The Australian economy is undoubtedly slowing, which was evident given the number of earnings downgrades and soft results witnessed in the most recent earnings season. And while bottom-up stock pickers try to identify those growth companies poised to rerate based on a catalyst, paying close attention to what is happening... Show More
In market sell-offs like we’ve experienced this week, it’s hard to find anything that’s unaffected by the selling. The ASX200 was down 4.9% before trading opened on Friday, but the pain for momentum and technology stocks has been even worse. Show More
I have been calling an end to the Australian property price and construction boom/bubble for some time. And now property prices appear to be declining and auction clearance rates falling, the latter suggesting price falls are not over yet. Show More
In December last year, Unibail-Rodamco (a major European listed property trust) made an offer to purchase Westfield Corporation. The offer to Westfield shareholders is based on a combination of cash and Unibail shares and Australian investors will be able to invest in the merged entity in the form of units... Show More
‘Experiential retailing’ means different things to different people. Traditional retailers view it as the solution to the online threat. Shoppers see it as improving the face of shopping centres, offsetting the decline of department stores with innovative new speciality outlets and entertainment options. As for commercial property investors, well, we’ll... Show More
Digital disruption is hitting the retail sector harder than most. But not all retailers have been affected to the same extent. Recent research by Citi sheds light on the winners and losers this latest reporting season. Show More
Two years ago, retail stocks were performing well, while mining services companies were just about on life support. At the time, switching from one to the other looked like madness. However, investors that did were well rewarded. For example, JB Hi-Fi is off by 27% since its mid-2016 high, while... Show More
The increasing challenges faced by our retailers are well documented. But from adversity can come opportunity, provided a business is prepared to innovate. And from the US comes the story of a retailer that did innovate, and has done more than just survive – it has thrived. Show More
Not a day goes by without at least one economist, or journalist, pointing towards the housing cycle in Australia with the message: the cycle has peaked. Certainly, recent data support the thesis, at least for high density dwellings, but not so for other segments of the domestic housing market. With... Show More
Executive Series 21 Aug 17: Kogan.com Limited (KGN) Founder & CEO, Ruslan Kogan. In this short video we discuss KGN’s full year results, which included statutory revenue and NPAT of $289.5 million and $3.7 million respectively, and the factors that allowed the retailer to outperform Prospectus forecasts Show More
Amazon in the past 24 hours has confirmed it will launch a full-scale retail offering in Australia – it is now calling for local retailers to join its global marketplace as part of the launch, having already briefed CB Richard Ellis for warehouse space earlier this year. Show More
Australian retail stocks are yet to feel the full force of disruption from ecommerce, explains Nick Griffin, Head of Investments at Munro Partners. Retailers rely on store rollouts to grow their earnings with increased foot traffic, as online retailers such as Amazon continue to chip away from this traffic, the... Show More
In this increasingly global society, major shifts overseas almost always end up impacting local investors and consumers. Whether it’s local media companies being disrupted by digital media, or local retailers being disrupted by Amazon, the message is clear; the world is shrinking, and country borders can’t protect profit margins any... Show More
Heather Ridout (Australian Super Chairperson) has been banging the table on gender diversity at the board level of Australian companies, and right she should. Only 22% of Australia’s top 200 listed companies have women on their board – not a majority, not the Chair, just at least one – and... Show More
Amazon is coming to Australia in 2017 and Watermark Funds’ Justin Braitling thinks it will be bad for local retailers. "They will be dropping distribution centres and performance centres in every state next year. They will be doing general merchandise and they will be doing fresh as well. They will... Show More
The retail sector has bounced following the Federal election, but the sector remains subdued with expectations that this will continue through the Christmas shopping period. Chris Stott, Chief Investment Officer at Wilson Asset Management, thinks online retail growth is slowing and the space is looking mature. In the US, online... Show More
Most of the time investors trade stocks on the secondary market but from time to time we get access to new floats through our brokers or general public offers. Initial public offers (IPOs) can be a good way to ‘get in’ on a great opportunity, therefore knowing what to look... Show More
Myer Holdings has been a perennial underperformer for most of the last seven years since their float in 2009. The department store shares were sold at $4.10 in their 2009 float; closed at $3.75 on their first day of trading and has never traded at or above the float price... Show More
Simon Shields from Monash Investors says there continue to be reasons to be positive on the outlook for equities. He says a strong property market, decent jobs figures and the recent interest rate cut are all positive for the current environment. “If housing is ok, generally retail is ok, because... Show More
Following a disappointing third quarter trading update from Woolworths (ASX: WOW) on Wednesday, Standard & Poor’s downgraded the company’s credit rating due to weak earnings and intense competition in the market. The ratings agency lowered Woolworths’ long-term debt rating from BBB+ to BBB, although its outlook was lifted from ‘negative’... Show More