45 Results

The latest Wesfarmers profit disproves a couple of things that many in business and the media are eager to sell: that times are tough and profits are hard to come by in retailing.

The delicate balance between the retailer and its suppliers is out of whack, writes Kath Walters, editor of LeadingCompany.

It’s somehow comforting that private equity is being forced to go bottom fishing in Australia at the moment.

The generosity of politicians towards the mining industry knows no bounds, whether it is the wobbling Gillard mob in Canberra or the smug lot led by suave Barry O’Farrell in Sydney.

It can be argued that ASIC and the ASX are allowing the likes of BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto to trade in an uninformed market because of a failure to update the market on quarterly iron ore and coal contract prices.

While the Productivity Commission report was not without merit, when it comes to actually curbing runaway pay, it will be of little or no effect, writes Adam Schwab.

Former WA premier Alan Carpenter joining Wesfarmers as its chief spinner and lobbyist is, in a word, a disgrace.

It is easy to bash the grocery heavies, but to really address the issue of healthy eating, a multi-faceted approach is required — one that looks at social and health factors as much as economic ones, writes Jon Wardle.

From Computershare to Macquarie, the time-honoured practice of dropping bad news when no-one is looking was on display again last Friday. So here’s what you may have missed…

Treasurer Wayne Swan and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd certainly know how to make the right noises about excessive executive pay. But will we see more than talk on the issue?

Those nice men from Wesfarmers, sitting in pokies-free Perth, have wilted in the face of a strong campaign over kids in venues and committed to spend millions cleaning up their gambling venues, writes Stephen Mayne.

Woolworths is in another class from Coles, says Malcolm Maiden. With Woolies lifting food and liquor sales by 7.4% in the last year, Coles is left to hope: surely they can’t keep this up.

The market is down 7, but Wall St gained slightly overnight. Also, Woolworths is up, but the focus is on the Hardware roll-out, which will probably not reflect well on Wesfarmers (Bunnings).

Retail giant Woolworths is moving into hardware to take on Wesfarmers’s key business, Bunnings Warehouse, making a takeover bid for Danks Holdings, which operates Home Timber and Hardware, Thrifty-Link and Plants Plus Garden Centres.

Wall St was down 34 on Friday, with metals and oil struggling.

Submissions continue at the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into executive pay. Adam Schwab cuts to the chase.

The sorry state of executive pay has been exemplified by the press coverage allocated to Wesfarmers’ decision to freeze the pay and cut the bonuses of its top executives, writes Adam Schwab.

The market took a hit from the resource sector, down 41 with BHP and RIO down 2.3% and 4.1% respectively.

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank (BEN) getting smashed after releasing its Trading Update.

Wesfarmers has just been hit by the biggest cash deluge a secondary market capital raising has ever delivered in Australia, writes Stephen Mayne.

Nine months is a long time in the context of the global financial crisis, writes Stephen Bartholomeusz, and Westfarmers was forced into corner.