AMP Limited (AMP):
AMP has scrapped short-term bonuses for most of its senior executives for 2016, as the wealth management giant overhauls it remuneration policies in the wake of its worst full-year financial results in 13 years. In its 2016 annual report released to the market on Monday, AMP revealed a markedly slimmed-down bonus regime for its 10 senior executives and chief executive Craig Meller, with an axing of short-term incentives and no expected vesting of long-term incentives that were granted in 2014.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ); Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA); National Australia Bank Limited (NAB); Westpac Banking Corporation (WBC):
Westpac will up the ante on its big-four rivals in the race to win a new generation of tech-savvy customers, with the country’s first wearable payments devices and a new mobile service to let customers make payments within popular chat apps. Along with Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank, Westpac has not made Apple Pay available to its customers, due to an ongoing dispute about fees and a lack of access to the iPhone’s near-field communications chip. This means that the banks cannot offer their own digital wallets on the iPhone. While ANZ Bank has crowed about the positive impact it has seen in terms of customer acquisition since it enabled Apple Pay, and Apple Pay boss Jennifer Bailey has warned the banks they will lose customers if they hold out, Mr Frazis said Westpac was not worried.
Bellamy’s Australia Limited (BAL); Blackmores Limited (BKL); The A2 Milk Company Limited (A2M):
Shanghai | China has delayed indefinitely tough new cross-border e-commerce laws that had threatened to disrupt the flow of Australian vitamins, milk powder and cosmetics into booming markets on the mainland. The surprising backdown by Beijing comes ahead of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arriving in Australia on Wednesday for talks on upgrading the free trade agreement and how to eliminate other non-tariff barriers. The indefinite delay is a big win for vitamin makers Blackmores and Swisse, which were facing complex new licensing and labelling requirements in China. The backdown should also benefit infant formula makers a2 Milk Company and Bellamy’s Australia, which have been hurt by uncertainty on how the new regulations would be implemented. Shares in Blackmores have more than halved since the new regulations were flagged last year, while Bellamy’s has seen its stock price fall by nearly 70 per cent over the same period. The a2 Milk Company, which maintained its daigou strategy, has seen its shares rise nearly 50 per cent since April.
BHP Billiton Limited (BHP):
Speculation that Gail Kelly has been invited to chair BHP Billiton might well be true. But the admittedly limited precedent we have says only that it would be an unlikely option for the Global Australian to pursue. Certainly London is a legendarily leaky market and the British media, and now others, appear to be excitedly convinced that the well-starred former Westpac chief executive is on track to leap-frog a cohort of experienced directors on the BHP board through an invitation to replace incumbent chairman Jac Nasser.
Downer EDI Limited (DOW):
Downer EDI is poised to launch a $1.2 billion takeover bid for services group Spotless and announce a capital raising after snapping up 19.9 per cent of the Melbourne-based company in a raid on Monday afternoon. As first reported by The Australian Financial Review’s Street Talk column, broker UBS secured the stake on behalf of Downer, which has been trying to diversify away from mining services. A takeover bid of $1.15 per Spotless share is expected to be announced on Tuesday morning. Spotless shares closed at 72.5¢ on Monday.
Fletcher Building Limited (FBU):
New Zealand’s Fletcher Building on Monday cut its earnings guidance by about 13 per cent and said losses had mounted at two major construction projects. The downgrade by New Zealand’s biggest construction and building supplies company comes even though construction is booming and underpinning national growth. New Zealand has one of the fastestgrowing economies in the developed world, which is supporting a construction boom as record migration boosts demand for housing. But Fletcher Building said in a statement it expects full-year operating earnings between $NZ610 million ($554.5 million) and $NZ650 million, compared with a $NZ720 million to $NZ740 million range forecast a month ago. Fletcher shares on the ASX slumped 10 per cent to $7.51, well below a 12-month high of $10.76 hit last September. ‘‘The revised guidance is due to the identification of additional estimated losses and downside risk in the Buildings and Interiors business unit of the construction division,’’ the statement said.
Flight Centre Travel Group Limited (FLT):
Flight Centre shares fell 0.8 percent after a Macquarie analysis said the company would need to close135 stores to regain the same level of boom time growth it had in 2012.Flight Centre has a major retail presence in Australia with 678 physical locations, but that level of presence is being questioned by Macquarie”. The founder and chief executive of the $3 billion travel management company Flight Centre, Graham Turner, has dismissed suggestions from Macquarie that it needs to close 135 bricks and mortar stores across Australia in order to recapture growth. Flight Centre, which reported a lower $74.4 million pre-tax profit this half, blaming a challenging global trading cycle including widespread airfare discounting, economic uncertainty and exchange rate volatility, has 678 physical locations. That level was questioned by Macquarie in a note to clients.
Harvey Norman Holding Limited (HVN):
Investors always get nervous when insiders sell shares but in the case of Harvey Norman, recent sales by two of the company’s most senior executives could not have come at a worse time. Harvey Norman shares fell almost 9 per cent on Monday, posting their biggest decline in five years, after executive director David Ackery revealed he had sold $1.5 million shares only a day after managing director Katie Page sold a stake worth $1.06 million. The disclosure of Mr Ackery’s share sale coincided with the release of a new report by Credit Suisse that named Harvey Norman as one of four listed retailers most exposed to Amazon’s expansion. Late on Monday executive chairman Gerry Harvey took advantage of the share price fall and snapped up 2 million shares for $8.7 million, lifting his controlling stake.
Seek Limited (SEK):
Seek chief executive Andrew Bassat says taking greater control of Online Education Services allows the company to take advantage of its global network to expand the online course provider. Seek paid $118.5 million to joint venture partner Swinburne University to lift its stake in OES – which has 1500 alumni since the first students graduated in March 2014 – to 80 per cent from 50 per cent. Mr Bassat told The Australian Financial Review there was an opportunity to expand internationally with new products and partnerships with new universities. ‘‘It makes sense for OES’ future that it change structure ... to change and be controlled by us,’’ he said.
(Source: AIMS)
AMP has scrapped short-term bonuses for most of its senior executives for 2016, as the wealth management giant overhauls it remuneration policies in the wake of its worst full-year financial results in 13 years. In its 2016 annual report released to the market on Monday, AMP revealed a markedly slimmed-down bonus regime for its 10 senior executives and chief executive Craig Meller, with an axing of short-term incentives and no expected vesting of long-term incentives that were granted in 2014.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ); Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA); National Australia Bank Limited (NAB); Westpac Banking Corporation (WBC):
Westpac will up the ante on its big-four rivals in the race to win a new generation of tech-savvy customers, with the country’s first wearable payments devices and a new mobile service to let customers make payments within popular chat apps. Along with Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank, Westpac has not made Apple Pay available to its customers, due to an ongoing dispute about fees and a lack of access to the iPhone’s near-field communications chip. This means that the banks cannot offer their own digital wallets on the iPhone. While ANZ Bank has crowed about the positive impact it has seen in terms of customer acquisition since it enabled Apple Pay, and Apple Pay boss Jennifer Bailey has warned the banks they will lose customers if they hold out, Mr Frazis said Westpac was not worried.
Bellamy’s Australia Limited (BAL); Blackmores Limited (BKL); The A2 Milk Company Limited (A2M):
Shanghai | China has delayed indefinitely tough new cross-border e-commerce laws that had threatened to disrupt the flow of Australian vitamins, milk powder and cosmetics into booming markets on the mainland. The surprising backdown by Beijing comes ahead of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arriving in Australia on Wednesday for talks on upgrading the free trade agreement and how to eliminate other non-tariff barriers. The indefinite delay is a big win for vitamin makers Blackmores and Swisse, which were facing complex new licensing and labelling requirements in China. The backdown should also benefit infant formula makers a2 Milk Company and Bellamy’s Australia, which have been hurt by uncertainty on how the new regulations would be implemented. Shares in Blackmores have more than halved since the new regulations were flagged last year, while Bellamy’s has seen its stock price fall by nearly 70 per cent over the same period. The a2 Milk Company, which maintained its daigou strategy, has seen its shares rise nearly 50 per cent since April.
BHP Billiton Limited (BHP):
Speculation that Gail Kelly has been invited to chair BHP Billiton might well be true. But the admittedly limited precedent we have says only that it would be an unlikely option for the Global Australian to pursue. Certainly London is a legendarily leaky market and the British media, and now others, appear to be excitedly convinced that the well-starred former Westpac chief executive is on track to leap-frog a cohort of experienced directors on the BHP board through an invitation to replace incumbent chairman Jac Nasser.
Downer EDI Limited (DOW):
Downer EDI is poised to launch a $1.2 billion takeover bid for services group Spotless and announce a capital raising after snapping up 19.9 per cent of the Melbourne-based company in a raid on Monday afternoon. As first reported by The Australian Financial Review’s Street Talk column, broker UBS secured the stake on behalf of Downer, which has been trying to diversify away from mining services. A takeover bid of $1.15 per Spotless share is expected to be announced on Tuesday morning. Spotless shares closed at 72.5¢ on Monday.
Fletcher Building Limited (FBU):
New Zealand’s Fletcher Building on Monday cut its earnings guidance by about 13 per cent and said losses had mounted at two major construction projects. The downgrade by New Zealand’s biggest construction and building supplies company comes even though construction is booming and underpinning national growth. New Zealand has one of the fastestgrowing economies in the developed world, which is supporting a construction boom as record migration boosts demand for housing. But Fletcher Building said in a statement it expects full-year operating earnings between $NZ610 million ($554.5 million) and $NZ650 million, compared with a $NZ720 million to $NZ740 million range forecast a month ago. Fletcher shares on the ASX slumped 10 per cent to $7.51, well below a 12-month high of $10.76 hit last September. ‘‘The revised guidance is due to the identification of additional estimated losses and downside risk in the Buildings and Interiors business unit of the construction division,’’ the statement said.
Flight Centre Travel Group Limited (FLT):
Flight Centre shares fell 0.8 percent after a Macquarie analysis said the company would need to close135 stores to regain the same level of boom time growth it had in 2012.Flight Centre has a major retail presence in Australia with 678 physical locations, but that level of presence is being questioned by Macquarie”. The founder and chief executive of the $3 billion travel management company Flight Centre, Graham Turner, has dismissed suggestions from Macquarie that it needs to close 135 bricks and mortar stores across Australia in order to recapture growth. Flight Centre, which reported a lower $74.4 million pre-tax profit this half, blaming a challenging global trading cycle including widespread airfare discounting, economic uncertainty and exchange rate volatility, has 678 physical locations. That level was questioned by Macquarie in a note to clients.
Harvey Norman Holding Limited (HVN):
Investors always get nervous when insiders sell shares but in the case of Harvey Norman, recent sales by two of the company’s most senior executives could not have come at a worse time. Harvey Norman shares fell almost 9 per cent on Monday, posting their biggest decline in five years, after executive director David Ackery revealed he had sold $1.5 million shares only a day after managing director Katie Page sold a stake worth $1.06 million. The disclosure of Mr Ackery’s share sale coincided with the release of a new report by Credit Suisse that named Harvey Norman as one of four listed retailers most exposed to Amazon’s expansion. Late on Monday executive chairman Gerry Harvey took advantage of the share price fall and snapped up 2 million shares for $8.7 million, lifting his controlling stake.
Seek Limited (SEK):
Seek chief executive Andrew Bassat says taking greater control of Online Education Services allows the company to take advantage of its global network to expand the online course provider. Seek paid $118.5 million to joint venture partner Swinburne University to lift its stake in OES – which has 1500 alumni since the first students graduated in March 2014 – to 80 per cent from 50 per cent. Mr Bassat told The Australian Financial Review there was an opportunity to expand internationally with new products and partnerships with new universities. ‘‘It makes sense for OES’ future that it change structure ... to change and be controlled by us,’’ he said.
(Source: AIMS)
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