Stock Takes: Where will Warehouse restructure costs end?

The Warehouse says it is now entering the second phase of its a major restructure which began in January 2017. Photo/Supplied.

WAREHOUSE RESTRUCTURE

The Warehouse's restructure appears to be continuing apace with an executive reshuffling of the deck chairs announced this week.

Group chief financial officer Mark Yeoman has expanded his role taking on the job of chief operating officer, while Evelyn Ross has been appointed chief people officer and Michelle Anderson will take on the dual job of handing digital trading and data as chief digital officer.

The retailer began its restructure in January 2017 in a bid to drive improvement in its financial performance, reduce costs and generate "greater customer relevance."

So far it has cost the company $12 million in the year to July 2017 and a further $3.2 million in the first half of this financial year.

The company noted in its it 2017 annual report that over half of the cost was due to redundancy payouts.

Changes to the number of roles that qualified for the group's incentive schemes were also part of the cost.

The company says it is through the first phase of the restructure and is moving on to a second phase which will involve bringing in global consultants McKinsey & Company.

The initial promise was that there would be a one off cost of between $10m to $13m in 2017 which would result in net savings of $15m to $20m a year kicking in from the 2018 financial year.

But it seems the restructuring costs will spill well over into this financial year as well.

Shares in the Warehouse have fallen from $2.81 before the restructure was announced on January 10, 2017 to $2.02 as of Wednesday's market close.

TEGEL TAKEOVER

The takeover over for Tegel has yet to be made official but already some shareholders have decided to sell up taking advantage of a rise in the share price.

Tegel's shares have shot up from 82c to $1.15 in the wake of Philippines-based poultry group Bounty Fresh Food's announcement on April 26 that it would mount a $437.8 million takeover bid.

Bounty has said it will offer $1.23 per share but substantial shareholder notices show some investors have already moved to take advantage of Bounty's interest.

Bounty now has just under 55 per cent of the shares in Tegel. While most of that is from its 45 per cent lock-up agreement with cornerstone shareholder Affinity Equity Partners the rest is from shareholders selling early.

While it doesn't seem to make sense to sell up now at a lower price, it could suggest some uncertainty that the offer will get over the line.

Bounty has to receive permission from the Overseas Investment Office for the purchase to go ahead and while there doesn't appear to be any stumbling blocks some legal experts have already pointed to slower processing by the OIO since the change in government as it grapples with pending legislative changes on foreign ownership of property.

Bounty's official offer is expected to come somewhere between May 11 and May 28.

Tegel's shares closed at $1.14 yesterday.

FAANGs STILL HAVE BITE

Big technology stocks may have taken a hit over the past several weeks but results from the FAANGs show that the industry's growth surge is still going strong. Facebook,

Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google parent Alphabet by and large reported solid sales and profit growth, reminding investors of the integral role of technology in the global economy.

Facebook's first-quarter revenue accelerated and it added users in North America, reversing the decline in the fourth quarter.

Apple reported revenue and profit beating sales estimates and projected continued sales momentum.

Revenue had the fastest growth in more than two years.

Amazon reported larger profits in the forecast and forecast more of the same, bolstered by its cloud-computing, subscription and advertising businesses.

Netflix posted its strongest quarter since going public 16 years ago, despite raising prices for most of its customers over the past several months and Google parent Alphabet posted the strongest sales growth in almost four years.

-Additional reporting Bloomberg