SIG - Sigma Healthcare

Garpal Gumnut said:

My guess is that WOW and WES will now push to have the ragtag mob that are "Community Pharmacists" aka The Pharmacy Guild in house in Woolies, Kmart + or - Coles. OR they may decide if the government permits them to have their own pharmacists in house.

The Pharmacy Guild don't like Chemist Warehouse and were dealt a surprising blow recently when the ALP allowed patients to get 2 mo. of medicines instead of one. Many in the Lib/Nats voted for it as well. Speaking to some high up in both sides of politics the Pharmacy Guild are on the nose as they have held the power to keep their industry as a closed shop and they have been a thorn in the side of both parties.

So both parties will let the Pharmacy Guild and your local pharmacist swing in the breeze.

Time was that a butcher never was seen in a supermarket, so pharmacists in Woolies is not all that a leap. I won't see it, but I wouldn't be surprised to see day surgery and cataracts being done down near the bakery section one day.

Also, I would not be surprised to see Sigma/Chemist W move in to other retail and medical centres.

Interesting times.

gg

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Belli said:

I've no skin in the game with Chemist Warehouse but am interested in all the hand wringing. After re-reading @Dona Ferentes post at #235 it seems there are two parts here; dispensing prescribed pharmaceuticals and selling consumer products at a discount. The pharmaceutical side of the business is highly regulated by legislation. As far as I am aware that aspect isn't discounted (the co-payment is the same no matter which pharmacy you get drugs from) so no savings to the consumer there. It would appear all the other stuff they flog, including off-the-shelf medication, is where its at for the group. Will that dramatically change the landscape no matter who flogs the products?

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Garpal Gumnut said:

Just on how Sigma now sits on the ASX compared to other listings. From the AFR and Bloomberg.

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Dona Ferentes said:

... this deal may get Chemist Warehouse its long-awaited listing, but it is yet to be seen whether the company trades like a top-100 stock given the number of restricted shares and lack of disclosure (to date).

Plenty of fund managers looked closely on Monday, but there is little liquidity and no way to buy Chemist Warehouse just yet, so it’s a bit of a pointless exercise.

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divs4ever said:

curses !! $1.30 would have been a nice place to sell at

maybe later in the day

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Dona Ferentes said:

Some three days as the newly boosted entity, and SIG enthusiasm is waning? ...maybe the full reveal hasn't come through yet.

View attachment 167366.

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Chemist Warehouse profits double as Sigma delivers solid result ​

Pharmacy giant Chemist Warehouse has more than doubled its first half profit ahead of a proposed merger with ASX-listed Sigma Healthcare, as public consultation on the deal draws to a close.


Sigma, which reported its full year profit on Thursday, said it expected the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to make a ruling on the proposed merger in the second half of the year, with the size of the combined businesses and the considerable community interest contributing to the time frame
The ACCC is accepting public submissions on the deal until March 28, and Sigma managing director Vikesh Ramsunder said his company was in regular communication with the regulator.
The Chemist Warehouse first half results were included in the Sigma results briefing on Thursday, and showed the pharmacy group, owned by founders Jack Gance and Mario Verrocchi and their respective families, increased its revenue 5.5 per cent over the first half to $1.77bn, while net profit was $360.1m, up 104 per cent.

Chemist Warehouse added nine stores to its Australian network and nine internationally, and the briefing said the network’s value proposition was resonating with customers, while there had also been successful online profitability initiatives.

For its part Sigma boosted its full year net profit to a modest $4.5m, up about 150 per cent on the previous year’s result, on revenue of $3.32bn, down 9.2 per cent. Stripping out merger costs to date, Sigma’s EBIT of $31.4m was up 62.7 per cent and net profit came in at $12.7m.

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redsmartie said:

Not sure what to think of recent chart activity, few lots in there for me.

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Dona Ferentes said:

Chemist Warehouse, the private pharmacy group, has quietly created one of the largest advertising businesses in the country, with the division – known as retail media – making up 20 per cent of sales.
Like many other major retailers, Chemist Warehouse uses its stores to advertise its suppliers’ products to shoppers near the point of sale – while clipping the ticket itself.

It has its own in-house media buying agency, called Strat, which manages about $130 million in billings and works with brands such as electrical retailer The Good Guys, suspension parts company Pedders, restaurant chain TGI Fridays and workwear and safety products retailer RSEA.

Strat runs Chemist Warehouse’s marketing campaigns, but the company has also been a promotional juggernaut for its own suppliers – on its website, and via in-store promotion and digital screens, for example.

Chemist Warehouse has created The House of Wellness, a weekly television program that reaches 175,000 Australians on Seven Network. Segments on the show are sold to suppliers. It is also a quarterly magazine in News Corp newspapers, and a show on Nine Entertainment’s radio network.

Then there are the TV, radio and out-of-home commercial deals reaching more than 1.3 million people each week and the sport sponsorship deals with AFL, NRL, NBL and the Australian Open tennis.

Should the Sigma deal move ahead, the retail media business is expected to leverage Sigma’s Amcal and Discount Drug Store brands.

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