GNS facing strong headwinds in challenging market
Financial prospects hit by declines on several fronts.
GNS Wholesale Stationers has presented a sobering picture of its growth potential in its annual report to 30 June, 2020.
Excerpts from the report published recently in industry commentator Mark Fletcher’s Newsagency Blog revealed a decline in GNS’ revenue and an increase in losses.
The GNS directors’ report stated:
'The material business risks that continue to be faced by the Group are likely to have an effect on the financial prospects of the Group, and how the Group manages these risks include':
- Continued decline in core office products category: The stationery and core office products market in Australia has declined due to increased digitisation and changes in workplace behaviour.
- Reduction in number of newsagent customers: A material acceleration of the rate of decline in newsagent customers could have a significant impact on our financial results. The Group has continued to develop new customer channels to mitigate the risk.
- Increase in competition: New entrants to the sector could have a material impact on the Group’s revenue. GNS invests significantly in growing and maintaining its customer base and relationships to mitigate this.
In response to Fletcher’s report, one newsagent identified as ‘Peter’ said: "The leakage to other suppliers is now a torrent or flood of money of the highest order. I myself now almost spend as much as I spend with GNS with another supplier to the detriment of my GNS spend."
Date Published:
2 December 2020