AGL Energy Limited (AGL):
The closure of Hazelwood has caused widespread consternation and scarily high power prices but it is the fresh push by government to invest in the energy sector that has industry and investors more rattled. AGL Energy is the highest-profile player to have admitted it is going back to the drawing board on some project plans as a result of South Australia’s $550 million go-it-alone energy initiative. After chief executive Andy Vesey told investors last week the government’s surprise proposal for a $360 million gas peaking plant had caused AGL to ‘‘shred’’ its investment plan for South Australia, the company publicly confirmed the rethink, while adding the revision would be ‘‘as extensive as our previous blueprint’’.
BHP Billiton Limited (BHP), Rio Tinto Limited (RIO):
The combined tax bills for Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton’s move into Singapore marketing hubs a decade ago have now reached more than $1.9 billion, with further audits looming. Rio Tinto’s latest revelation that it is contesting tax assessments of $447 million for its Singapore operations from 2010 to 2013 comes on top of the $107 million it previously paid to settle claims covering 2005 to 2009, taking its total Singapore tax hit to $554 million. The Australian Financial Review first revealed in April 2015 that Rio and BHP were facing billion-dollar tax bills on their Singapore operations. When executives from the two miners appeared at the Senate corporate tax inquiry three days later both companies minimised their tax difficulties.
Insurance Australia Group Limited (IAG):
Private customer data held by Australia’s financial institutions is being sold over the so-called ‘‘dark net’’, according to Insurance Australia Group chief executive Peter Harmer, who has warned cyber-attacks could wipe hundreds of millions of dollars off the value of some banks and insurers. Mr Harmer says the insurance giant is attacked 60 times every day and that any chief executive who believes they have a secure digital environment is ‘‘completely oblivious to the threats that are out there’’. ‘‘We trawl our systems all the time looking for unusual activity,’’ he told The Australian Financial Review Banking and Wealth Summit on Thursday. ‘‘We trawl the dark net looking for where our data might be up for sale and it’s amazing when you actually see what is being offered for sale,’’ he said. ‘‘We haven’t found any of our data. All we’ve found is a couple of our employees’ names and addresses, so our view is that we are reasonably confident with the analysis, and being able to thwart the hackers coming into our system.’’
JB Hi-Fi Limited (JBH):
Former JB Hi-Fi chief executive Terry Smart will slash costs and ramp up the opening of new The Good Guys stores, as he takes the reins just five months after the appliance chain was bought by JB Hi-Fi for $870 million.Mr Smart, 51, has agreed to return to JB Hi-Fi as chief executive of The Good Guys after long-serving boss Michael Ford, 70, resigned unexpectedly in what one source described as a ‘‘cultural clash’’ between the former family-owned business and its new parent, known for its low-cost culture. JB Hi-Fi bought The Good Guys from the founding Muir family in November for $870 million, boosting its share of the home appliances market from 3 per cent to 29 per cent, and increasing its share of the electronics market.
Qantas Airways Limited (QAN):
Airbus and Boeing now offer planes that appear capable of flying non-stop commercial flights from Sydney to London – the Holy Grail for Qantas Airways. As long as oil prices don’t go much higher than around $US70 ($92.90) per barrel, the 20-hour flight can be financially viable, and could be on schedules within five years, aviation experts say. Airbus has increased the range of its A350-900ULR to 9700 nautical miles (17,960km) from the 8700 nautical miles announced when it sold the plane to Singapore Airlines in 2015 for delivery next year, a spokesman said. Including headwinds, the Sydney-London flight is equivalent to 9600 nautical miles. ‘‘These aircraft, we think, are potentially real goers on these routes,’’ Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said of the A350-900ULR and the bigger, but less advanced Boeing 777-8. ‘‘You know from what they have done on other aircraft that Sydney-London and Melbourne-London has real possibility.’’
Westpac Banking Corp (WBC):
Westpac is increasingly assessing cash flow rather than hard assets when providing funding to small businesses, as technological disruption and shorter business cycles create new challenges for bank lending. Lyn Cobley, chief executive of Westpac’s Institutional Bank, said the group was being forced to look beyond industry fundamentals and traditional measures of growth to understand business life cycles, and decide where and how the bank should lend and invest. ‘‘Shorter and faster cycles are challenging business,’’ Ms Cobley told The Australian Financial Review Banking and Wealth Summit on Thursday.
（Source: AIMS）
The closure of Hazelwood has caused widespread consternation and scarily high power prices but it is the fresh push by government to invest in the energy sector that has industry and investors more rattled. AGL Energy is the highest-profile player to have admitted it is going back to the drawing board on some project plans as a result of South Australia’s $550 million go-it-alone energy initiative. After chief executive Andy Vesey told investors last week the government’s surprise proposal for a $360 million gas peaking plant had caused AGL to ‘‘shred’’ its investment plan for South Australia, the company publicly confirmed the rethink, while adding the revision would be ‘‘as extensive as our previous blueprint’’.
BHP Billiton Limited (BHP), Rio Tinto Limited (RIO):
The combined tax bills for Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton’s move into Singapore marketing hubs a decade ago have now reached more than $1.9 billion, with further audits looming. Rio Tinto’s latest revelation that it is contesting tax assessments of $447 million for its Singapore operations from 2010 to 2013 comes on top of the $107 million it previously paid to settle claims covering 2005 to 2009, taking its total Singapore tax hit to $554 million. The Australian Financial Review first revealed in April 2015 that Rio and BHP were facing billion-dollar tax bills on their Singapore operations. When executives from the two miners appeared at the Senate corporate tax inquiry three days later both companies minimised their tax difficulties.
Insurance Australia Group Limited (IAG):
Private customer data held by Australia’s financial institutions is being sold over the so-called ‘‘dark net’’, according to Insurance Australia Group chief executive Peter Harmer, who has warned cyber-attacks could wipe hundreds of millions of dollars off the value of some banks and insurers. Mr Harmer says the insurance giant is attacked 60 times every day and that any chief executive who believes they have a secure digital environment is ‘‘completely oblivious to the threats that are out there’’. ‘‘We trawl our systems all the time looking for unusual activity,’’ he told The Australian Financial Review Banking and Wealth Summit on Thursday. ‘‘We trawl the dark net looking for where our data might be up for sale and it’s amazing when you actually see what is being offered for sale,’’ he said. ‘‘We haven’t found any of our data. All we’ve found is a couple of our employees’ names and addresses, so our view is that we are reasonably confident with the analysis, and being able to thwart the hackers coming into our system.’’
JB Hi-Fi Limited (JBH):
Former JB Hi-Fi chief executive Terry Smart will slash costs and ramp up the opening of new The Good Guys stores, as he takes the reins just five months after the appliance chain was bought by JB Hi-Fi for $870 million.Mr Smart, 51, has agreed to return to JB Hi-Fi as chief executive of The Good Guys after long-serving boss Michael Ford, 70, resigned unexpectedly in what one source described as a ‘‘cultural clash’’ between the former family-owned business and its new parent, known for its low-cost culture. JB Hi-Fi bought The Good Guys from the founding Muir family in November for $870 million, boosting its share of the home appliances market from 3 per cent to 29 per cent, and increasing its share of the electronics market.
Qantas Airways Limited (QAN):
Airbus and Boeing now offer planes that appear capable of flying non-stop commercial flights from Sydney to London – the Holy Grail for Qantas Airways. As long as oil prices don’t go much higher than around $US70 ($92.90) per barrel, the 20-hour flight can be financially viable, and could be on schedules within five years, aviation experts say. Airbus has increased the range of its A350-900ULR to 9700 nautical miles (17,960km) from the 8700 nautical miles announced when it sold the plane to Singapore Airlines in 2015 for delivery next year, a spokesman said. Including headwinds, the Sydney-London flight is equivalent to 9600 nautical miles. ‘‘These aircraft, we think, are potentially real goers on these routes,’’ Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said of the A350-900ULR and the bigger, but less advanced Boeing 777-8. ‘‘You know from what they have done on other aircraft that Sydney-London and Melbourne-London has real possibility.’’
Westpac Banking Corp (WBC):
Westpac is increasingly assessing cash flow rather than hard assets when providing funding to small businesses, as technological disruption and shorter business cycles create new challenges for bank lending. Lyn Cobley, chief executive of Westpac’s Institutional Bank, said the group was being forced to look beyond industry fundamentals and traditional measures of growth to understand business life cycles, and decide where and how the bank should lend and invest. ‘‘Shorter and faster cycles are challenging business,’’ Ms Cobley told The Australian Financial Review Banking and Wealth Summit on Thursday.
（Source: AIMS）
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