RETAIL TRADE – AUSTRALIA

Dan Murphy’s draws on the right connections

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 19 : 2-Oct-14

Brad Banducci, director of the liquor group at Woolworths, says its Dan Murphy’s chain is about to undergo a major transformation. It is launching the new Connections online sales site, which will eventually have some 20,000 items on offer. This compares with about 8,200 in the "bricks and mortar" outlets, and the demand trends on the internet will in future also influence what lines are stocked in the stores. Suppliers will need to pay a quarter of the retail price to have their products listed, and Woolworths will save on inventory costs

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, DAN MURPHY’S

Battle lines shift in war for online

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 25-Sep-14

Australian consumers are continuing to embrace online shopping, with the websites of major retailers enjoying strong growth in traffic during 2013-14. Data from Hitwise and UBS shows that there was a 250 per cent increase in visits to Woolworths’ grocery website, compared with 240 per cent growth in visits to Coles’ website. Visits to the websites of JB Hi-Fi and Dick Smith rose by 150 per cent and 80 per cent respectively

CORPORATES
HITWISE PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, COLES GROUP LIMITED, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, DICK SMITH HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX DSH, COUNTRY ROAD LIMITED, DAVID JONES LIMITED, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, ASOS.COM LIMITED, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, DAN MURPHY’S, LIQUORLAND (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, MASTERS HOME IMPROVEMENT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WESFARMERS BUNNINGS LIMITED

Anchorage Capital reaps big from Dick Smith sellout

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Age – Page: 21 : 16-Sep-14

Anchorage Capital will make almost $A370 million from its investment in consumer electronics business Dick Smith. The private equity firm bought the struggling business for $A94 million in September 2012. It was floated in December 2013, giving Anchorage a profit of $A264 million. In mid-September 2014, Anchorage sold its remaining 20 per cent stake at $A2.22 a share

CORPORATES
DICK SMITH HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX DSH, ANCHORAGE CAPITAL PARTNERS PTY LTD, MACQUARIE CAPITAL PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW

Bunnings undiminished, but the battle’s on for silver

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 15-Sep-14

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that more than nine million Australians aged 14+ shopped at Bunnings in an average four-week period in the year to June 2014. The survey also shows that in the last two years, the number of shoppers visiting a Masters hardware store has risen from 400,000 in an average four weeks to more than 1.2 million. However, the number of people shopping at Mitre 10 has fallen by an average of more than 100,000 annually since 2010

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, WESFARMERS BUNNINGS LIMITED, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, MASTERS HOME IMPROVEMENT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, MITRE 10 LIMITED, METCASH LIMITED – ASX MTS, HOME HARDWARE

Good Guys ride the DIY boom to reach top 10

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Original article by Glenda Korporaal
The Australian – Page: 19 : 15-Sep-14

Home electronics retailers The Good Guys now boasts annual sales of $A2bn, with the group benefiting from growing interest in home renovations. The Good Guys now has 100 stores nationwide, and it has a top-10 ranking in IBISWorld’s latest list of Australia’s 500 largest privately-owned companies. Chairman Andrew Muir says The Good Guys’ status as a private company means it has greater flexibility than listed rivals

CORPORATES
THE GOOD GUYS, THE MUIR ELECTRICAL COMPANY PTY LTD, JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, THE BLACKSTONE GROUP LP, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, WESFARMERS BUNNINGS LIMITED, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, BAYSWATER BULK, BRASHS PTY LTD

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