Business News Releases

ARA welcomes new NSW Small Business Commissioner Robyn Hobbs

PEAK retail industry body the Australian Retailers Association today welcomes new NSW Small Business Commissioner Robyn Hobbs OAM and thanks former NSW Small Business Commissioner Yasmin King for all of her hard work and dedication to small business over the last few years.

ARA Executive Director Russell Zimmerman said the ARA is eager to work alongside Ms Hobbs once she officially begins her new role on 25 February 2014.

“The ARA looks forward to working alongside Ms Hobbs to ensure the retail sector remains viable and successful into the future. We are especially pleased to hear that one of Ms Hobbs’ first challenges is to review the Retail Leases Act.

“On behalf of the ARA and the wider retail industry, I would like to wish Yasmin King every success for the future. The retail sector have benefited greatly from Ms King’s ongoing support.

“Small businesses are the backbone of Australia's economy, representing 96 percent of all businesses in the country. In NSW alone, there are 680,000 small businesses employing around 50 percent of the NSW workforce,” Mr Zimmerman said.

Since 1903, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has been the peak industry body representing Australia’s $265 billion retail sector, which employs over 1.2 million people. The ARA ensures retail success by informing, protecting, advocating, educating and saving money for its 5,000 independent and national retail members throughout Australia.

Visit www.retail.org.au or call 1300 368 041.

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ABS December retail trade: 0.5% up for Christmas, 5.6% overall

PEAK retail industry body the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) said the seasonally adjusted rise (0.5 percent increase) in monthly retail trade figures (month-on-month) reported today by the ABS followed a 0.7 percent rise in November 2013.

These results are a positive sign that pre-Christmas sales were slow yet steady, with higher expectations for the January post-Christmas sales.

Year on year retail growth also increased to 5.6 percent.

ARA Executive Director Russell Zimmerman said the 0.5 percent increase in monthly retail trade figures is a positive sign for the retail industry following previous weak Christmas sales. This is also an indication that some categories remain on a slow growth path and the need to fix the GST tax inequality caused by overseas purchases is imperative.

“It is essential that the government finally makes a decision to close the low value GST loophole. Australian retailers have been competing at a disadvantage for too long, and it is only fair that the closing of the GST loophole is made a priority.

“We are certainly expecting higher trade results in January, as there have been reports that the post-Christmas sales period was extremely successful, fuelled largely by booming Boxing Day sales.

“Anecdotally, a number of retailers I have spoken to since Christmas have been blown away by how enormous Boxing Day was and we expect this will be evident in January’s retail trade figures.

“It’s no surprise that food retailing (2.5%) and cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (0.5%) were large contributors to the December results due to the warm weather and social events associated with Christmas parties, celebrations and end-of-year holidays.

“These rises were partially offset by falls in other retailing (-3.1 percent), clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (-2.1 percent) and household goods retailing (-0.2 percent) following a strong November.

“The ARA was also pleased to see turnover rise in New South Wales (0.9%), Victoria (0.6%), Queensland (0.2%), Tasmania (1.8%), Australian Capital Territory (1.3%) and Western Australia (0.1%) in December and very strong year on year sales,” Mr Zimmerman said.

MONTHLY RETAIL GROWTH (November 2013 – December 2013 seasonally adjusted)

Food retailing (2.5%),

Cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (0.5%),

Department stores (0.3%),

Household goods retailing (-0.2%),

Clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (-2.1%), and

Other retailing (-3.1%).

Total sales (0.5%).

Tasmania (1.8%),

Australian Capital Territory (1.3%),

New South Wales (0.9%),

Victoria (0.6%),

Queensland (0.2%),

Western Australia (0.1%),

South Australia (-0.2%) and

Northern Territory (-1.5%).

Total sales (0.5%).

 

YEAR-ON-YEAR RETAIL GROWTH (December 2012 – December 2013 seasonally adjusted)

Cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (10.4%),

Food retailing (6.8%),

Clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (5.5%),

Other retailing (3.8%),

Household goods retailing (3.3%), and

Department stores (-0.5%).

Total sales (5.6%).

Tasmania (8.0%),

Australian Capital Territory (7.2%),

New South Wales (7.2%),

Victoria (5.9%),

Queensland (4.8%),

South Australia (4.3%),

Western Australia (3.0%) and

Northern Territory (2.8%).

Total sales (5.6%).

 

Since 1903, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has been the peak industry body representing Australia’s $265 billion retail sector, which employs over 1.2 million people. The ARA ensures retail success by informing, protecting, advocating, educating and saving money for its 5,000 independent and national retail members throughout Australia.

Visit www.retail.org.au or call 1300 368 041.

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Rate stay: RBA must work with government to support small business finance availability

PEAK retail industry body the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) is concerned for the future of small business after the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) left the current cash rate of 2.5 percent unchanged today.

ARA Executive Director Russell Zimmerman said it continues to be extremely difficult for businesses, especially small to medium businesses, to expand and contribute their full potential to the Australian economy without sufficient financial support in the post GFC finance world.

“It is crucial that the RBA and government work together to find a way of supporting small business finance availability. Without access to much-needed finance, the retail sector will not be able to move forward and develop.

“The ARA is also worried that a rate stay at this time of year may reverse the positive results that the industry has worked hard to achieve over the last few months, particularly during the booming Christmas period.

“We were also hoping for a reduction in the current cash rate in order stimulate employment, particularly youth employment which has recently hit an 11-year low. The ARA is strongly concerned for the future of Australian retail workers and a reduction today would have certainly supported the retail industry and encouraged employment opportunities for the leaders of tomorrow.

“While business needs support it is also important for consumers to continue to have relief on their stretched budgets to allow them to support the retail economy.

“The ARA believes the current cash rate has room for further adjustment and we have every hope that with the RBA’s support, the retail sector will experience a healthier and more successful year compared to the last,” Mr Zimmerman said.

Since 1903, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has been the peak industry body representing Australia’s $265 billion retail sector, which employs over 1.2 million people. The ARA ensures retail success by informing, protecting, advocating, educating and saving money for its 5,000 independent and national retail members throughout Australia.

Visit www.retail.org.au or call 1300 368 041.

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New report confirms the real threats to the reef

QUEENSLAND's peak body for the resources sector has welcomed the release today of the Australian Government's progress report to UNESCO's World Heritage Committee on the state of conservation of the Great Barrier Reef ('the State Party Report').

Queensland Resource Council Chief Executive Michael Roche says the report outlines the significant progress made by Australia in the past 12 months to comprehensively deliver on the requests of the World Heritage Committee (WHC) concerning the management of the Reef.

'The State Party Report again documents the real threats to the reef as being extreme weather events, the potential effects of climate change, the crown of thorns starfish infestations and nutrient and sediment run-off from land clearing and broad-scale agriculture,' Mr Roche said.

'Flying in the face of the hysterical reaction from some quarters to the granting on Friday of a dredging permit at Abbot Point, the State Party report identifies impacts from port development and dredging as minor, temporary and localised.'

Mr Roche congratulated the Australian and Queensland Governments and their partners in industry and the research community for the fine work being done to turn around the health of the reef, particularly with the efforts on controlling the crown of thorns infestations and improving agricultural practices.

'I urge everyone interested in the health of the reef to read the State Party Report,' said Mr Roche. 'The report documents for example the severe impacts of cyclones and the resultant flood plumes.'

Mr Roche said the report also outlined the measures being pursued with industry support to further enhance shipping safety and reduce the environmental impacts of shipping, under the North East Shipping Management Plan.

'ndustry also has lent its support to the Queensland Government's ports strategy, which restricts any significant port development to existing ports such as Abbot Point and Gladstone.

Mr Roche said that one gap in the State Party Report was that it overlooked the economic contribution of the resource sector operations that rely on ports adjacent to the Reef.

'In 2012-13, Queensland resources operations directly injected spending of $38 billion into the Queensland economy, and was responsible for one in four dollars of the Queensland economy and one in five jobs.'

www.qrc.org.au 

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Crown Group achieves $150 million in sales at V by Crown

THE property market is red hot and so too is the performance of property developer Crown Group as V by Crown in Parramatta reaches a momentous $150 million in sales this week.

The successful development located in the heart of Parramatta has steam-rolled a pathway to success selling 277 apartments in the 18 months since launching in mid-2012.

This milestone comes shortly after V by Crown celebrated reaching 250 apartments sold in November last year as rising demand sees strong sale rates continue for the off-the-plan development.

V by Crown is a $309 million 29-storey residential apartment building which when complete will feature 519 luxury apartments and resort-style facilities including a pool, gym, conference facilities, music room, theatrette and a library.

The exceptional sales success sees Crown Group successfully trail blaze five-star, resort-style living at an affordable price point in Sydney’s rapidly evolving property market.

V by Crown Sales Manager Anthony Falas says the strong results are a reflection of demand for a premium quality product in the Parramatta CBD.

“You are looking at a luxury development offering the highest level of finishes as well as a location that is literally walking distance to all amenities,” he said.

“Our purchasers have shown us that a well-located, high quality development with premium facilities will always be in demand.”

The development has attracted strong interest from owner occupiers and investors alike looking to capitalise on the growth in the Western Sydney region as well as the growing taste for convenient, urban living.

“Parramatta is a real estate hot spot and all signs are showing that activity is only likely to accelerate with the proposition of significant infrastructure, growth of commercial premises and an increasing population.”

“Only last year Parramatta was named the country’s fastest growing night-time economy.

“It’s a recipe for momentum,” Mr Falas said.

With more than 90,000 workers flocking to Parramatta each day the city commands a growing presence one of Sydney’s largest commercial epicenters.

 “There is an intensifying demand to provide quality, residential living close to employment hubs,” said Mr.Falas.

V by Crown is located in the heart of Parramatta’s city centre, close to Church Street’s eateries and Westfield shopping centre, rail and ferry connections, as well as Parramatta Heritage Parklands.

V by Crown is expected to complete in mid-2016. Prices start from $418,000.

 

About Crown Group

Crown International Holdings Group (Crown Group) is a leading Australian property group, active in property development and property investment in Sydney. 

The company was co-founded by architect Mr Iwan Sunito and engineer Mr Paul Sathio in 1996.

Iwan Sunito graduated with Bachelor of Architecture (Hons) and Master of Construction of Management from University of NSW. In 1993 Iwan became a Registered Architect in NSW and was awarded the UNSW Eric Daniels award for excellence in residential design.

Paul Sathio graduated with a Bachelor degree in Civil Engineering from University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and a Masters of Engineering Science from University of NSW. Paul has more than two decades’ experience in the construction and development industry.

Crown Group was recently awarded the Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) NSW President’s award – considered one of the highest property development accolades in Australia – for its resort-style development Top Ryde City Living.

Top Ryde City Living was also named best High-Density Development in NSW and ACT at the UDIA NSW awards for excellence 2013 and a Master Builders Association Excellence in Housing award 2013.

Crown Group’s other award-winning developments include a joint venture with Prosha Pty Ltd, The Eastlakes Town Centre, awarded UDIA NSW best Concept Design 2013, the innovative, waterfront development Sanctum by Crown, awarded a Master Builders Association Excellence in Housing award 2012 and the hugely-successful ICON at Homebush, awarded HIA (Housing Industry Association) CSR Housing Awards 2007 Apartment Project of the Year.

 Since the company was founded 17 years ago, Crown Group has successfully completed major developments in Sydney’s best locations including Bondi, Bondi Junction, Parramatta, Ashfield, Epping, Homebush, Newington, Pennant Hills and Rhodes.

Today, Crown Group boasts a $3 billion portfolio of projects under development and in the pipeline and is currently developing four major projects, Top Ryde City Living, a seven-tower development in Top Ryde, Viking by Crown, a 10-storey residential complex in Waterloo, V by Crown, a 27-storey residential tower in Parramatta and Skye by Crown a 20-storey development in North Sydney launched in June 2013.

Crown group launched Viva by Crown, the final stage of Top Ryde City Living in August and will launch a development in Sydney’s CBD in 2014.

www.crowngroup.com.au

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Saxo Capital Markets has new portal combining social features with award-winning trading platform

SYDNEY ‒ A new online social trading community for serious investors, TradingFloor.com, was revealed in beta today by Saxo Bank in Copenhagen.

Saxo Capital Markets (Australia) Pty Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Saxo Bank, and is also offering TradingFloor.com to its clients. The new portal enables traders around the world to share their trades with peers and transforms trading into a social experience.

"We want to set free the peer-to-peer power of traders around the globe by enabling them to minded investors who are tired of input from CEOs Kim Fournais and Lars Seier Christensen said in a joint statement.

On the new site, live now at beta.tradingfloor.com, investors can share their trades in a community where all performance data is verified so traders can be sure of the performance of the people they choose to follow or copy.

Kim Fournais and Lars Seier Christensen believe it may be a game changer:

"Having once revolutionised online trading as a first mover in 1998, we now want to democratise the access to trading and fund management by opening up an otherwise closed world of trading.

"We now enable investors to share their trades openly, interact with each other, post comments and strategies, discuss, follow and copy each other. We believe that this may change radically how investors will go about trading FX, CFDs, options, futures, bonds and equities in the future, making trading a social experience,” they said.

At the new TradingFloor.com, you can see what the best participating traders are doing with their own money in any asset class of your choice.

"We are deliberately only featuring real traders with real accounts trading their own money to ensure a social trading community of serious investors.”

 

 

 

 

The new TradingFloor.com also features a range of valuable content for traders, such as market news and views, data, insights and trade ideas from Saxo’s research teams and VIP authors.

A real-time trade stream will reveal the current market sentiment. British award-winning ITV News correspondent Angus Walker has joined Saxo and will, along with former Bloomberg and BBC World anchor Owen Thomas, front the portal’s on-demand TV channel by reporting from Saxo’s own trading floor.

www.saxomarkets.com.au

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Enter the Resources Awards for Women for 2014

Time is running out to enter the 2014 QRC Resources Awards for Women.

Run in partnership with Women in Mining and Resources Queensland, the awards celebrate the achievements of women in the resources sector and provide role models and ambassadors for the sector in Queensland.

Men are also invited to enter the Gender Diversity Champion category.

This category is open to both men and women who have made outstanding contributions toward diversity in the sector’s workforce.

In addition to the overall award, there are categories for our 'rising stars', women working in trades and as operators, and an award recognising outstanding diversity initiatives implemented by companies.

We look forward to again receiving many great entries and making it as difficult as possible for the judges.

Resources Awards for Women - Click here to download forms

Come and hear Jacqui Mcgill, Asset President BHP Billiton Mitsui Coal (BMC) who will be keynote speaker at the 2014 QRC International Women's Day breakfast.

Jacqui is an experienced resource professional with a significant portfolio of operational experience in the resources sector including iron ore, coal, base metals and uranium.

She has a degree in minerals processing and an MBA and is a keen mentor and advocate for diversity.

BMC operates two mines in the Bowen Basin: South Walker Creek Mine and Poitrel Mine.

Bookings are now open for the breakfast and presentation of the 2014 Resources Awards for Women (RAW).

It will take place at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on Friday 7 March 2014 when the 2014 RAW winners will be announced.

We hope to see you there.

Click below to book your table or seat. Be quick to secure the best seats in the house:

QRC International Women's Day Breakfast and Resources Awards for Women

www.qrc.org.au 

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VECCI welcomes strong regional employment figures

VICTORIA’s peak employer body has welcomed results that showed regional employment in Victoria increased by 19,200, or 2.6 percent, making it the strongest performing state nationally in 2013.

“Thriving business centres throughout Victoria are vital to the economic strength of our state, so it’s wonderful to see so many more people employed,” says VECCI Chief Executive Mark Stone.

Mr Stone’s comments come as Australian Bureau of Statistics results show Victoria’s regional employment increased by 19,200 jobs in 2013 and regional unemployment averaged 5.3 percent over the three months to December 2013, the lowest for regional areas in Australia.

Areas of particularly strong employment growth in 2013 included:

• Central-Highlands-Wimmera: 7,600 persons (7 percent increase)

• Loddon-Mallee: 19,300 persons (14.6 percent increase)

• Goulburn-Ovens-Murray: 7,600 persons (5 percent increase)

“We’ve been working closely with government and industry throughout Victoria to continually improve the business environment and are delighted to see these results,” says Mr Stone.

“The State Government must capitalise on this growth by pushing on with regional infrastructure projects, lowering costs for business and continuing red tape reform to ensure Victoria remains competitive.”

www.vecci.org.au 

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