Leading fund managers are divided as to whether the nation’s top companies are doing enough to combat the threat of disruption to their business models by Amazon and other global technology giants after a lacklustre annual reporting season.
Yarra Capital Management’s Dion Hershan warned Australian corporates largely continued to prioritise dividends and capital returns, “which for many companies is fuelling under-investment and weak growth in turn’’.
“We’ve observed frequent usage of in-vogue cliches including ‘agile’, ‘lean’ and ‘Amazon-ready’, but only a few companies appeared well placed to justify the claim,’’ he said.
Read more…. (subscription to The Australian required)