BHP Billiton (BHP) & Rio Tinto (RIO):
BHP Billiton has confirmed that production has resumed at the Escondida mine in Chile following a major strike, but two growth projects at the copper mine will be delivered later than previously scheduled. BHP and its Escondida partners have spent about $US3.6 billion ($4.7 billion) over the past four years on a third concentrator and a large new desalination plant, both of which are designed to allow copper production at the mine to grow by about 20 per cent to 1.2 million tonnes per year. Those investments were due for delivery by June, but work on both projects was delayed by a recent 44-day strike, and the president of BHP’s American assets, Danny Malchuk, told reporters on Wednesday that the projects would no longer be ready for June. ‘‘We have lost many, many days of construction, so commissioning will be delayed,’’ he said, according to commodity price index provider Platts. The strike has already guaranteed that Escondida’s output in the year to June 30 will be lower than expected, but the fact the growth projects may not be ready for the start of fiscal 2018 could affect that year’s copper production as well. BHP owns 57.5 per cent of Escondida and is the mine’s operator, while Rio owns 30 per cent.
Commonwealth Bank (CBA):
Commonwealth Bank is seeking to renew its social licence by focusing on new initiatives and studies aimed at improving financial wellbeing of Australians and keeping customers out of financial hardship. The findings and programs should help the bank pivot from past scandals in its financial planning and life insurance businesses and make a clean break at a time when the banks are under intense scrutiny over lending practices. The bank said it was generating insights gleaned from its six million strong customer base and included findings relating to financial security, the number of people with emergency savings and the impact of financial hardship on a person’s health. Commonwealth Bank’s group executive for retail banking Matt Comyn told The Australian Financial Review’s Banking and Wealth conference in Sydney on Wednesday that an email from a customer propelled him to ask what the bank was doing to help domestic-abuse survivors and what more it could do.
Cromwell Group (CMW) & Investa (IOF):
Cromwell Property Group’s sweetened $3 billion offer for Investa Office Fund may be the best offer its takeover target gets, and may still not be enough to get a deal. Analysts said there was no certainty of success in Cromwell’s improved cash offer this week, even though at $4.85 per share, it is a healthy improvement on its $2.7 billion proposal to privatise the listed landlord last November at a price of $4.45 per unit. A key sticking point thwarting further engagement with the offer by Investa is disclosure of Cromwell’s financial backers. Investa’s independent directors have said they have not yet formed a view on the merits of the latest offer. ‘‘The independent directors propose to engage with Cromwell in relation to the proposal, including its terms and conditions and the disclosure of the identity of the proposed equity investors to the independent directors,’’ they said earlier this week. But Cromwell, led by Paul Weightman, has said it will only provide further details of the identity of its proposed equity investors once it has struck a due diligence agreement with Investa.
Iluka Resources Limited (ILU):
The lucrative royalty Iluka Resources earns from BHP Billiton’s iron ore tenements may double in value if BHP locks in the South Flank deposit as its solution for iron ore production replacement in the Pilbara, say analysts. Shares in the mineral sands miner have climbed about 15 per cent in the past three weeks as several external factors have pointed to more positive future conditions for Iluka’s business. Last week, BHP confirmed its large South Flank deposit in the Pilbara was the ‘‘preferred long-term solution’’ to replace its Yandi mine, which is nearing exhaustion and needs to be replaced within five to 10 years. Iluka’s legacy royalty deal with BHP gives it a royalty rate of 1.232 per cent on sales revenues from BHP’s Mining Area C (MAC) iron ore hub as well as annual capacity payments of $1 million for every 1 million tonne increase in annual production from MAC. Importantly for Iluka, it is understood South Flank sits within the mining lease from which it collects the royalty, whereas Yandi does not, creating the potential for an additional 80 million tonnes of iron ore production to be covered by the royalty for about 30 years. The MAC royalty has been valued at $840 million to $940 million by minority Iluka shareholder Sandon Capital which has said, if the BHP board decides to proceed with South Flank, the royalty could swell to $1.9 billion.
Westpac (WBC):
Westpac chief executive Brian Hartzer has said the ability of the bank to partner, acquire and invest in the growing band of emerging fintech start-ups will become increasingly central to the bank’s future survival. Speaking at the annual Australian summit of US cloud computing giant Amazon Web Services in Sydney yesterday, Mr Hartzer sought to demonstrate how the 200-year-old institution has evolved to adapt first to changing scientific and technological advances throughout its history.
（Source: AIMS）
BHP Billiton has confirmed that production has resumed at the Escondida mine in Chile following a major strike, but two growth projects at the copper mine will be delivered later than previously scheduled. BHP and its Escondida partners have spent about $US3.6 billion ($4.7 billion) over the past four years on a third concentrator and a large new desalination plant, both of which are designed to allow copper production at the mine to grow by about 20 per cent to 1.2 million tonnes per year. Those investments were due for delivery by June, but work on both projects was delayed by a recent 44-day strike, and the president of BHP’s American assets, Danny Malchuk, told reporters on Wednesday that the projects would no longer be ready for June. ‘‘We have lost many, many days of construction, so commissioning will be delayed,’’ he said, according to commodity price index provider Platts. The strike has already guaranteed that Escondida’s output in the year to June 30 will be lower than expected, but the fact the growth projects may not be ready for the start of fiscal 2018 could affect that year’s copper production as well. BHP owns 57.5 per cent of Escondida and is the mine’s operator, while Rio owns 30 per cent.
Commonwealth Bank (CBA):
Commonwealth Bank is seeking to renew its social licence by focusing on new initiatives and studies aimed at improving financial wellbeing of Australians and keeping customers out of financial hardship. The findings and programs should help the bank pivot from past scandals in its financial planning and life insurance businesses and make a clean break at a time when the banks are under intense scrutiny over lending practices. The bank said it was generating insights gleaned from its six million strong customer base and included findings relating to financial security, the number of people with emergency savings and the impact of financial hardship on a person’s health. Commonwealth Bank’s group executive for retail banking Matt Comyn told The Australian Financial Review’s Banking and Wealth conference in Sydney on Wednesday that an email from a customer propelled him to ask what the bank was doing to help domestic-abuse survivors and what more it could do.
Cromwell Group (CMW) & Investa (IOF):
Cromwell Property Group’s sweetened $3 billion offer for Investa Office Fund may be the best offer its takeover target gets, and may still not be enough to get a deal. Analysts said there was no certainty of success in Cromwell’s improved cash offer this week, even though at $4.85 per share, it is a healthy improvement on its $2.7 billion proposal to privatise the listed landlord last November at a price of $4.45 per unit. A key sticking point thwarting further engagement with the offer by Investa is disclosure of Cromwell’s financial backers. Investa’s independent directors have said they have not yet formed a view on the merits of the latest offer. ‘‘The independent directors propose to engage with Cromwell in relation to the proposal, including its terms and conditions and the disclosure of the identity of the proposed equity investors to the independent directors,’’ they said earlier this week. But Cromwell, led by Paul Weightman, has said it will only provide further details of the identity of its proposed equity investors once it has struck a due diligence agreement with Investa.
Iluka Resources Limited (ILU):
The lucrative royalty Iluka Resources earns from BHP Billiton’s iron ore tenements may double in value if BHP locks in the South Flank deposit as its solution for iron ore production replacement in the Pilbara, say analysts. Shares in the mineral sands miner have climbed about 15 per cent in the past three weeks as several external factors have pointed to more positive future conditions for Iluka’s business. Last week, BHP confirmed its large South Flank deposit in the Pilbara was the ‘‘preferred long-term solution’’ to replace its Yandi mine, which is nearing exhaustion and needs to be replaced within five to 10 years. Iluka’s legacy royalty deal with BHP gives it a royalty rate of 1.232 per cent on sales revenues from BHP’s Mining Area C (MAC) iron ore hub as well as annual capacity payments of $1 million for every 1 million tonne increase in annual production from MAC. Importantly for Iluka, it is understood South Flank sits within the mining lease from which it collects the royalty, whereas Yandi does not, creating the potential for an additional 80 million tonnes of iron ore production to be covered by the royalty for about 30 years. The MAC royalty has been valued at $840 million to $940 million by minority Iluka shareholder Sandon Capital which has said, if the BHP board decides to proceed with South Flank, the royalty could swell to $1.9 billion.
Westpac (WBC):
Westpac chief executive Brian Hartzer has said the ability of the bank to partner, acquire and invest in the growing band of emerging fintech start-ups will become increasingly central to the bank’s future survival. Speaking at the annual Australian summit of US cloud computing giant Amazon Web Services in Sydney yesterday, Mr Hartzer sought to demonstrate how the 200-year-old institution has evolved to adapt first to changing scientific and technological advances throughout its history.
（Source: AIMS）
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