consumers per annum in their homes, including detailed questionnaires of over 12,000 grocery buyers.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS SUPERMARKETS, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, IGA

Kogan blames Apple for dive in global sales

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 18 : 18-Jan-19

Kogan.com has reported revenue growth of 9.7 per cent for the first half of 2018-19. The listed e-commerce group’s private label and partner brand sales rose by 23.6 per cent and 92.8 per cent respectively, but sales of global brands fell by 47 per cent. Founder Ruslan Kogan notes that sales of Apple products fell sharply during the period, although sales of other global brand rose by 8.5 per cent. Kogan.com has also been affected by the federal government’s move to impose GST on goods purchased overseas that cost less than $1,000.

CORPORATES
KOGAN.COM LIMITED – ASX KGN, APPLE INCORPORATED, SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS COMPANY LIMITED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, GARMIN LIMITED, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, BLOOMBERG LP, JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS

Hayne gets blame for retail spending squeeze

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 17-Jan-19

Australian retailers had mixed fortunes during the crucial Christmas shopping period, according to analysts. Data from ShopperTrak shows that shopping centres recorded a 12.2 per cent decline in customer traffic in December, including a 23 per cent fall in the week to December 30. Meanwhile, retail adviser James Stewart says factors such as falling house prices and tighter access to credit in the wake of the financial services royal commission are weighing on consumer spending. He adds that more retailers are likely to go into administration in 2019 following the recent collapse of clothing chain Ed Harry.

CORPORATES
SHOPPERTRAK INCORPORATED, ED HARRY MENSWEAR, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MICHAEL HILL INTERNATIONAL LIMITED – ASX MHJ, KATHMANDU HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX KMD, THE REJECT SHOP LIMITED – ASX TRS, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NONI B LIMITED – ASX NBL, THE PAS GROUP LIMITED – ASX PGR, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, NOMURA AUSTRALIA LIMITED, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY