Retail Continues on Road to Recovery
Retail sales jumped a stronger than forecast 1.8% in February with shoppers continuing to spend up as the Covid Omicron fears of December and early January dissipated.
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McPherson’s, Chemist Warehouse in Quid Pro Quo
In an unusually generous deal, McPherson’s is placing almost 10% of its capital with the giant Chemist Warehouse Group in exchange for a major distribution agreement.
Read MoreStory of Two Halves this Year for KMD
KMD Brands met the downgraded guidance from its January 25 update yesterday, confirming that Covid had damaged revenues and earnings, but not returns to shareholders.
Read MoreKathmandu Consolidates into KMD Brands
Outdoors retailer Kathmandu has completed a rebranding to ‘KMD Brands’, of which it has a few, not to mention a new CEO looking to put his stamp on his new company.
Read MoreAmazon Split First Step in Much-Needed Revamp
No longer the terroriser of retailers it has been since 1997, Amazon has reached middle age and needs a good sprucing up to keep it in the megatech capital gains game.
Read MoreMyer Set to Pay First Dividend in Five Years
Department store operator Myer will pay shareholders a dividend for the first time in five years despite the company’s profits falling by 25% through the first half of the financial year.
Read MoreSpending Spree Pushes Oz Annual GDP Above 4%
Australian consumers spent heavily coming out of the Covid Delta lockdowns in the last quarter of 2021 and dragged the economy to a very solid 4.2% rise in annual GDP for 2021.
Read MoreDead Cat Bounce for Retail Sales
Retail sales bounced in January, rising 1.8% in seasonally adjusted terms, but that still left them well adrift of December’s huge 4.4% slump.
Read MorePrice Check Problems Hit Woolies
Higher costs – especially at its core supermarkets business – hit Woolworths in the half year to December as Covid, labour shortages and supply chain problems impacted its operations.
Read MoreRetail Rumblings: COL, BST, CGC
Mixed results yesterday from three retailers or suppliers to the sector – Coles, Best and Less, and Costa Group – but all saw their shares rise, going against the broader market selloff.
Read MoreEarnings Round-Up: Retail a Hard Sell
While the Australian jobs market remains solid in the face of Covid Omicron, costs associated with handling the impact of the pandemic are making life tough for the retail sector.
Read MoreJB Hi-Fi Buyback News Well Received
Investors loved the news that shareholders in consumer electronics retailer JB Hi-Fi will get a $250 million ‘gift’ via a buyback to help make up for a lower interim dividend.
Read MoreCost Blowout Hits Temple & Webster
Online furniture and homewares group Temple & Webster spent more on marketing and consulting services in the half year as net earnings dropped to $7.2 million, a fall of 40.2%.
Read MoreBourse Discourse: CTT, ALL
A disappointing sales report on Thursday saw shares in online retailer Cettire fall more than 20%, while poker machine giant Aristocrat suffered a setback to its expansion plans.
Read MoreGlobal Supply Chain Bottleneck Nicks Scali
Furniture retailer Nick Scali has warned investors that persistently high international shipping costs will likely cut earnings in the current second half of the of the June 30 financial year.
Read MoreKogan.Comes Up Short Again in December Half
Shares in online retailer Kogan.com fell more than 12% to $6.15 on Thursday after another weak trading update and soft early figures on earnings for the December half.
The shares
Read MorePremier Bucks the Trend with Strong Result
Solomon Lew’s Premier Investments has gone against the trend of weak updates from Australian retailers with a solid early report on its performance in the first half of 2021-22.
Read MoreMyer Joins the Queue of Struggling Retailers
Myer has become the latest retailer to warn of the damage done to earnings from last year’s lockdowns and the sudden advance of the omicron variant of Covid in December through January.
Read MoreAdairs Slumps 20% on Sales Downturn
Adairs shares slumped more than 20% yesterday after the company joined the list of retailers warning of damage done to sales and earnings by last year’s Covid-driven lockdowns.
Read MoreJB HiFi Shares Jump 6% as Sales Hold Up
Shares in leading electronics and whitegoods retailer JB Hi-Fi rose strongly yesterday after it unveiled a better-than-expected result for the first half of the new financial year.
Read MoreRedbubble Forever Blowing It
Yet another disappointing trading update from online retailer Redbubble saw the company’s shares hammered more than 20% in Tuesday’s trading session.
Read MoreWesfarmers Shares Jump Despite Cagey Update
Wesfarmers shares rose sharply yesterday despite a substantial downgrade for sales growth and profits as Covid Omicron took a toll on sales in two key chains – Kmart and Officeworks.
Read MoreWesfarmers Makes a Stand with API Holding
Wesfarmers’ decision yesterday not to sell its 19% stake in API is seen by most market pundits as effectively being a blocking move against the bid from rival Woolworths.
Read MoreNew Normal Catches Up with Woolworths
Shares in Woolworths were whacked hard on Tuesday after the company revealed a shock first half earnings downgrade because of soaring Covid-related costs.
Read MoreStrong Retail Sales Data Now Yesterday’s News
Ahead of the dramatic impact of the new Covid variant on world markets Friday, October retail sales data showed Australian shoppers spent heavily once the Delta lockdowns were eased.
Read MoreUS Retailers in Need of Some Therapy
It was a miserable week for America’s second tier retailers ahead of the huge end-of-year selling season, with poor sales and earnings reports seeing dramatic falls in share prices ranging from 14% to 29%.
Read MoreHarvey Norman Slump a Sign of Broader Retail Malaise
The big slide in sales and profits reported by Harvey Norman yesterday is a ‘tell’ for investors thinking about how the retail sector will fare in next February’s interim reporting season.
Read MoreUS Retail Figures Show Inflationary Creep
There’s no denying inflation was evident in the data, but the surge in US retail sales was very real in October and shows that consumption remains buoyant heading into Thanksgiving-Christmas.
Read MoreEarnings Round-Up: Retailers Bring Season to a Close
Retailers dominate the final week of the US third quarter earnings season to be led by the industry majors, with the monthly sales report for October tomorrow also of huge interest.
Read MoreKathmandu Banking on Post-Lockdown Wanderlust
Outdoor gear retailer Kathmandu has confirmed the group’s sales have been hurt by the lockdowns in Eastern Australia, but sees an upturn with the staged re-openings in NSW and Victoria.
Read MoreWeak Retail Sales Data Hints at GDP Pullback
Australian third quarter GDP looks almost certain to show a big fall when released in early December after retail sales saw a record slide in volume terms for the three months to September.
Read MoreShop Talk: COL, JBH, API
Not easy to make a dollar in the retail space over the past couple of years. Here’s how three of the majors are faring: Coles Group, JB Hi-Fi, and Australian Pharmaceutical Industries.
Read MoreWoolies Numbers Register Poorly with Investors
Investors were not enthused about Woolworths’ September quarter update, despite the numbers looking good on paper thanks in part to another surge in online sales to a new high.
Read MoreLockdown Reality Bites Traditional Retail
Unlike a year ago when it was clear retailing was doing very well in the rebound from the first wave of the pandemic (especially online during the shutdown), this time around it’s a very mixed bag.
Read MoreKogan Shares Jump on Overstock Relief
Online retailer Kogan seems to have used some old-fashioned bricks and mortar retailing skills to slash the size of its stocks of unsold goods.
Read MoreOnline Sales Help Temple & Webster Continue to Flourish
More upbeat news from retailing with emerging online furniture and homewares operator Temple & Webster again confirming that the Covid lockdown has been very good for business.
Read MoreChanging of the Guard at Metcash
Australia’s third-biggest listed supermarkets and hardware group Metcash is changing CEOs with the incumbent, Jeff Adams deciding to retire and return to the US.
Read MoreRetail Sales the Bird of Ill-Omen for Oz Economy
The Australian economy is heading for a contraction of 4% in the September quarter, perhaps more, after retail sales, a key barometer of household spending fell for a third consecutive month in August.
Read MoreKathmandu, Sigma Feeling the Pinch
Outdoor retailer Kathmandu and pharmacy group Sigma have both given early hints of the damage the lockdowns since June have done to some retailers, with both reporting weak sales and earnings.
Read MoreMyer Shares Hit 2-Year High on Strong Result
Myer shares closed at their highest level since September 2019 after riding a 28% surge in online business to report a $51 million profit for FY2021, its best result in the past four years.
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