Blackmores Limited (BKL):
Blackmores chief executive Christine Holgate says she is encouraged by the latest decision by Chinese authorities on ecommerce rules, which sparked a 13 per cent share rally on Tuesday, but it is unlikely to be a ‘‘full stop’’ because regulations will keep evolving. Blackmores shares soared beyond $113 on Tuesday, while infant formula maker Bellamy’s Australia experienced an even bigger jump in percentage terms of 16 per cent, adding 60¢ to close at $4.42. Ms Holgate said on Tuesday the ruling was ‘‘another positive step from the Chinese government’’ on the e-commerce rules, but she believed like regulations in all of the countries which Blackmores sells into they were likely to continue to evolve.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA):
The game’s almost up for ‘‘Aussie’’ John Symond at his mortgage broker, Aussie Home Loans. Street Talk understands Commonwealth Bank of Australia is set to pick up the final 20 per cent of Aussie it does not already own and the discussion now is all about price. Sources said CBA’s mop-up price would be based off Aussie’s numbers for the year to June 30 and would be determined by the time the country’s biggest bank reports its results on August 10.
Downer EDI Limited (DOW):
Downer EDI chief executive Grant Fenn has defended the contractor’s $1.2 billion hostile takeover bid for Spotless, arguing that the offer is ‘‘very fair’’ and that he hopes to keep most of the services group’s employees. ‘‘We don’t see it as particularly that hostile. When we thought about creating this position, we looked through what the best alternatives were, there were a whole range of scenarios that could play out and we thought this was the best approach,’’ Mr Fenn told The Australian Financial Review after launching a $1 billion equity raising to help pay for the proposed takeover.
Spotless Group Holdings Limited (SPO):
Spotless Group has been selling meat pies to the masses at the MCG for 40 years in one of its longest-running catering contracts, but it was coathangers that caused the biggest heartburn for a company many have labelled as a serial underperformer. The $1.01 billion capital raising by Downer EDI being handled by UBS on Tuesday, accompanying a Downer takeover bid priced at $1.15 in cash per share for Spotless, is a likely forerunner to yet another ownership change for a company that began as a single drycleaning business in Fitzroy in Melbourne’s inner-north in 1946. It was a tough, working-class suburb, and the trendy bearded hipsters who are a modern-day staple of the area were a long way off into the future.
TPG Telecom Limited (TPM):
TPG Telecom executive chairman David Teoh insists the company’s corporate business, its fibre-to-the-building rollout and a push into Singapore’s mobile sector is helping it deal with shrinking margins on the National Broadband Network. At TPG’s half-year result on Tuesday, the telecommunications business beat analyst expectations, reporting an 11 per cent jump in net profit after tax of $224 million. Underlying profit rose 28 per cent to $207.5 million. Consensus expectations had TPG’s profit for the first half coming in at $197 million. TPG shares jumped 5.4 per cent to close at $6.98.
Premier Investments Limited (PMV):
Retail billionaire Solomon Lew is confident Premier Investments’ exclusive ownership of its clothing brands, and state-of-the-art distribution network, will help shield his $2.1 billion fashion empire from any threat posed by the arrival of Amazon in Australia. Flanked by his chief executive, former David Jones boss Mark McInnes, Mr Lew dismissed recent analyst reports that Premier Investments — whose brands include Just Jeans, Jay Jays, Portmans and Peter Alexander — could see a large chunk of earnings evaporate in the wake of an Amazon onslaught. He warned that retailers that didn’t own their own brand, or were in commodity categories, had the most to lose.
Westpac Banking Corporation (WBC):
Westpac Banking Group has begun defending itself against allegations of poor home lending practices, with the bank’s lawyer describing a civil case brought by the corporate regulator as ‘‘highly ambitious’’. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission alleges that between December 2011 and March 2015 the bank failed to properly assess whether potential borrowers could repay their home loans. In doing so, the bank contravened responsible lending provisions contained in consumer protection laws, ASIC alleges.
(Source: AIMS)
Blackmores chief executive Christine Holgate says she is encouraged by the latest decision by Chinese authorities on ecommerce rules, which sparked a 13 per cent share rally on Tuesday, but it is unlikely to be a ‘‘full stop’’ because regulations will keep evolving. Blackmores shares soared beyond $113 on Tuesday, while infant formula maker Bellamy’s Australia experienced an even bigger jump in percentage terms of 16 per cent, adding 60¢ to close at $4.42. Ms Holgate said on Tuesday the ruling was ‘‘another positive step from the Chinese government’’ on the e-commerce rules, but she believed like regulations in all of the countries which Blackmores sells into they were likely to continue to evolve.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA):
The game’s almost up for ‘‘Aussie’’ John Symond at his mortgage broker, Aussie Home Loans. Street Talk understands Commonwealth Bank of Australia is set to pick up the final 20 per cent of Aussie it does not already own and the discussion now is all about price. Sources said CBA’s mop-up price would be based off Aussie’s numbers for the year to June 30 and would be determined by the time the country’s biggest bank reports its results on August 10.
Downer EDI Limited (DOW):
Downer EDI chief executive Grant Fenn has defended the contractor’s $1.2 billion hostile takeover bid for Spotless, arguing that the offer is ‘‘very fair’’ and that he hopes to keep most of the services group’s employees. ‘‘We don’t see it as particularly that hostile. When we thought about creating this position, we looked through what the best alternatives were, there were a whole range of scenarios that could play out and we thought this was the best approach,’’ Mr Fenn told The Australian Financial Review after launching a $1 billion equity raising to help pay for the proposed takeover.
Spotless Group Holdings Limited (SPO):
Spotless Group has been selling meat pies to the masses at the MCG for 40 years in one of its longest-running catering contracts, but it was coathangers that caused the biggest heartburn for a company many have labelled as a serial underperformer. The $1.01 billion capital raising by Downer EDI being handled by UBS on Tuesday, accompanying a Downer takeover bid priced at $1.15 in cash per share for Spotless, is a likely forerunner to yet another ownership change for a company that began as a single drycleaning business in Fitzroy in Melbourne’s inner-north in 1946. It was a tough, working-class suburb, and the trendy bearded hipsters who are a modern-day staple of the area were a long way off into the future.
TPG Telecom Limited (TPM):
TPG Telecom executive chairman David Teoh insists the company’s corporate business, its fibre-to-the-building rollout and a push into Singapore’s mobile sector is helping it deal with shrinking margins on the National Broadband Network. At TPG’s half-year result on Tuesday, the telecommunications business beat analyst expectations, reporting an 11 per cent jump in net profit after tax of $224 million. Underlying profit rose 28 per cent to $207.5 million. Consensus expectations had TPG’s profit for the first half coming in at $197 million. TPG shares jumped 5.4 per cent to close at $6.98.
Premier Investments Limited (PMV):
Retail billionaire Solomon Lew is confident Premier Investments’ exclusive ownership of its clothing brands, and state-of-the-art distribution network, will help shield his $2.1 billion fashion empire from any threat posed by the arrival of Amazon in Australia. Flanked by his chief executive, former David Jones boss Mark McInnes, Mr Lew dismissed recent analyst reports that Premier Investments — whose brands include Just Jeans, Jay Jays, Portmans and Peter Alexander — could see a large chunk of earnings evaporate in the wake of an Amazon onslaught. He warned that retailers that didn’t own their own brand, or were in commodity categories, had the most to lose.
Westpac Banking Corporation (WBC):
Westpac Banking Group has begun defending itself against allegations of poor home lending practices, with the bank’s lawyer describing a civil case brought by the corporate regulator as ‘‘highly ambitious’’. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission alleges that between December 2011 and March 2015 the bank failed to properly assess whether potential borrowers could repay their home loans. In doing so, the bank contravened responsible lending provisions contained in consumer protection laws, ASIC alleges.
(Source: AIMS)
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