Retail & Hospitality

Trident Financial Group is experienced in assisting clients in the construction and engineering sector.

Retail

While retail growth has slowed down in recent years, it continues to outpace the economy without any clear improvement driver of macro-economic conditions, individual retailer performance will depend on the ability to grab market share from competition, while looking at internal efficiencies.

Despite greater optimism from consumers in FY16 compared to FY15, sales growth saw a decline. The growth of online sales is particularly noteworthy in comparison to traditional retail sales. According to the NAB Online Retail Sales Index, growth in FY16 was 8.7% compared to 10.5% in FY15. Australians spent $20.1 billion in online retail in the 12 months until June 2016 based on the index estimates, which is approximately 6.8% of traditional retail sales. Consumers continue to look at online channels for convenience, in keeping with shipping time acceleration.

Key Factors Influencing the Retail Industry

  • Strong competition from online players will make it tougher for on-ground retailers.
  • Success will be measured by market share and internal operational efficiencies.
  • Deeper understanding of customer proposition is necessary to stay afloat.

Factors to Consider

Do you have an idea of your customer value proposition and have you created an aligned brand?

In tough times, you need to know that all aspects of your business are moving in the right direction. Trident Financial Group can help you better express your customer proposition. We investigate core business processes like merchandising, supply distribution, marketing, POS and financial reporting to your customer proposition.

Are you reporting and tracking performance indicators that matter? When do you act?

Inventory management, staff productivity, sales metrics, cash flow and leases are all critical to producing extensive data for your business. But extracting value from this information can be hard. Trident Financial Group brings extensive experience to extracting intelligence from data. We are experts in cash flow management, analytics, forecasting and budgeting, which ultimately culminates in on-point dashboard reports and focussed benchmark points. This level of reporting gives you confidence that certain issues are identified and mitigated before they turn into big problems.

Do you have an apt and future proofed business model for effective third-party supply arrangements management?

Contracting businesses require working capital. Failure to focus on this can result in liquidity pressures through the contracting chain, even if the project is eventually profitable. We are experienced in helping construction and engineering clients increase their working capital efficiency, and can assist with shortening the time needed to convert work into cash flow.

We have employed efficient debtors and work-in-progress processes to reduce locked up cash. Working capital is a good indicator of a project’s health, and signals satisfaction of sub-contractors and the client, which is important for securing the next project.

Are your subcontractors charging you only for what is written in the contract?

Our sector-specific experts review your business model and identify how the pieces fit together. We look into your financial structure to determine whether it aligns with your commercial structure, and whether you have a sound strategy for your particular business. Our experience and insights enables retailers to achieve better business outcomes, which align with brand propositions and business strategies.

Hospitality

The hospitality page-item is an indicator of discretionary household income, spending, business confidence, tourism and consumer trends. The sector is expected to grow with market conditions recovering. The hotels and resorts page-item is experiencing a move towards inbound international tourists from growing Asian and recovering European markets.

Strong competition from liquor retail stores has halted growth in the pubs, nightclubs and bars page-item, although it is expected to grow moderately over the next few years – with operators responding to changing regulations and consumer trends.

Key Factors Influencing the Hospitality Industry

  • Legislative changes to reduce alcohol-triggered anti-social behaviour, along with increased government and community scrutiny.
  • Heavy regulations around gaming, along with legislative focus on issues like problem gambling, including imposing daily cash withdrawal limits and pre-commitment technology per venue.
  • Driving continued patronage for food, accommodation and beverage markets in the context of a stronger Australian dollar, along with variable inbound tourist numbers.

Factors to Consider

What is the present legislative framework and its impact on stakeholders? Are you prepared for legislative framework changes and their impact?

Our client teams are well aware of the heavy regulations governing the hospitality sector in Australia. Legislation affects local, state and federal government organisations in relation to gaming, liquor, tobacco, occupational health and safety, accommodation and other related fields. Understanding the impact of these issues will help better address page-item challenges. We understand how diverse the page-item is and implement different strategies to successfully achieve the best outcome for stakeholders. Trident Financial Group considers these issues strategically, in keeping with the market demographic and nature of each hospitality asset.

What is the best outcome for key stakeholders and what can be done to preserve the asset value to optimise performance?

Trident Financial Group understands that several factors can obscure effective management of any particular hospitality asset. We focus on the fundamentals to better understand the market, implement controls to mitigate losses and ensure strong venue management.

At Trident Financial Group, we focus on the fundamentals by keenly understanding the page-item, executing strong management measures and minimisng the risk of losses through strategic implementation tactics.