This is what the flux I'm brad, I'm justin and it's Wednesday, the tenth of July.
The way we spoke about Nine Entertainments and major staff cuts the other week, but now it's cut even deeper. Nine has announced that it's restructuring its pedestrian business, meaning brands like Vice, Refinery, twenty nine, giz Modo Live Hack App. It will all be cut in the coming month.
Of yikes, there is serious paine out there be man in good news though, Flex out. This is the final day that you can get Flux Pro for fifty percent off. That's the Flux app with all its dance features. We're talking advanced budgeting, advance credit score, premium articles, all for fifty percent off its normal price. To make sure to kick off the new financial year on a high and hit the link in the show notes to get.
Access three bargain basement price stories today. Juzzy boy, let's do it for our first. Telstra will be jacking up the prices of its mobile phone plans by more than the inflation rate as part of its plans to grow faster.
Telstra making some serious moves lately. So what is going on here? Well, juzzy Boy.
Telstra is the largest mobile network operator in Australia with over twenty two and a half million or retail mobile services, nearly one.
Mobile service for every single autult teen and infants in the whole of Australia.
You might remember back in May, Telstra announced that it would completely restructure its business, including cutting up to twenty.
Eight hundred jobs by the end of this year.
Now, over the past two years, juzzy Boy Telstra has been increasing its mobile phone plans in line with inflation.
But be man, during that big announcement in May, they warned that increasing prices with inflation was a thing of the past. I really wanted flexibility, you meaning like two months later, because now Telstra's announced its mobile phone plans will increase by four to five percent at a minimum, and that's across its og Telstra brand, but also its cheaper brand Boost and b Man. Well, customers weren't quite doing the happy dands. Investors most certainly were.
Telstra shares jump two and a half percent to their highest level since April.
So what is the key learning here?
When you're looking to grow your profit, there are only a couple of levers that can make a big difference to a company.
On the one hand, a company can look to reduce their costs.
Like what Telster has done with their major job cuts.
And their cuts to product offerings and cuts to offer space that the man. If that doesn't get you to the required profit and profit margin, then you need to start making moves on the revenue side.
Too, which is why Telstra is increasing the prices on its mobile phone plans by more than inflation.
And the man. Sadly for US consumers, Telstra aren't the only ones doing this now.
Votaphone increased prices by between six and nine percent back in January, and Optics raised prices for new customers by five to six percent in May as well. For our second story, Sacks fifth Avenues parent company has acquired a luxury or retailer name and Marcus for two point six five billion US dollars. And if you don't mind, Amazon and Salesforce are taking a slice too.
Geez, Jeffy Bee really leaning into his fashionable slash ripped ear at the moment. So what is going on here, jose boy?
If you know anything about fashion, and I mean anything, it's likely that you know Sacks Fifth Avenue.
I do, thankfully. It's the luxury department store that's feed you're on Gossip Girl and Sex in the City, and Will and Grace and Friends, and the list goes on.
The original store opened in eighteen sixty seven, if you don't mind, and it's grown into forty two different locations, including the USA.
You expect that.
Canada, you'd expect that too, And get this. Couzak'stan and b.
Man Name and Marcus is another luxury department store that actually went bankrupt during the pandemic. It was saved by investors.
It always kind of made sense for these bitter rivals to join forces, and now it's become reality.
Yep, SAX Fifth Avenue's parent company has a Quiet Name and Marcus for two point sixty five billion US dollars.
But here's the kicker, you know, just Sax's parent investing in Name and Marks.
No, no, no no, You've always got Amazon throwing some cash in Salesforce also tipping some cash into this deal as well.
Fascinating stuff. Josey Boyce, I'm wondering what is the key learning here.
There's a difference between being a luxury goods department store and a luxury goods.
Retailer objectively luxury goods. It's a great industry because of its ridiculously high margin.
For example, LVMH, the company behind Louis Bitton and Dior and Fendi and many more. They have gross margins of nearly seventy percent.
It does avoid. The challenge is that when consumer spending is down, the whole industry takes.
A major hit, including department stores.
You've got online luxury retailer far Fetch that was sold for a fraction of what it was previously worth because it required emergency funding.
You've got Matches that were sold and then put into administration just three months later.
And you've got many physical department stores also shutting down locations at.
The same time dmat. It just so happens that Amazon's been working hard to expand into luxury fashion over the past few years.
But hasn't yet really cracked this market.
So this investment gives us on access to luxury products, physical department stores, and juicy data that desperately need.
For our third and final story, Paramount Global, one of Hollywood's oldest studios, and Skydwan's Media have agreed to merge, forming a twenty eight billion US dollar company.
Match made in Hollywood Heaven, rsay. So what is the story here?
Well, Paramount is the global film studio and TV production company that's been around for almost as long as Hollywood has, dating back to nineteen twelve, and it's.
Given us some classics like Titanic, Godfather, like Breakfast at Tiffany's Seeing.
That One, anything more recent Juzzy Boy, don't forget the most classic of all, the Shrek series. Now, Paramount was put on the selling block earlier this year, with many companies circling from Warner Brothers to Comcast and even Warren Buffett, but now be man.
Paramounts announced it will merge with an independent film studio called sky Dance in a deal that will create a twenty eight billion US dollar company.
The deal is twofold, as they say, d the Boy First Guidance will acquire the controlling stake in Paramount for two point four billion US dollar's care.
Then Skydans will merge with Paramount. Now.
Skydance has been trying to get this deal over the line for a while now, and it seems like they finally managed.
To do it yep, allegedly by sweetening Paramount's controlling owner's payout, and this challenge has been all thanks to multi class shares. So what is the key learning here?
When it comes to company shares, not all shares are created equal seeb Man.
When company's issue shares, they often divide them into multiple classes with different rights.
They can do this to give people like founders or executives more voting power than ordinary shareholders.
And therefore more control over the company's direction.
Now, in Paramount's case, the Redstone family was the controlling owner, and while they.
Owned only five percent of Paramount stock, they controlled seventy seven percent if it's votes.
So when it comes to accepting a deal, despite being a public company, Paramount's controlling owner holds a lot of the decision making power and they man It's not too dissimilar to News Corp YEP. The Murdoch family owns around fourteen percent of the shares but nearly forty percent of the voting right.
Which means even once the company's gone public, a lot of the power can still sit with the controlling owners. Fluxam it is the very last day to get fifty percent off flux Pro and you don't want to be regretting it tomorrow when it's back to its full price, and you missed out, so make sure to hit the link in the show notes to unlock that fifty percent discount code.
Thanks for listening, and we'll see you on Friday.