Aconex Ltd (ACX):
The chief executive and co-founder of construction software business Aconex, Leigh Jasper, has defended his decision to sell a portion of his shares last year, despite it being a contributor to the company’s sustained share price fall in the past six months. ‘‘Entrepreneurs build businesses over many years and being able to have a modest sell-down is important over time, because a lot of our net worth is tied up in the business,’’ he said. ‘‘Rob Phillpot and I are both significant shareholders and remain committed to the long-term growth. The shares we sold were a small amount – a couple of hundred thousand out of 12 million.’’ The comments come as Aconex shares fell another 6.2 per cent to $3.50 on the ASX on Tuesday, after its results failed to excite investors.
Altium Limited (ALU):
For ASX-listed printed circuit board design software company Altium, its big problem in China is not one of brand recognition, or even user growth – it’s trying to make customers pay for its software. The company is recognised in the Chinese market as the dominant player in electronic circuit board design, but 90 per cent of its 100,000 users still use its software illegally thanks to piracy. About 28,000 of these users already have their hands on the latest 2017 version of the software, while only 700 are paying for it. But the company, which on Tuesday reported revenue growth of 14 per cent to $US48.7 million for the first half of the 2017 financial year, believes it can make 2000 of these customers illegally using its software start paying each year – double the current number it manages to track down and convert to paid subscribers. Altium chief executive Aram Mirkazemi told The Australian Financial Review the trick to this was to change its licence compliance process and bring it in-house, rather than relying on resellers in China. ‘‘Since 2004 we’ve been converting around 1000 users a year to paying customers ... When we talk to engineers in China, they say they have to be able to use Altium software to work in the industry,’’ he said. ‘‘We used to have to get the resellers to negotiate with a customer when they were identified as using the software without paying us and get them to send letters prompting them to be legal users. But now in the first half of 2017 we’ve made a breakthrough in how this process is managed and now we can pursue the customer and close the deals.’’ Already this strategy is starting to pay off – the region is delivering the strongest growth for the company in the first half, with revenue up 27 per cent. For the first half the business also reported a profit jump of 8 per cent to $US9.86 million.
BHP Billiton Limited (BHP):
Andrew Mackenzie has delivered a consensus smashing result that announces an unanticipated recovery of the BHP cashflow machine as certainly as it confirms management’s intent to reward shareholders and a firm bias to continued balance sheet recovery through debt reduction. As any weight-watcher will tell you, the challenge of shrinking comes with success. BHP Billiton’s interim numbers stand confirmation that it is reaping full benefit from its energising exercise in reduction. The billion-dollar task now is to ensure that three years of often quite painful heavy lifting is not wasted and that the benefits of price normalisation are most effectively devoted to the highest-yielding growth and to short-term shareholder satisfaction.
A resurgent BHP Billiton has made nearly three times as much profit in the December half as it made in the entire 2015-16 year, rewarding investors with a dividend that was more than 30 per cent higher than analysts had expected. Soaring prices for coking coal and iron ore, combined with a continued focus on productivity, delivered BHP a $US3.2 billion ($4.2 billion) underlying profit. Chief executive Andrew Mackenzie said the result was a testament to the recent years of restructuring at the company, however he cautioned that some commodity prices had run ahead of expected levels, and a political mood for protectionism was threatening to interrupt the company’s momentum.
Caltex Australia Limited (CTX):
Caltex is targeting more acquisitions to help make up for the expected loss of the huge wholesale supply contract with Woolworths, with perhaps only about a third of the shortfall made up so far from two recent deals. Caltex is targeting more acquisitions to help make up for the expected loss of the huge wholesale supply contract with Woolworths, with perhaps only about a third of the shortfall made up so far from two recent deals. Chief executive Julian Segal signaled more overseas deals could be on the horizon as Caltex seeks to put capital that would have gone on the hoped for purchase of Woolworths’ petrol business to better use.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA):
The 10 per cent growth limit on lending to property investors could deliver the Commonwealth Bank a $200 million lift in full year profits, according to analysts. CBA has sought to stay within the regulated speed limit in part by lifting interest rates on investoronly loans. Bigger bank profits on investor loans are an unforeseen but direct consequence of loan-growth caps introduced by the banking regulator to stop property prices from spiraling higher. Analysts say that moves by Commonwealth Bank to reprice investor loans and remain under the caps will deliver a $200 million fillip, or 2 per cent lift, to a full-year net profit that is forecast to reach almost $10 billion in 2017.
Suncorp Group Ltd Fully Paid Ord. Shrs (SUN):
Suncorp is expected to present ASX listed insurer Tower Ltd with a $205 million takeover bid on Wednesday morning, handing a pay day to Australian fund managers including Perpetual and Westpac Banking Corp’s BT Funds. There is nothing like an aftermarket raid to light up the market and on Tuesday afternoon it was Suncorp’s turn. As revealed by Street Talk, Suncorp’s New Zealand arm Vero had broker UBS in the market seeking a 10 per cent to 19.99 per cent stake in the already in play Tower Ltd. The broker was offering fundies $1.2131 a share, or $NZ1.30 in Kiwi currency terms, promising that if fulfilled it would be followed by a takeover bid at the same price on Wednesday morning.
Woodside Petroleum Limited (WPL):
Woodside Petroleum’s naming of departing Wesfarmers chief executive Richard Goyder as its next chairman to replace Michael Chaney has raised eyebrows among investors who are questioning the apparently limited pool of alternative board talent in Perth. While Mr Goyder’s eminent suitability for the role is not in doubt, the appointment is being described as ‘‘cosy’’ by some investors given Mr Chaney holds the chair at Wesfarmers. Mr Goyder, due to exit Wesfarmers in November, will join the board of the WA oil and gas player as a nonexecutive director on August 1 and take over as chairman once Mr Chaney steps down in April 2018. Mr. Chaney preceded him as CEO of the conglomerate.
(Source: AIMS)
The chief executive and co-founder of construction software business Aconex, Leigh Jasper, has defended his decision to sell a portion of his shares last year, despite it being a contributor to the company’s sustained share price fall in the past six months. ‘‘Entrepreneurs build businesses over many years and being able to have a modest sell-down is important over time, because a lot of our net worth is tied up in the business,’’ he said. ‘‘Rob Phillpot and I are both significant shareholders and remain committed to the long-term growth. The shares we sold were a small amount – a couple of hundred thousand out of 12 million.’’ The comments come as Aconex shares fell another 6.2 per cent to $3.50 on the ASX on Tuesday, after its results failed to excite investors.
Altium Limited (ALU):
For ASX-listed printed circuit board design software company Altium, its big problem in China is not one of brand recognition, or even user growth – it’s trying to make customers pay for its software. The company is recognised in the Chinese market as the dominant player in electronic circuit board design, but 90 per cent of its 100,000 users still use its software illegally thanks to piracy. About 28,000 of these users already have their hands on the latest 2017 version of the software, while only 700 are paying for it. But the company, which on Tuesday reported revenue growth of 14 per cent to $US48.7 million for the first half of the 2017 financial year, believes it can make 2000 of these customers illegally using its software start paying each year – double the current number it manages to track down and convert to paid subscribers. Altium chief executive Aram Mirkazemi told The Australian Financial Review the trick to this was to change its licence compliance process and bring it in-house, rather than relying on resellers in China. ‘‘Since 2004 we’ve been converting around 1000 users a year to paying customers ... When we talk to engineers in China, they say they have to be able to use Altium software to work in the industry,’’ he said. ‘‘We used to have to get the resellers to negotiate with a customer when they were identified as using the software without paying us and get them to send letters prompting them to be legal users. But now in the first half of 2017 we’ve made a breakthrough in how this process is managed and now we can pursue the customer and close the deals.’’ Already this strategy is starting to pay off – the region is delivering the strongest growth for the company in the first half, with revenue up 27 per cent. For the first half the business also reported a profit jump of 8 per cent to $US9.86 million.
BHP Billiton Limited (BHP):
Andrew Mackenzie has delivered a consensus smashing result that announces an unanticipated recovery of the BHP cashflow machine as certainly as it confirms management’s intent to reward shareholders and a firm bias to continued balance sheet recovery through debt reduction. As any weight-watcher will tell you, the challenge of shrinking comes with success. BHP Billiton’s interim numbers stand confirmation that it is reaping full benefit from its energising exercise in reduction. The billion-dollar task now is to ensure that three years of often quite painful heavy lifting is not wasted and that the benefits of price normalisation are most effectively devoted to the highest-yielding growth and to short-term shareholder satisfaction.
A resurgent BHP Billiton has made nearly three times as much profit in the December half as it made in the entire 2015-16 year, rewarding investors with a dividend that was more than 30 per cent higher than analysts had expected. Soaring prices for coking coal and iron ore, combined with a continued focus on productivity, delivered BHP a $US3.2 billion ($4.2 billion) underlying profit. Chief executive Andrew Mackenzie said the result was a testament to the recent years of restructuring at the company, however he cautioned that some commodity prices had run ahead of expected levels, and a political mood for protectionism was threatening to interrupt the company’s momentum.
Caltex Australia Limited (CTX):
Caltex is targeting more acquisitions to help make up for the expected loss of the huge wholesale supply contract with Woolworths, with perhaps only about a third of the shortfall made up so far from two recent deals. Caltex is targeting more acquisitions to help make up for the expected loss of the huge wholesale supply contract with Woolworths, with perhaps only about a third of the shortfall made up so far from two recent deals. Chief executive Julian Segal signaled more overseas deals could be on the horizon as Caltex seeks to put capital that would have gone on the hoped for purchase of Woolworths’ petrol business to better use.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA):
The 10 per cent growth limit on lending to property investors could deliver the Commonwealth Bank a $200 million lift in full year profits, according to analysts. CBA has sought to stay within the regulated speed limit in part by lifting interest rates on investoronly loans. Bigger bank profits on investor loans are an unforeseen but direct consequence of loan-growth caps introduced by the banking regulator to stop property prices from spiraling higher. Analysts say that moves by Commonwealth Bank to reprice investor loans and remain under the caps will deliver a $200 million fillip, or 2 per cent lift, to a full-year net profit that is forecast to reach almost $10 billion in 2017.
Suncorp Group Ltd Fully Paid Ord. Shrs (SUN):
Suncorp is expected to present ASX listed insurer Tower Ltd with a $205 million takeover bid on Wednesday morning, handing a pay day to Australian fund managers including Perpetual and Westpac Banking Corp’s BT Funds. There is nothing like an aftermarket raid to light up the market and on Tuesday afternoon it was Suncorp’s turn. As revealed by Street Talk, Suncorp’s New Zealand arm Vero had broker UBS in the market seeking a 10 per cent to 19.99 per cent stake in the already in play Tower Ltd. The broker was offering fundies $1.2131 a share, or $NZ1.30 in Kiwi currency terms, promising that if fulfilled it would be followed by a takeover bid at the same price on Wednesday morning.
Woodside Petroleum Limited (WPL):
Woodside Petroleum’s naming of departing Wesfarmers chief executive Richard Goyder as its next chairman to replace Michael Chaney has raised eyebrows among investors who are questioning the apparently limited pool of alternative board talent in Perth. While Mr Goyder’s eminent suitability for the role is not in doubt, the appointment is being described as ‘‘cosy’’ by some investors given Mr Chaney holds the chair at Wesfarmers. Mr Goyder, due to exit Wesfarmers in November, will join the board of the WA oil and gas player as a nonexecutive director on August 1 and take over as chairman once Mr Chaney steps down in April 2018. Mr. Chaney preceded him as CEO of the conglomerate.
(Source: AIMS)
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