6 September 2012: Economy growth halved last quarter and Cigarette record revenue

Economy growth halved last quarter: due to contraction in the mining industry triggered by lower commodity prices, and tighter household spending. Economy expanded by 0.6 percent in three months ending June and 3.7 percent from a year earlier. Net disposable income grew at weakest rate since 2001, excluding the period after the 2008 GFC. Consumer spending low despite June $2.8 billion carbon tax compensation. [CR: You mean a few hundred dollars in handouts did not stimulate the economy. Let’s try that again, it’s sure to work the next time around.]

Commsec report on household spending: Spending from last year on power bills up 12.7 percent, water bills up 10.1 percent, housing up 7.1 percent, operation of vehicles up 8.3 percent, transport services up 9.9 percent. Household spending grew 5.9 percent. [CR: Household spending up 5.9 percent, but consumer spending up 0.6 percent... More spending on necessary means less spending on discretionary.]

Percentage change in ABS Chain volume measures by industry from March Quarter: Wholesale trade +3.0, Transport & post +2.6, Rental & real estate +2.0, Professional services +1.9, Health care +1.6, Retail trade +1.5, Construction +1.1, Finance & insurance +1.0, Education & training +0.7, Ownership of dwellings +0.7, Hotels & food +0.6, Utilities +0.5, Agriculture +0.2, IT, Media, telcos -0.1, Administrative services -1.1, Mining -1.2, Manufacturing -1.4, Arts & recreation -1.4, Public administration -2.5, Other services -3.5 [CR: Where are you, and where are your clients?]

Revenue from cigarettes in Australia topped $10 billion for the first time last year. $7 billion was duties paid to the government. Anti-smoking push has led to above-inflation increases in duties. Phillip Morris spokesman said there was no health benefit in a policy that encouraged adult smokers to switch to cheaper or illicit black market products. Collective net profits of British American Tobacco Australasia, Phillip Morris (Australia), and Imperial Tobacco Australia topped $1 billion in 2011, up from $937.6 million in 2010, despite a decline in number of packs sold. Totoal industry volumes fell 5.4% in 2011. The three tobacco companies paid over $1.26 billion in dividends, royalties and interest to related companies overseas in 2011. 39 percent of revenue excluding duties was sent overseas. [CR: If you smoke, do you think there might be something else you can do with your money? (said as a previous pack-and-a-half smoker in my early 20s)]

 Aldi stats and moving headquarters to Victoria: New Victorian planning regulations make it easier to open supermarkets due to “as of right” land zoning. Aldi has opened an average of 25 stores per year since 2001, accounts for 7 percent of national grocery market, 10 percent in eastern states, recently opened its 288^th store, increasing product range from 900 products to 1250, sales have doubled in last four years and expected to reach $4 billion this year making it as large as Kmart or Big W. [CR: Competition for the big two, but what does this mean for the supply chain?]

Longevity tsunami: Actuaries Institute recommends government encourage people to retire later, turn superannuation savings into long-term income streams, and delay access to super. By 2050, cost of aged pension estimated to rise by 3.9 percent of GDP, up 1.2 percentage points. Austrlians tend to underestimate how long they will live. Australia is fourth ranked country for life expectancy at age 81.4, after Japan (82.7), Switzerland (81.8), and China (81.6). [CR: At what age are you supposed to start thinking about when you will die?]

Two-thirds of YouTube ads are skippable after 5 seconds, viewing rate for TrueView ads are 15 to 45 percent, advertisers pay after viewer wayches advertisement for 30 seconds. YouTube has 800 million viewers and 4 billion hours of video uploaded every month, has 75,000 chanels and has invested capital in 100 of its own channels. [CR: Will this encourage better ads, or getting your information in the first 5 seconds?]

Obesity measure in New York to ban “supersized” sweetened drinks in restaurants, cinemas, and stadiums. Proposed by mayor Bloomberg, backed by Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig, opposed by Coca-Cola, Pepsi Group, and lobby group American Beverage Association. Coke: “New Yorkers expect and deserve better than this. They can make their own choices about the beverages they purchase.” Pepsi signs: “Don’t let the bureaucrats tell you what size beverage you can buy.” New Yorkers for Beverage Choices Group: “These diet companies often emphasise choice and options in their own plans, allowing their customers a wide variety of food and drink. We want the same thing. Restrictions and bans will do nothing to address the very complex issue of obesity.” [CR: Fascination sound bites catering to the pride of humanity: “Don’t let anyone tell you what to do”. The lobby group comparison is like saying “If you can have any brand of apple, than we should be able to sell any brand of heroin.” Their statement that it is a complex issue is the same as the climate change critics, that it is too complex to address.]

Hackers post sensitive information from 1 million Apple devices, from of a 12 million sample. Said they obtained from an FBI agent’s laptop. Leak data centres around the UDID used to track users, which is being phased out [CR: Security is about the weakest link.]

CatchOfTheDay preparing for IPO in 12 to 24 months, could value at $600 million. Australia’s leading online shopping group, operates five sites: CatchOfTheDay, Scoopon, GroceryRun, Vinomofo, and Mumgo. Sales have doubled to $250 million over past 15 months, 2.5 million members, registers 20,000 new customers each week. Online retail industry growth reached 26 percent in 12 months to July. [CR: Will be interesting to see the sustainability of the business model.]