NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
    • The Great NZ Road Trip
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Business / Companies / Retail

Warehouse bosses under fire

NZ Herald
23 Jan, 2015 04:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Ted van Arkel. The Warehouse Group chairman. Photo / File

Ted van Arkel. The Warehouse Group chairman. Photo / File

Market players call for changes at the top, saying the company’s growth strategy has failed to deliver at the bottom line

The Warehouse Group chairman Ted van Arkel says the company remains committed to its strategy amid market criticism that the retailer's long-running growth push has failed and major changes need to take place at the board and chief executive level.

Under the tenure of Mark Powell, who took the group's helm as chief executive in 2011, the firm has embarked on a five-year turnaround programme that has included a $180 million refit of its core Red Sheds stores and acquisitions such as its purchases of the Noel Leeming electronics chain and an 80 per cent stake in online sportsgear retailer Torpedo7.

But some sharemarket participants are becoming frustrated with a lack of bottom-line growth over the past few years.

On January 7 the company said first-half adjusted profit was expected to be about 20 per cent lower than last year at around $37 million, partly as a result of flat sales and slimmer margins at the Red Sheds and lower revenue at Noel Leeming.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

In September The Warehouse reported an 18 per cent decrease in full-year adjusted profit to $60.7 million. It blamed the drop on costs involved in its "strategic re-shaping".

The Warehouse shares have plunged more than 35 per cent from their May 2013 high of $4.39, and closed steady at $2.75 last night.

"The current strategy, particularly at the Red Sheds, along with the acquisitions, has clearly failed," said Salt Funds Management managing director Paul Harrison. "There needs to be changes now at the board level and at the CEO level."

Harrison said he had confidence in van Arkel as chairman.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He said Salt Funds, which manages a more than $650 million equity and property portfolio, had sold all of the Warehouse shares it previously held.

"When you look at what the current strategy has resulted in, you've doubled the amount of capital invested in the business and yet profitability is still going backwards," he said. "There needs to be changes made and somebody needs to be held accountable for the clear failure of this strategy."

Milford Asset Management executive director Brian Gaynor said he fully agreed with Harrison's view.

"The share price says everything," Gaynor said. "If a company isn't performing you've got to look at the top of the tree and the board sits at the top of the tree."

Discover more

Retail

Warehouse shares plunge on warning

06 Jan 11:00 PM
Retail

Warehouse shares slump

07 Jan 04:00 PM
Business

Warehouse shares rally after Normans boost stake

21 Jan 09:21 PM
Opinion

Stock Takes: Few confessions is a good sign

22 Jan 04:00 PM

The Warehouse's board members include founder Sir Stephen Tindall, who controls about 50 per cent of the business through various stakes, long-serving director Keith Smith and former Noel Leeming chief executive John Journee.

Van Arkel said the company had undergone a period of significant re-shaping over the last four years.

"This has also coincided with a period of unprecedented change within the retail sector, which has presented large-scale challenges and opportunities," he said.

Rickey Ward, NZ equity manager at investment firm JBWere, said calls for board and chief executive changes were "a little bit harsh".

Ward said challenges such as online competition had caused disruption in the retail industry.

"I don't think you can put that down to the CEO or the board," he said. "I think they're doing what they need to do and that is diversify."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

James Pascoe, the retail group owned by David and Anne Norman that controls Farmers and Whitcoulls, has viewed the dip in The Warehouse's share price as a buying opportunity and increased its stake in the firm from 6.3 per cent to 7.4 per cent this week.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Retail

Premium
Business|markets

Allbirds predicts turnaround - finally - if lucky break on tariffs holds true

09 May 12:23 AM
Freight and logistics

Inside NZ Post’s $250m facility transforming parcel delivery

08 May 05:12 AM
Retail

'Encouraging': Warehouse Group third-quarter sales up 2.2%

07 May 11:06 PM

One tiny baby’s fight to survive

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Retail

Premium
Allbirds predicts turnaround - finally - if lucky break on tariffs holds true

Allbirds predicts turnaround - finally - if lucky break on tariffs holds true

09 May 12:23 AM

PLUS: Waterproof Allbirds - and some "professional" sneakers for the office.

Inside NZ Post’s $250m facility transforming parcel delivery

Inside NZ Post’s $250m facility transforming parcel delivery

08 May 05:12 AM
'Encouraging': Warehouse Group third-quarter sales up 2.2%

'Encouraging': Warehouse Group third-quarter sales up 2.2%

07 May 11:06 PM
'Disappointed': Briscoe Group first-quarter sales sink 2.58%

'Disappointed': Briscoe Group first-quarter sales sink 2.58%

07 May 01:16 AM
Connected workers are safer workers 
sponsored

Connected workers are safer workers 

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP