ALH Group - Shop Ethical

ALH Group

Pubs, hotels, alcohol retail and gaming

Part of Endeavour Group, the retail drinks and hospitality business that was demerged from Woolworths in 2021. ALH Group owns and operates over 300 licensed venues, and over 550 retail liquor outlets across Australia. Brands include BWS and Dan Murphy's. Australia's largest owner of poker machines, with more than 12,000 machines.

Overall

Owned AUS

Rating

About the Ratings

Company Ownership

Australian Leisure & Hospitality Group Pty Ltd

AUS

Endeavour Group Ltd

owns 100% of Australian Leisure & Hospitality Group Pty Ltd

AUS

Liquor retail

Became a standalone company in June 2021 as a result of Woolworths' demerging its retail drinks and hospitality businesses. Endeavour owns over 1,700 retail liquor stores under the Dan Murphy's and BWS brands, specialty retail and online brands Cellarmasters, Langton's, Jimmy Brings and Shorty's Liquor, and drinks manufacturer and supplier Pinnacle Drinks. Endeavour also owns a portfolio of 354 licensed venues with over 12,000 poker machines and about 290 TABs and KENO outlets. Australia's largest owner of poker machines, and third largest gambling operator.

Woolworths Group Ltd

owns 9% of Endeavour Group Ltd

AUS

Supermarkets and other retail

Australia's largest supermarket operator, and NZ's second largest. Sold Dick Smith Electronics in 2012, closed its failed Masters hardware chain in Dec 2016, sold its petrol retail business to Euro Garages in 2019, and spun off its liquor retail and hospitality businesses in 2021, creating ASX-listed Endeavour Group.

Company Assessment

Praise Criticism Information

Australian Leisure & Hospitality Group Pty Ltd

Criticism

In 2023, following a prosecution by the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission, this company was fined $550,000 for failures to minimise gambling harm. ALH was fined for operating 220 gaming machines without mandatory pre-commitment technology (YourPlay) installed, which is mandatory in Victoria.

Source: news article (2023)

Endeavour Group Ltd

Praise

This company received a packaging performance level of 3 (Advanced) in its 2023 APCO Annual Report. Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) is a not-for-profit organisation leading the development of a circular economy for packaging in Australia. Each year, APCO Members are required to submit an APCO Annual Report and Action Plan, which includes an overall performance level from 1 (Getting Started) to 5 (Beyond Best Practice).

Source: APCO (2023)

Criticism

This company is Australia's largest operator of poker machines, with more than 12,000 pokies across 293 venues: more than Star City or Crown Casino. Poker machines are the most harmful form of gambling, making up $11 billion of Australia's total gambling losses in clubs and pubs alone. Australians spend more per person on gambling than any other country in the world.

Source: Alliance for Gambling Reform (2018)

This company received an S&P Global ESG Score of 16/100 in the Food & Staples Retailing category of the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment, an annual evaluation of companies' sustainability practices (last updated 21 Oct 2022). The rankings are based on an analysis of corporate economic, environmental and social performance, assessing issues such as corporate governance, risk management, environmental reporting, climate strategy, human rights and labour practices.

Source: S&P Global (2022)

In 2020 this company was hit with a $172,692 fine after two of its NSW venues were found to have been illegally providing free alcohol to gamblers.

Source: news article (2020)

Information

This company makes voluntary contributions to DrinkWise Australia, a not-for-profit organisation established in 2005 by the alcohol industry, whose stated goal is to help bring about a healthier and safer drinking culture in Australia.

Source: DrinkWise (2020)

This company has signed the ABAC Responsible Alcohol Marketing Code, which is designed to regulate alcohol advertising and marketing within Australia.

Source: ABAC (2021)

This company is a member of the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking (IARD), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to reducing harmful drinking and promoting understanding of responsible drinking. IARD is affiliated with the United Nations.

Source: IARD (2021)