Optimising across the value chain

Most businesses operate in one or more parts of what is a complex value chain involving multiple other players both upstream and downstream. Over several decades there has been a global shift towards players becoming more integrated 窶� expanding to operate in more upstream and downstream parts of the value chain 窶� in order to […]

East Coast Energy Crisis

As part of our role supporting clients to secure electricity supply on the National Electricity Market (NEM), Mainsheet conducted an analysis of the unprecedented period of high prices of electricity. Note: Prices on the NEM have materially improved since writing this report. This analysis was first conducted in June based on the period of April […]

Australia’s Grid: The Electrical Transition

Australia窶冱 once in a lifetime, complex, irreversible energy transformation is underway, in an effort to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and the nation窶冱 carbon emissions. Energy, which includes electricity, stationary energy, transport and fugitive emissions, currently accounts for over three-quarters of Australia窶冱 emissions. While electricity generation currently accounts for a third of all emissions, this […]

Defining Your Customer Strategy

Organisations recognise that their customer strategy is a top business priority. Indeed, improving customer experience was identified as the top business priority amongst executives (58% of respondents) in a 2021 HBR study 窶� higher than reducing costs (47%), increasing revenue (44%) and increasing innovation (37%). But what a good customer strategy looks like is not […]

The Strategy Challenge

Many senior management teams are grappling with deciding how best to balance the multiple and often competing strategic considerations for their business. These may include shareholder value creation, ESG, decarbonisation, growth, reinvestment rate, dividends, business scale and scope, optimal offerings, customer segment priorities, cost structure, business footprint 窶ｦ just to mention a few. Clearly all […]

Energy Transition Drivers & Trends

Major structural changes are underway across the traditional Australian energy sector, with sweeping implications for a wide range of industries. These changes, from fossil-based fuels to lower carbon alternatives, are just as much a result of voluntary company initiatives as they are of government intervention. Companies are increasingly setting ambitious emissions reduction targets, many of […]

The Circular Economy for Wastepaper

Key players across the wastepaper industry are likely to see their operating models challenged in coming years as significant regulatory changes regarding the permitted use of wastepaper come into play globally. Governments are hoping to create stronger recycling markets, with landfill becoming increasingly discouraged and waste recovery technology investment accelerating. As a result, participants across […]

eCommerce, Transport & Logistics and the Last Mile

The growth in eCommerce has driven a large structural change in supply chain logistics, with the last mile leg increasing in volume and becoming more pivotal to a business窶冱 success. Expectations set by large dominant online retailers have changed consumer attitudes, with consumers demanding speedy fulfilment and high levels of transparency, adding additional costs to […]

Sustainability & ESG Reporting in the Resources Sector

Although it has been 30 years since the 1992 Rio Earth Summit produced a comprehensive plan for sustainable development, most of the same global and local issues still exist at a greater and more urgent scale. For corporations, while 80% of companies worldwide reported on sustainability in 2020, their responses represent a wide range of […]

The Business Case for Displacing Diesel

In 2021, Australia consumed around 31 billion litres of diesel fuel. For many businesses that consume large quantities of diesel across mobile fleets, displacing diesel for a lower cost and cleaner energy source presents an opportunity to create a climate advantage. This article makes the case for businesses to evaluate diesel displacement strategies. CY21 Diesel(Million […]

Lifestyle Hotels & Millennial Customers

Hotel customers have evolved in recent years, with millennials seeking more unique and memorable experiences, giving rise to an international trend towards lifestyle hotels. Hotel brands are adapting their business models and offerings to respond to these changing consumer preferences, including strong customisation, affordable luxuries, social and community-building elements, as well as high reliance on […]

Pork Industry Changes

Major ownership and structural changes appear to be underway in the Australian pork production and processing industry, with implications for different players along the value chain. In this article we summarise some of the recent and reported activity, provide an overview of the pork industry value chain and identify some of the potential considerations for […]

Global Energy Shortage

In recent weeks, both the global and Australian media has been awash with news reports related to the energy shortage impacting major regions and economies across the globe. Gas prices recently hit an all-time high in Europe and Asia as a result of curtailed production, depletion of reserves (due to the unusually cold weather last […]

Plastic Replacement in Packaging

Mainsheet has recently assisted a leading Australasian packaging manufacturer and distributor with a review of domestic and international plastic replacement packaging markets 窶� with growth rates of 8-10% globally, and an estimated addressable size of $5-6bn in Australia alone[1]. As part of the review, Mainsheet identified potential opportunities to offer innovative solutions as well as […]

Waste Management and Recycling Changes and Opportunities

Regulatory pressures and sustainability trends will disrupt the waste management industry, but will also present opportunities across the entire value chain. New regulations are expected to impact the industry significantly and pose challenges for companies in the sector. In a significant move, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has banned the export of waste plastic, […]

Creating Value From Demergers

In the pursuit of sustainable growth and value creation, an organisation窶冱 corporate portfolio strategy is much like a fine balancing act. It requires focus on both diversifying into new sectors, geographies and capabilities to accelerate growth and maximise synergies, while also maintaining and growing core competencies and business units. Investing too much time and capital […]

Sustainable Development of Ports in Australia

With the high demand for intercontinental shipping, driven by the growth of world trade and Australia窶冱 almost total reliance on shipping as an enabler of all imports and exports, there is a constant need for new port development projects. When this is coupled with the increased scrutiny of climate change influences,  the environment will become […]

Energy Transition Changing Australia窶冱 Export Commodity Mix

The global energy transition from fossil-based fuel to zero-carbon energy is driving significant change in Australia窶冱 mining sector and more specifically, Australia窶冱 export commodity mix. This transition is underpinned by the commitment (or at least the intention to commit) to net zero emissions by 2050 by many countries across the world. The energy transition is […]

Finding the Optimal Capital Structure

Finding and maintaining the right capital structure is critical to minimising the organisation窶冱 cost of capital and maximising its value creation potential. Striking the right balance between debt and equity funding can be a challenge for many businesses, particularly in capital intensive and/or cyclical industries where revenues, earnings and cash flows can have a high […]

Preparing for Change Following the Royal Commission into Aged Care

Since Mainsheet窶冱 inception, our team has worked closely with aged care providers to navigate the constantly evolving regulatory and operating environment. The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, along with its 148 recommendations for the industry, proves that the only constant in the aged care industry is change. The primary theme of the […]

Responding to the Sustainability Imperative

Government agencies and many large corporates across all industries are striving to improve the environmental and social performance of their own operations, and increasingly also of their suppliers, to meet their Corporate Social Responsibility objectives. Below is a sample of some of the initiatives that government and non-government entities are implementing to improve the sustainability […]

Data-Driven Decision Making in the Water Sector

Australia experienced perhaps its most severe period of drought in hundreds of years from 2017 to early 2020, resulting in devastating bushfires and major water supply issues. Despite coming out of this drought, many water authorities continue to face long-term challenges of water security in the context of: One major factor that water authorities, engineers, […]

Capitalising on a rapidly changing energy and carbon landscape

窶弃ut a big, fat price on carbon!窶� These were some of the final words of the outgoing Secretary-General of the OECD Mr ﾃ］gel Gurrﾃｭa, in his final address in February 2021. This coincided with the passing of a resolution for a WTO-compatible EU carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) in February 2021. This resolution aims to […]

Value Creation Challenges in Construction & Engineering

Mainsheet regularly tracks the economic profitability of companies across a range of sectors. At the time of our analysis in 2019, we noted that there had been an increase in activity in construction and engineering after a prolonged period of value creation challenges. However, in 2020 activity slowed down again due to the COVID-19 pandemic […]

Plant-Based Meat Substitutes on a Growth Trajectory

A growing number of plant-based meat style products have been hitting the shelves over the last two years, including those from global brands such as Impossible Foods and Beyond Burger, long-time vegetarian brands like Vegie Delights and Tofurky, house brands like Coles窶� Herb & Sons, and more recent Australian brands like Made With Plants and […]

Increasing Consciousness within the Personal Care and Hygiene Industry

窶弩hat is really in the products I consume and use, and how did it get here?窶� This question is being increasingly asked by consumers, with growing concerns about the naturalness and sustainability of the products we use every day. Historically, this has applied more specifically to food products, with consideration around the value of organic […]

Future Scenario Planning

Scenario planning would be so simple if it wasn窶冲 about the future! But it is. The global pandemic has jolted many companies into realising that thinking beyond their annual plans and considering longer term planning and sources of strategic risk is non-negotiable. In addition to a 3-5 year strategy, scenario planning is critical to enable […]

Mining 窶� Recent Growth Strategy Observations

2020 was dominated by managing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The initial impact on the mining sector was a tightening of the equity markets between February and May which led to some distressed equity raisings and a number of our clients investigating specialist debt funding options for refinancing. Interestingly this highlighted the availability of […]

The Importance Culture and Organisation Design Plays in Delivering Strategy

Mainsheet has helped a number of organisations recently across a range of industries, including several government agencies, to design their organisational structure and develop their organisational cultures. As part of our recent work with various government enterprises and departments, we have identified a number of key areas that are critical to the success of organisational […]

Commercial Due Diligence 窶� Understanding Value in an Investment

Commercial due diligence is typically commissioned by an equity or debt investor during the execution phase of an acquisition transaction or debt funding process. Together with financial, legal and tax due diligence, commercial due diligence forms an integral part of evaluating the target company and investment rationale. While each type of due diligence is important […]

COVID-19 Prompting Digital Transformation

One thing to have come out of the COVID-19 pandemic is that governments, businesses and individuals are being forced to realise more of what窶冱 possible with digital. Particularly in areas such as remote working, providing digital service to customers, and business models involving home servicing and delivery. Zoom窶冱 daily active users jumped from 10 million […]

Lessons from recent Mainsheet Operational Change & Transformation Projects

Mainsheet Capital has worked on several operational change and transformation projects for clients in varying industries, specifically business integration projects of for mid and large cap companies across Australia in the last 12 months.  Our review of these projects identified five lessons 窶� irrespective of the clients窶� industry or the nature of the change 窶� […]

Are B2B companies capturing the value of digital?

Many B2B companies are coming to realise that digital, rather than a cost or just for B2C, can capture major benefits and efficiencies for businesses and their customers, and unlock significant value creation. As consumers, our expectations of good interactions are being driven by modern digital services that bypass the need for traditional assets and […]

Value Creation Challenges

in engineering, construction, mining and oil & gas services sectors The increased activity in the engineering, mining services and oil & gas services sectors over the past six months is very welcome as analysis of the value creation performance over the past few years clearly shows that these sectors have been experiencing value creation challenges. […]

Positioning for Growth

in engineering, construction, mining and oil & gas services Since the peak of activity 2012 / 2013 many engineering, mining and oil & gas services firms have experienced a significant reduction in market demand. This has caused many firms to have to substantially reduced staff numbers and narrowed capabilities and radically reduce their costs base. […]

Scenario Planning

Businesses renew their strategy every few years, some more often. The purpose is to align the team to a set of objectives..

Underperformance of recent market acquisitions highlights strategy and integration needs

Mainsheet Capital analysed 16 ASX listed, industrial companies headquartered in Western Australia..