Industry News

Stephen McMahon April 29, 2013 News Limited Network MANUFACTURERS, small business operators and builders have shut-up shop and stopped hiring with growth flatlining amid growing concerns about the budget deficit and political uncertainty ahead of September election. The nation’s leading employer group – The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry – said the small business sector has put expansion plans on ice as they face difficulty getting loans and are increasingly reluctant to hire full-time staff. Business are deeply concerned about the future with the most recent forecasts showing the budget deficit could blow out from an expected $11.6 billion this year to $14.3 billion by 2016-17. A report commissioned by the Minerals Council of Australia warns the nation’s budget structures need to be overhauled with at least $15 billion to be axed from current spending plans over the coming four year period. The top-end of town however, is growing…

ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS April 22, 2013 The proposal, which would give New York the highest smoking age in the country among major cities, is the latest effort in a long campaign to limit smoking that began soon after Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg took office, with bans on smoking in restaurants and bars, and expanding more recently to bans at parks, beaches, plazas and other public places. The new proposal would make the age for buying cigarettes the same as for buying liquor, but it would not make it illegal for people under 21 to possess or smoke cigarettes. Surveys suggest youth smoking has been declining in New York City, perhaps, some analysts say, because young people have been influenced by the public health campaigns and never taken it up to begin with. In March, Mr. Bloomberg proposed legislation through the Council that he said would make New York the first city…

April 23, 2013 NACS Online However, FDA may issue a new graphic warning labels rule that complies with the Supreme Court and the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decisions. WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court announced yesterday that it will not review a Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision upholding the FDA rule requiring graphic warning labels on cigarette packs and enhanced marketing restrictions for tobacco products, the Wall Street Journal reports. In a separate case decided last year, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the graphic warning label requirements as a violation of tobacco companies’ First Amendment rights. Many experts had anticipated the Supreme Court would take this case in order to rectify the “split” among federal courts. In light of the current court split, FDA may issue a new rule graphic warning labels rule that complies with both court decisions. The D.C. Circuit Opinion left the door…

Lisa MacNamara April 24, 2013 The Australian US homewares giant Williams-Sonoma believes it can defy the local retail downturn, declaring Australia a long-term proposition as it unveils the first of its bricks and mortar stores in Sydney next week — the first company-owned outlets outside North America. The opening of the new multi-storey presence on prime real estate at Bondi Junction, in Sydney’s east, will see the retailer join the rush of global brands such as Top Shop and Zara and soon-to- arrive fashion labels H&M and Japan’s Uniqlo, which have leveraged off online customer bases to establish physical stores. It will also provide new competition in the homewares, cooking and furniture space for the likes of Harvey Norman, Domayne and department stores David Jones and Myer. Senior vice-president of Williams-Sonoma’s global development Craig Nomura says that despite the recent pessimism about local consumer appetite from its new rivals, Australia…

NEIL GOUGH The New York Times HONG KONG – CP All, the Thai operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores owned by the billionaire Dhanin Chearavanont, said on Tuesday that it would pay more than $6 billion to acquire the discount retailer Siam Makro in the biggest takeover announced in Asia this year. It is the second blockbuster acquisition in recent months for a company controlled by Mr. Dhanin, whose Charoen Pokphand Group in February completed the $9.4 billion purchase of a 15.6 percent stake in the Ping An Insurance Group of China from HSBC Holdings. That deal was announced in December. The deal comes after a major buyout by another Thai billionaire, Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, a beverage magnate whose companies completed an $11.2 billion buyout in January of the Singaporean conglomerate Fraser & Neave, the end of a long takeover battle that began in July 2012. CP All, said it would offer…

ANN CARRNS April 23, 2013 The New York Times Anyone who uses A.T.M.’s to get cash knows that you usually pay a penalty for using a machine outside your own bank’s network. A recent government report documents just how much those fees have increased in recent years. Average A.T.M. surcharges — the fee a bank charges someone who is not a customer for using its machine — have increased by 20 percent over the last five years, a recent report from the Government Accountability Office finds. The average surcharge for banks and credit unions rose to $2.10 in 2012, from $1.75 in 2007 (adjusted for inflation). The surcharges ranged from 45 cents to $5, the report found. In contrast, the average “foreign” fee — the fee a bank charges its own customers for using a machine not in its network — has remained flat, the report found. It’s unclear just…