Melissa Fyfe had a cracking page one story in The Sunday Age yesterday revealing the rorting of so-called community benefit payments by various AFL clubs at their pokies venues, writes Stephen Mayne.
Woolworths
Full marks to Woolies for fronting Four Corners
4 Corners provided plenty of ammunition for those concerned about Australia’s unique and hugely profitable grocery duopoly, writes Stephen Mayne.
Record Woolies profits but what about the damage?
A few reasons why we should look at the Woolworths’ profits results with a sceptical eye. By Crikey founder Stephen Mayne.
Grocery watch won’t help the little guy: two retail insiders weigh in
Former retail executive Laurie Giuseppini and retail recruitment commentatorRob Lake cast a critical eye over GROCERYchoice, the government’s new system for monitoring grocery prices.
ACCC shuts down Woolworths’ Queanbeyan bid
Competition regulator the ACCC has shown it’s prepared to limit the future expansion prospects for Australia’s major supermarkets, Woolworths and Coles, by announcing it intends to oppose Woolworths’ attempts to buy a supermarket in Queanbeyan, writes Glenn Dyer.
The spin starts here: Woolies fronts the ACCC
Yesterday was never going to be easy for Woolies boss Michael Luscombe, writes Trevor Cook.
Woolies widening the gap on Coles
Any turnaround of Coles will be at a huge expense, writes former Coles executive Laurie Giuseppini.
Alcohol, it’s a super market
Want to curb teen drinking? Talk to the retailers, writes Glenn Dyer.
Morning Market Report
The highlights and lowlights of this morning’s sharemarket activity.
Food costs continue to grow
The drought continues to have an impact on a growing number of Australian companies, most notably Australasia’s biggest food group, Goodman Fielder, writes Glenn Dyer.
Trujillo’s million’s just don’t measure up to performance
The AFR’s very detailed Salary Review 2007 was published yesterday and it makes for interesting reading. Sadly, it is again Telstra boss, Sol Trujillo, who captures the eye, writes Adam Schwab.
Some (gratuitous) advice for Wesfarmers
In spite of some recent nervousness about the shareholder vote, the deal is done, and Wesfarmers will get the Coles’ door keys and the safe combinations on 23 November, writes Rob Lake.
Be prepared for surging food costs, cost of living to follow
Australians have been warned to prepare themselves for “some serious inflation” in our cost of living because of surging food costs, writes Glenn Dyer.
Woolies’ ALG in $87m of deals with Mathieson’s ALH
Woolworths, the country’s biggest retailer, has disclosed $87 million worth of related party transactions between it’s ALG group and related companies associated with the CEO of ALH, Bruce Mathieson.
The Government’s bulging ad, sorry, information budget
The government has the biggest advertising budget of any organisation in the country. Luke McKenna and Thomas Hunter track where all the money is going.
Buying a broken business from Coles is not the path to disaster
Contrary to what some analysts are writing, buying a broken business from Coles is not the path to disaster, writes Rob Lake.
Sigma takes a battering, pharmaceutical sector in turmoil
Pharmaceutical manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer Sigma was spanked in early ASX trade today following the release of disappointing results, writes Rob Lake.
Coles quietly slips away
The penultimate chapter in the sad recent history of Coles was played out this morning. Coles announced their last financial results as an independent retailer. A quiet little affair was arranged for the event. CEO John Fletcher, COO Mick McMahon and Chair Rick Allert delivered their final results to a phone hook up and Internet broadcast, electing not to eyeball pesky investors, writes Rob Lake.
Rudd’s got a point: food sales are booming
There’s something to Kevin Rudd’s claims that food prices are rising at a level well above inflation. The latest retail sales figures from the ABS show clearly that food is booming.
Fosters forecasts wine price hike of 20%, so stock up
Buried in yesterday’s annual profit announcement from beer and wine group, Foster’s, was some bad news for Australian wine tipplers. It’s time to stock up.
Seven, the AFL and an absence of accountability
If proof were needed of how weak media accountability is in Australia, the Channel 7 case involving the publication of AFL players’ medical records provides it.
Seven News theory a one-night wonder
Yes, Seven News was weak in Melbourne on Monday night but Age journalists, Matthew Ricketson and Caroline Wilson, failed to spot something important as they tied the slump to the Network’s dispute with the AFL.
Tips and rumours
Watch this space. EasyCruise.com plans to expand in Australia and NZ Star Cruises also plan to expand operations during 2008/09 to give Australian travellers a choice of cruise lines.
Copping the bill. Well a certain foreign Navy training vessel skipped town (Cairns to be precise) with a load of fuel it hadn’t paid for. Their next […]
Rate rise: the tallback reaction
How did the rate rise play out in talkback country? A small sample.
RBA is really targeting John Howard’s spendathon
If ever there was a statement of Reserve Bank independence it was this morning’s effort from governor Glenn Stevens announcing that interest rates were going up by 25 basis points to 6.5 percentage points.
