Australian consumer firms set to drop for second consecutive year

A2 Milk

27/12/2023 23:37

** Australia's consumer index  .AXSJ  is on track to end
2023 nearly 2.4% lower, extending declines for a second year 
    ** Retail giant Coles Group  COL.AX  drops 4.4%, set for a
third consecutive yearly loss
    ** Rising costs and thefts weighed on COL's profit margins
in FY23, but margins are expected to expand in FY24 after the
company invested in technology to mitigate theft, according to
Morgan Stanley analysts 
    ** Meanwhile, bigger rival Woolworths Group  WOW.AX  logs
modest gain of 9.9% in 2023 vs 11.7% decline last year
    ** Top wine producer Treasury Wines  TWE.AX  slumps 20.2%,
posting its worst year since 2020
    
    
    ** "We continue to expect near-term cost pressures to impact
the trajectory of (Australia's) food margins in FY24/25," MS
analysts wrote
    ** Morningstar expects Australian wage inflation to outstrip
food sales growth, weighing on operating margins of supermarket
operators in FY24
    ** Best performer in the index in 2023 is Inghams Group
 ING.AX , surging 38.1% to log biggest yearly gain since 2016 
    ** A2 Milk's ASX-listed shares  A2M.AX  become the biggest
loser on the index, down by 37.9% in 2023

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Aussie consumer stocks yearly chart    https://tmsnrt.rs/3TFrJZw
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 (Reporting by Sneha Kumar and Poonam Behura in Bengaluru)
 ((Sneha.Kumar@thomsonreuters.com;))