James McCullough
April 25, 2013
Herald Sun
SUPER Retail Group is actively searching for acquisitions to help fuel the growth it hopes will catapult it to among the top five retailers in Australia, chief executive Peter Birtles says.
“We want to be in the top five so for us that means a turnover of $3 billion-plus,” Mr Birtles said.
He said Super Retail had pinned its growth opportunities on increasing its number of stores in Australia and New Zealand which currently number 600 across seven brands, increasing its online presence and looking for new acquisitions.
“I promised the board after we acquired Rebel Sport we would not make any more acquisitions for at least two years ago and that was now over 18 months ago,” Mr Birtles said.
“There is now the opportunity to look at acquisitions in our existing categories and in other categories.”
Pressed later, Mr Birtles said the group would consider acquiring companies in other leisure markets to build on its current divisions which include BCF, Super Cheap Auto, Goldcross Cycles, Ray’s Outdoors, Rebel Sport and Amart Sports.
“I can’t specify which groups or companies but it would be in similar leisure markets. Areas where people spend time enjoying themselves,” he said.
The Super Retail chief said the company’s online sales were currently only 1 per cent of total sales but the group was keen to build this to around 15 per cent.
He said increasing global competition and Australia’s high labour costs were two of the biggest challenges facing local retailers.
Mr Birtles said the labour costs in Australia were twice as high as in the US and the property costs here were the same.
“It is a very exciting time to be in retail because the whole dynamic is changing,” he said.
“The cost of doing business in Australia is still one of the biggest challenges. The best way to face these and other challenges is to change the way we think.
“We need to think more about being a solution provider and not just a product provider.”
He said with the advent of online that Australian retailers were now competing globally and against larger companies with considerably more scale.
“So customer loyalty is critical,” he said.
To that end, staff retention at Super Retail Group’s stores was also a key.
Super Retail shares closed at $12.84 on Wednesday. They have jumped 110 per cent since the Rebel acquisition was announced in October, 2011.
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