I can't imagine them taking over API but SIG is more a possibility imo.
Pharmacies are essentially in the same boat as Taxis have been getting protection from politicians for too long and I'd say that Pharmacies are in for the same level of disruption.
That being said imo API is safer than the others using the franchise model under SIG which I consider to far more vunerable to Coles, Woolworths or Target getting into Pharmacy business. Target & Woolworths would benefit the most whilst Coles Down Down policy might not require Pharmacies to help their sales. IE no great benefit to them.
Given that Pharmacy Guild have said or claim 1700 Pharmacies are likely to close down during near term then a struggling Target entry would help both their spiral downward and displaced Pharmacy staff.. It could be that the Pharmacy union have "guilded" the Lily a bit to win their argument against liberating competition in the sector but in a modern world the longer the protection persists the bigger the collapse of those who been enjoying this protected beast. So what i am suggesting is the ASX listed stocks in the Health Minister protected retail pharmacy sector should be discounted more heavily than other retailers all things being more equal. The Harper and King reviews must in all fairness agree to free trade in Australia not just with China. If we are to think logically and the Health Minister Greg Hunt continues this support of anticompetition policy I won't see it as common sense and only delay the inevitable and bigger collapse of this sector which will not have adjusted to competitive forces. I don't regard Chemist Warehouse as true competitors in this sector.
Now there will be problems for the big supermarkets in attempting to go into full pharmacy services because the shopping centre owners have been profiting greatly by clustering serveral pharmacies in their shopping centres and most would be paying higher rents and I not read any of their leases of recent times ( some previous leases were sales related) but im sure shopping centre owners might prefer Target close down than survive on the back of going into the pharmacy business.
