RETAIL TRADE – AUSTRALIA

Dymocks targets the right sort of lovers

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 10-Sep-14

IBISWorld forecasts that sales of books and print newspapers will decline by 3.8 per cent annually over the next five years due to the growth of digital alternatives. Dymocks is defying this trend, recording same-store sales growth of eight per cent in 2013-14, and by almost 10 per cent overall. MD Steve Cox notes that the retailer’s use of data analytics to more accurately target members of its customer loyalty program has boosted sales

CORPORATES
DYMOCKS BOOKSELLERS PTY LTD, IBISWORLD PTY LTD, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, THE BOOK DEPOSITORY LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, DAVID JONES LIMITED

Coles confirms job cuts in Melbourne

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 4-Sep-14

Management confirmed on 3 September 2014 that Coles Group will retrench and redeploy 400 Melbourne support staff. The close to $A40 million in savings arising from the retrenchments will be used to revamp stores and cut grocery prices. The restructure is the largest by the supermarket chain since its 2007 acquisition of Wesfarmers. Several general managers recruited as part of the $A20 billion takeover are said to be leaving Coles under its new MD, John Durkan

CORPORATES
WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, COLES GROUP LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ACCENTURE AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Coles takes axe to workers

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 19 : 3-Sep-14

Analysts are not certain yet how extensive the downsizing moves by John Durkan, the new CEO of major retailer Coles, will be. It is being forecast that between 10% and 20% of the 3,000 staff at its head office in Melbourne may be made redundant, in a bid to cut costs. Experts note that Coles is trying to maintain its ability to compete on price in the groceries sector with rival supermarket chains Aldi and Woolworths. Others say parent Wesfarmers should have detailed the job cuts during the results presentation in August 2014

CORPORATES
WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, COLES GROUP LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, SHAW STOCKBROKING LIMITED

Billabong sees clear water in revival

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Original article by Blair Speedy
The Australian – Page: 18 : 29-Aug-14

Billabong International has announced a 2013-14 full-year net loss of $A233.7m, an improvement from $A859.5m in 2012-13. Excluding abnormal charges the EBITDA reached $A52.2m. The surf and skate clothing distributor and retailer in late 2013 struck a recapitalisation deal worth $A368m with US-based private equity firms Centerbridge Partners and Oaktree Capital. CEO Neil Fiske now says the Australian-listed company has lifted its US sales after years of declines, and growth in the Asian region has been 5% for the year

CORPORATES
BILLABONG INTERNATIONAL LIMITED – ASX BBG, OAKTREE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC, CENTERBRIDGE PARTNERS LP, SURFSTITCH PTY LTD, ELEMENT, SWELL COMMERCE INCORPORATED

RCG up amid ‘budget hangover’

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Original article by Leo Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 20 : 27-Aug-14

RCG Corporation has announced a 2013-14 full-year net profit increase of 11.2% to $A11.8m, on revenue that also rose 3% to reach $A210m. The RCG Brands division recorded an EBITDA lift of 37% to $A6.9m, while for the overall group the figure was up 12% at $A16.8m. The final distribution is $A0.025 fully-franked. CEO Hilton Brett says the owner of the Athlete’s Foot retailing chain is still experiencing subdued consumer sentiment due to the Australian Government’s May 2014 Budget

CORPORATES
RCG CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX RCG, RCG BRANDS PTY LTD, THE ATHLETE’S FOOT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MERRELL SHOES

Aldi fails to disclose tap and go charges

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Original article by Shaun Drummond
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 19-Aug-14

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission has ordered Aldi to take remedial action to display fees for contactless card transactions at the point of sale. An investigation by the corporate regulator found that Aldi had failed to disclose the fact that a surcharge of 0.5 per cent applies to payments that are made using so-called "tap and go" credit cards

CORPORATES
ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, VISA INTERNATIONAL, MASTERCARD AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Popular Aldi threatens Woolworths, Coles duopoly

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 12 : 15-Aug-14

Aldi currently boasts annual sales of about $A5.3bn in Australia. A UBS report estimates that Aldi could potentially lift its sales to $A9.3bn in the next five year. The firm forecasts that the annual sales of Coles, Woolworths and Metcash could be slashed by $A250m to $A350m by 2019 due to the growth of Aldi. Ben Gilbert of UBS notes that Aldi could achieve even stronger growth if it addresses issues such as the quality of its fresh food and long queues at checkouts, which are negatively affecting consumer sentiment toward the group

CORPORATES
ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, COLES GROUP LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, METCASH LIMITED – ASX MTS, TESCO PLC, J SAINSBURY PLC, ASDA GROUP PLC, MORRISONS, LIDL GMBH & CO KG, ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED

Drop in tablet sales proves a bitter pill for JB Hi-Fi

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Original article by Bridget Carter
The Australian – Page: 19 : 12-Aug-14

Electronic goods retailer JB Hi-Fi has announced a 2013-14 full-year net profit increase of 10.3% to $A128.4m, as had been tipped. Turnover grew 5.3% to reach $A3.48bn, and was up 2% on a like-for-like basis. However the company also conceded that revenue declined 5.5% year-on-year during the month of July 2014, as consumers bought fewer tablet computers. CEO Richard Murray said new devices would compensate for this during the course of 2014-15. The 12-month distribution is $A0.84, up 16.7%, and on 11 August the stock fell $A1.53 to close at $A17.84.

CORPORATES
JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, JB HI-FI HOME, MOELIS AND COMPANY

Kennett to steer Coles supplier charter

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 20 : 7-Aug-14

John Durkan, CEO of dominant supermarkets chain Coles, has announced a new charter to safeguard the interests of its suppliers. The initiative is in addition to the ongoing talks by Coles, rival Woolworths and the Australian Food & Grocery Council on a code of conduct for the sector, which have entered a consultation period to last until the end of August 2014. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission had accused Coles of forcing small food manufacturers into contributing $A16m to the cost of a supply chain overhaul. The new charter will be overseen by ex-Victorian premier Jeff Kennett

CORPORATES
WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, COLES GROUP LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, AUSTRALIAN FOOD AND GROCERY COUNCIL, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Market power laws ‘ludicrous’

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Nassim Khadem
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 6-Aug-14

The National Press Club has heard from Wesfarmers CEO Richard Goyder, also chair of the Business 20 forum advising the Australian Government. His company owns major retailers Coles and Bunnings, and he rejected plans to extend section 46 of the Australian Consumer Law to small business operators in order to protect them against market dominance by large corporations. Goyder threatened that his group’s tax payments of $A1.5bn per annum and employment of 200,000 local jobs could be reduced, if it adopted the profit shifting strategies of overseas-based rivals such as Aldi or CostCo

CORPORATES
WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, COLES GROUP LIMITED, BUSINESS 20 (B20), GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20), AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, COSTCO WHOLESALE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WESFARMERS BUNNINGS LIMITED, NATIONAL PRESS CLUB (AUSTRALIA), BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, BANK FOR INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENTS. BASEL COMMITTEE ON BANKING SUPERVISION