Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ):
Australia’s banks came within one vote of having to face a royal commission style inquiry, in a clear indication they remain a prime political target despite the raft of measures thrown at them in the May budget. In a dramatic day in Parliament, a Greens bill to establish a parliamentary commission of inquiry into the banks passed the Senate and then fell short by a single vote in the House of Representatives. ANZ Bank was the most conciliatory, saying while the tax was ‘‘regrettable’’ it was also a consequence of the poor standing of banks. The bank ‘‘is committed to rebuilding trust with the Parliament and the community and we accept that the levy will pass into law’’.
Arrium Limited (ARI):
A private equity syndicate from South Korea comprising Newlake Alliance and JB Asset Management has been named as preferred bidder in the sale process for the Arrium Australia assets, which include the Whyalla steelworks. The Korean bid proposes spending up to $1 billion on new technology at the Whyalla steelworks as it attempts to replicate the modern steelmaking process used at POSCO’s Pohang steelworks in South Korea. Administrator Mark Mentha from Korda Mentha said he would work closely with the consortium to ‘‘finalise the sale contract as soon as possible’’. This would include talks with the federal South Australian governments ‘‘on investments in the future of Arrium’s operations in Whyalla’’.
Bellamy’s Australia Limited (BAL):
Bellamy’s shares jumped 13% to a six-month high of $6.50 after coming out of a trading halt due to a capital raisin. Also boosting the shares was an upgrade to “hold” by Bell Potter. The infant milk formula supplier said it received $14.3 million from the institutional component of its capital raising, with the retail component set to open next Tuesday. The company aims to raise a total of $60.4 million to acquire a canning facility it hopes will help improve margins and satisfy Chinese regulatory demands. One analyst has a “buy” rating on the stock, for a “hold” and two rate it a “sell”, with an average price target of $5.30.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA):
Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s three-year review of inappropriate financial advice files stretching back to 2002 has seen the bank make offers of less than $30 million, according to the final independent review of the process. The payout is just a fraction of some early estimates with a Morgan Stanley report from 2014 forecasting the bank may need to make compensation payments to customers of between $236 million and $2.4 billion. According to the seventh report on Commonwealth Bank’s Open Advice Review Program prepared by Promontory Financial Group, the bank has made offers totalling just $29 million including interest, up from $23 million in February.
Macquarie Group Limited (MQG):
Macquarie’s first substantial statement on the major bank levy since it was announced on May 9 goes to considerable lengths to make a single point: that the $30 billion financial services giant is not a major bank. As the big four banks took positions on the levy that fell between begrudging acceptance and unbridled outrage during the past five weeks, Macquarie has kept its head down. Privately, it was saying that the big four banks were not its peers and that the levy was a mistake. A pair of key paragraphs in its submission to the Senate Economics Committee published on Thursday afternoon confirms this. The first paragraph reads ‘‘Macquarie Bank is not a major bank’’ and the second, bolded for emphasis, reads ‘‘Macquarie Group is predominantly a wholesale business and exporter of financial services’’.
(Source: AIMS)
Australia’s banks came within one vote of having to face a royal commission style inquiry, in a clear indication they remain a prime political target despite the raft of measures thrown at them in the May budget. In a dramatic day in Parliament, a Greens bill to establish a parliamentary commission of inquiry into the banks passed the Senate and then fell short by a single vote in the House of Representatives. ANZ Bank was the most conciliatory, saying while the tax was ‘‘regrettable’’ it was also a consequence of the poor standing of banks. The bank ‘‘is committed to rebuilding trust with the Parliament and the community and we accept that the levy will pass into law’’.
Arrium Limited (ARI):
A private equity syndicate from South Korea comprising Newlake Alliance and JB Asset Management has been named as preferred bidder in the sale process for the Arrium Australia assets, which include the Whyalla steelworks. The Korean bid proposes spending up to $1 billion on new technology at the Whyalla steelworks as it attempts to replicate the modern steelmaking process used at POSCO’s Pohang steelworks in South Korea. Administrator Mark Mentha from Korda Mentha said he would work closely with the consortium to ‘‘finalise the sale contract as soon as possible’’. This would include talks with the federal South Australian governments ‘‘on investments in the future of Arrium’s operations in Whyalla’’.
Bellamy’s Australia Limited (BAL):
Bellamy’s shares jumped 13% to a six-month high of $6.50 after coming out of a trading halt due to a capital raisin. Also boosting the shares was an upgrade to “hold” by Bell Potter. The infant milk formula supplier said it received $14.3 million from the institutional component of its capital raising, with the retail component set to open next Tuesday. The company aims to raise a total of $60.4 million to acquire a canning facility it hopes will help improve margins and satisfy Chinese regulatory demands. One analyst has a “buy” rating on the stock, for a “hold” and two rate it a “sell”, with an average price target of $5.30.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA):
Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s three-year review of inappropriate financial advice files stretching back to 2002 has seen the bank make offers of less than $30 million, according to the final independent review of the process. The payout is just a fraction of some early estimates with a Morgan Stanley report from 2014 forecasting the bank may need to make compensation payments to customers of between $236 million and $2.4 billion. According to the seventh report on Commonwealth Bank’s Open Advice Review Program prepared by Promontory Financial Group, the bank has made offers totalling just $29 million including interest, up from $23 million in February.
Macquarie Group Limited (MQG):
Macquarie’s first substantial statement on the major bank levy since it was announced on May 9 goes to considerable lengths to make a single point: that the $30 billion financial services giant is not a major bank. As the big four banks took positions on the levy that fell between begrudging acceptance and unbridled outrage during the past five weeks, Macquarie has kept its head down. Privately, it was saying that the big four banks were not its peers and that the levy was a mistake. A pair of key paragraphs in its submission to the Senate Economics Committee published on Thursday afternoon confirms this. The first paragraph reads ‘‘Macquarie Bank is not a major bank’’ and the second, bolded for emphasis, reads ‘‘Macquarie Group is predominantly a wholesale business and exporter of financial services’’.
(Source: AIMS)
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