Painters brush up on skills at forum
Analysts warn Bunnings may struggle
A FORUM to reinforce the importance of qualified painters will be held in Cairns tomorrow night.
Twenty local painters will head to Rydges Esplanade for Dulux’s Accredited Painter professional development seminar.
The Dulux Accredited Painter Program has revolutionised the way in which painters conduct their business and is offered to selected professional painters who demonstrate high levels of workmanship and pride themselves on their professionalism, customer service and reliability.
Fiona Sharp has been a painter for 27 years and has owned Look Sharp Painting and Decorating for the past 12. She said the chance to learn more about the industry was always exciting.
“It’s very important, and a lot of things don’t come to Cairns and you have to travel,” she said.
“So many people, especially those who are out of work, take up painting, but you have to have qualifications and you have to be skilled at your job, wipes out the cowboys.
“A lot of people take the cheapest quote, some businesses outdo me for sure but you have just got to think of the long run and getting the job done properly.”
The seminar, as part of ongoing Dulux training, will assist accredited Cairns painters with their business plans, marketing platforms, customer service, colour education, as well as product and application training. HARDWARE heavyweight Bunnings could be on the edge of an earnings slump as the slowdown in the housing market takes a toll, analysts say.
The outlook for the Wesfarmers chain has been dissected in a report by analysts at investment bank Morgan Stanley.
Waning confidence in the housing sector and tighter lending requirements among banks are tempering Australia’s love affair with home renovations, according to Morgan Stanley.
In a report for investors, Morgan Stanley analysts said the market could be underestimating the hit to Bunnings’ bottom line from a spluttering housing sector.
Less favourable weather the past quarter may have put further pressure on sales, according to the analysts, Thomas Kierath.
Lending to homeowners wishing to renovate was also on the slide, meaning less demand for tradesmen, tools and hardware as plans remained on the drawing board, they said.
It comes as investors apply more scrutiny to Bunnings. The hardware chain is expected to generate more than half of Wesfarmers’ earnings when led by Coles is spun out of the conglomerate. Historically, changes in auction clearance rates tended to be correlated with Bunnings’ like-for-like sales growth, Mr Kierath said.
“Over the (last) quarter ... the auction clearance rate is down 13 percentage points year on year, a deterioration from the third quarter 2018’s down 10 percentage points,” he said.