Coles Group

From IntFX

See also: CGJ for realtime information.

Coles Group Limited, formerly known as Coles Myer Ltd., operates predominantly in the retail industry. It is part of fabric of Australian communities with more than 2,900 stores throughout Australia and New Zealand, over 350,000 shareholders, more than 165,000 employees and millions of customers.

It is comprised of five business segments:-

Food, Liquor and Fuel, which includes retail of grocery, liquor and fuel products

Kmart, which is engaged in the retail of apparel and general merchandise;

Officeworks, which retails office supplies

Target, which retails apparel and general merchandise &

Property and Unallocated, which is engaged in the management of the Company's property portfolio and unallocated or corporate functions.

Company has following brands throughout Australia, covering food, liquor, department stores, electrical goods, office/stationery, petrol and auto:-

BI-LO, Coles, Coles Online, Shopfast, Coles Express, 1st Choice Liquor, Liquorland, Vintage Cellars, Liquorland Hotel Group, Kmart, Kmart Tyre and Auto Service, Officeworks, Harris Technology and Target

The Coles Group’s business segments operate geographically as follows:

Australia The home country of the parent entity:- Group undertakes retail operations in all states and territories

New Zealand: - The Group has Kmart retail operations, supplying basically the same ranges of goods as the corresponding business in Australia. These operations are predominantly based in the North Island

Asia:- Branch offices located in China

In 2006 the company has discontinued following Operations:

Myer:- Retail of apparel and general merchandise

Megamart:- Retail of furniture and electrical goods

Following were significant activities of the group in 2006:-

The sale of the Myer business for $1.4 billion;

An off-market share buy-back totaling $837 million was completed

The acquisition of the Hedley Hotel Group for $320 million; and

Incurred costs of $295 million in relation to strategic initiatives

Company is one of top 50 firms in Australia Stock Exchange with ticker of “CGJ”. It is headquartered in Victoria, Australia.

[edit] History

Company relates to formation of Coles Myer in 1985 after merger of well-established retailing group Coles with The Myer Emporium Limited. This merger brought together two most successful retailers into a unified group which is made up of some of Australia's most popular brands.

[edit] Strategy

Company has developed new integrated “Everyday needs” business i.e. selling everything customers need everyday under brand name of “Coles” and become their first choice. The integrated model for everyday needs business – will be implemented by progressively integrating Coles, BI-LO, Liquor, Coles Express and Kmart with single buying, marketing, operations and support structures.

The company initiated with five-year turnaround strategy in 2001. Focus is to develop world-class IT and supply chain systems by implementing tools like common merchandising and forecasting systems, automated stock replenishment.

[edit] Financial and operational performance

Company achieved $36.7 billion sales in 2006, up 3.3% on the previous financial year. They have achieved net profit t after tax of $787 million. Ordinary dividends are up 26.3% on last year, to 42 cents per share, and the share price increased 24.9% during 2006.