ASX Limited (ASX):
The distributed ledger being built by Digital Asset Holdings for the ASX is being designed to accommodate competition in the market for clearing and settlement, and will allow innovations such as automated corporate actions to be built on top of it should the ASX so desire. Blythe Masters, chief executive of DAH, also told the stockbrokers’ conference it is on track to deliver a ‘‘foundational product’’ by the end of this calendar year, when the ASX plans to decide whether to pursue blockchain as the technology to replace CHESS. A distributed ledger provides an immutable, synchronised record of transactions, removing the need for reconciliation of individual ledgers. Ms Masters said this could remove 10-20 per cent of costs from brokers, leading to savings in the tens of billions of dollars a year across the largest global investment banking operations in major markets. But she cautioned potential cost savings in the Australian market have not yet been quantified. With London-based SETL keen on competing with ASX on equities clearing and settlement if the federal government removes the ASX’s monopoly, Ms Masters said it’s too early to say whether the DAH ledger will be able to interoperate with another system – but it is being designed to accommodate competition.
Charter Hall Group (CHC):
Powerhouse property platform Charter Hall is poised to purchase Coca-Cola Amatil’s main manufacturing plant in Queensland, a $165 million facility at Richlands in Brisbane. The ASX-listed beverage company put the Brisbane property on the market in March as it looked to set up a sale and leaseback deal for the site. For Coca-Cola Amatil, which has flagged about $50 million of restructuring costs and $75 million of capex for 2017, the Brisbane move is part of a broader strategy of offsetting costs through the potential sale and leaseback of properties. ‘‘The Coca-Cola Amatil campus at Richlands could be one of the most significant industrial logistics investment opportunities of 2017,’’ said Martyn Roberts, the company’s group chief financial officer, said at the time.
National Australia Bank Limited (NAB); zipMoney Ltd (ZML):
National Australia Bank will provide ASX-listed zipMoney with a $200 million funding line, part of a $260 million facility that represents the largest debt market deal to date for an Australian fintech. ZipMoney shares surged yesterday after it announced a two-year assetbacked securitisation warehouse for its consumer receivables would begin operating this week, and reduce its average cost of funding to around 5 per cent if fully drawn. It had previously said its average funding cost was 12 per cent. The company said the deal ‘‘will have a material positive impact’’ on its future profitability and help drive towards its break-even guidance for the 2018 financial year. ZipMoney is a point-of-sale credit provider that offers customers a ‘‘buy now, pay later’’ proposition with an interest-free period, creating an alternative to using a credit card. Founded in June 2013, it floated in September 2015 at 20¢ a share. The stock surged 10 per cent to 68¢ on the back of the announcement but shares are still 27 per cent below their post-float high of 94¢ hit last October. The facility also includes $40 million of mezzanine funding via a two-year bond that has been issued to wholesale investors through FIIG Securities, and $20 million in junior notes and equity. The deal could be a precursor to a future asset-backed securitisation deal into the capital markets.
Rio Tinto Limited (RIO):
Former Rio Tinto chief executive Sam Walsh says he does not fear the truth and does not expect any accusation to be made against him in relation to the Guinea payments scandal. Speaking at a leadership forum in Brisbane on Wednesday, Mr Walsh sought to address the payments Rio made to a political adviser in Guinea in 2011, which he labelled the ‘‘elephant in the room’’. ‘‘Some of you no doubt may be asking ‘How can this chap lecture us about leadership when he has been caught up in some investigation around mining rights in Guinea, West Africa’,’’ said Mr Walsh. ‘‘On this I would just say that, notwithstanding some of the innuendo from our friends in the media, the company has not made any accusation against me personally, nor do I expect that there will be. ‘‘I operated ethically and legally at all times during my 25 years at Rio.’’ Mr Walsh became embroiled in the Guinea scandal when leaked internal emails emerged showing Rio’s energy and minerals boss Alan Davies asking permission from Mr Walsh and then Rio chief executive Tom Albanese to make the $US10.5 million payment to adviser Francois de Combre.
Woodside Petroleum Limited (WPL):
After several false starts on the Browse gas project and no return yet from billions of dollars of investment, Woodside Petroleum has yet to convince a sceptical market of its latest plan to develop its huge gas resource in the remote basin. Chief executive Peter Coleman used Tuesday’s three-hour investor briefing to put meat around Woodside’s proposal to pipe gas from the fields about 800 kilometres down to the North West Shelf LNG plant in Karratha. NW Shelf partners have yet to agree on the plan, which Mr Coleman said would result in just a third of the capital that would have been at risk in the now-abandoned $US75 billion-plus James Price Point project involving a new standalone LNG export plant on the Kimberley coast. But hearing several different plans for Browse gas over the last several years – a floating LNG project was also ditched in March last year – analysts are wary of counting on any material progress.
(Source: AIMS)
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