Business News

Mon Aug 13

JB Hi-Fi battles on despite Amazon

Written by McKenna Moroz

Expected to be one of the most vulnerable companies amid Amazon Australia’s arrival, an emboldened JB Hi-Fi has posted an increase in revenue of 21.8% over 2017-18, to total $6,854.3 million. The group’s JB Hi-Fi Australia business reported comparable sales growth of 6.2% over the year. Australia’s largest industry research company, IBISWorld, believes that the company has effectively leveraged its economies of scale to lower its prices while also increasing its profit margins.

“As new products, click and collect, and online order fulfilments have increased JB Hi-Fi’s sales volumes, the company has concentrated on controlling its operating costs. This has remained a competitive advantage for the company and has allowed JB Hi-Fi to report an increase in net profit after tax (NPAT) of 12.3 % to $233.2 million in 2017-18”, said Senior Industry Analyst, Kim Do. The company has continued to invest in its online platform while expanding and improving its delivery options to combat the potential threat of Amazon Australia.

“Australian consumers have become increasingly value conscious, as online-only operators such as Amazon and Kogan offer low prices for a wide range of products. While JB Hi-Fi has increased its Australian online sales by 32.1% over the year, to reflect 4.6 % of total sales, the ongoing expansion of Amazon will put pressure on the company over the next five years”, said Ms. Do.

Amazon Australia has reported a loss of $8.9 million after tax, and revenue of $17.4 million over the year to December 2017. However, the company only launched in December 2017 and therefore only generated revenue in that month, while expenses such as salaries, marketing, and other operating costs would have likely spread over much more of the year.

“Companies like Amazon typically focus on gaining market share at the expense of profit margins. Amazon is in the market for the long haul and they’re likely willing to take losses for numerous years to make it work in Australia”, said Ms. Do.

According to IBISWorld, JB Hi-Fi cannot afford to adopt the same approach as Amazon. Investors and shareholders are watching the company closely and any slight underperformance could severely hurt the company’s earnings.

The Online Consumer Electronic Sales industry’s revenue is expected to grow at an annualised 12.2% over the five years through 2017-18, to reach $2.7 billion. This double-digit growth is expected to continue over the next five years, suggesting that companies such as JB Hi-Fi and Amazon will have plenty of room to expand.

“While major player Kogan has increased its market share considerably over the past five years, traditional retailers, such as JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman along with new player Amazon, still account for only a small portion of industry revenue”, said Ms. Do.

Thu Aug 2

The Customer First Approach of Graeme Holm

Written by News Company

Graeme Holm is one of the co-founders of Infinity Group Australia. Mr. Holm has extensive experience within the finance industry. He is accredited to work in a number of financial areas, and he has worked with the four major banks that do business in Australia.

While working in the financial industry, Graeme Holm grew weary of having to try to fit the needs of his clients into a single financial product. He wanted to put the customer first instead of the institution. He wanted to be able to offer the client options that would be beneficial to the client's overall financial future.

In 2013, Infinity Group came to be. Graeme Holm has stated that the goal of the company is to be, "a personal trainer for your finances". What he means by that is that Infinity Group has as its goal to help each client to secure a mortgage that is right for the client. However, Infinity Group wants to do things a little bit differently.

When a client gets a mortgage at most lending institutions, the mortgage is for 30 years. Most of those who take out these long-term loans are not given any counseling about how to structure their finances so that they can pay the loan off in a shorter amount of time.

Graeme Holm and his associates work to get the client's loan paid off in a period of seven to ten years. They are able to do this by working with each client on an individual basis. Each client is provided with help in formulating a budget. Every month, the client is given a financial performance report that shows the client how well she has been sticking to the plan. If there is a problem, the people at Infinity Group can help to get the client back on the right track.

Infinity Group Australia reviews are spectacular. Clients have stated that they never would have been able to secure a mortgage if Infinity Group Australia had not been on their side and helping them along each step of the process. Many of the Infinity Group Australia reviews emphasize that dealing with Mr. Holm and his team removed much of the stress from the loan process.

Graeme Holm has been able to make Infinity Group a success story due to the way that he conducts his business and his professional life. Mr. Holm stresses the fact that in order for a business to be successful, there has to be a team in place that works together to develop new products and new ideas. Everyone has to be on the same page.

One thing that Graeme Holm believes in is that no one should work with those who do not share the same sense of values. Trying to deal with those who want to do business in a different way than you do will only lead to failure.

Graeme Holm has identified in his daily practice what helps him to be most successful. He knows that each day, he has to tackle the hardest project or problem first. He feels that if he can get something difficult accomplished right away, that will set the tone for a positive day going forward.

As Infinity Group continues to grow, Mr. Holm and his team will be certain to continue with what makes the company a success. They will keep the focus on helping the customer first.