Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ); Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA):
Traditional payment terminals sold to merchants by the big banks could be rendered obsolete by smartphones and tablets, with the security standards body for the world’s largest credit card companies set to allow personal identification numbers (PINs) to be entered through mobile device software rather than special hardware. Visa, which owns about 1 per cent of Square, is also comfortable with ‘‘PIN on glass’’ technology following its own 18-month pilot of Square in Australia and Britain and has been working with the PCI on the new standard. The move is disruptive to banks who earn fees by selling or hiring terminals to merchants, while some banks have also invested heavily in building their own hardware devices, such as Commonwealth Bank’s Albert or ANZ Banking Group’s Blade.
Bellamy’s Australia Limited (BAL):
One of the men who sold Camperdown Powder to Bellamy’s Australia expects Chinese authorities will quickly reinstate an import licence for the canning facility, which was suspended just days after Bellamy’s finalised its purchase of the business. Queensland businessman and racehorse identity Graham Huddy, who is executive chairman and a secured creditor of Camperdown Dairy International (CDI), which sold the canner to Bellamy’s, said he expected the licence to be reinstated right away. ‘‘I’m at a loss at why someone would do this. You would think they would front the company first,’’ Mr Huddy told The Australian Financial Review.
BHP Billiton Limited (BHP):
China’s biggest coal producer has not given up hope of building a thermal coal mine in the Liverpool Plains region of NSW, despite selling more than half its exploration licence back to the state government. In a rare public statement, Shenhua Australia vowed it would continue trying to develop the remaining section of its controversial Watermark coal project, despite selling 51.4 per cent of it to the NSW government yesterday in exchange for $262 million. But critics of the project believe it is unlikely to go ahead. China’s biggest coal producer has not given up hope of building a thermal coal mine in the Liverpool Plains region of NSW, despite selling more than half its exploration licence back to the NSW government. The Shenhua deal comes 11 months after the NSW government paid $220 million to BHP Billiton to buy back the Caroona coal lease, which was also located on the Liverpool plains.
Crown Resorts Limited (CWN):
The release of 10 Crown Resorts staff in Shanghai on Wednesday and the latest obstacles for Bellamy’s Australia in China are further reminders of the challenges facing foreign firms investing in one of the world’s fastest growing economies. While concerns about the slowing Chinese economy have eased, foreign companies are rethinking the benefits of investing in China for the first time in years due to increasing concern about regulatory uncertainty and new rules favouring domestic companies. A closely watched annual survey of more than 400 American companies operating in China released on Wednesday found that while many US firms reported improved revenue growth in 2016 their optimism about the five-year business outlook was flat.
Charter Hall (CHC):
Charter Hall has appointed Built as primary contractor for stage one of its Raine Square development in the Perth CBD. Preliminary work started this week on the $50 million project, due for completion in the third quarter of next year. It will turn the 14,000-square-metre site into a precinct with 40 new retail stores, restaurants, a 12-screen Palace Cinema complex and boutique hotel accommodation. The Cox Architecture- and Taylor Robinson-designed project will put three new levels of upmarket retail in the Wentworth Hotel building, refurbish the retail podium of the Bankwest Tower and gut the nearby Royal Hotel in preparation for a new hotel. It is part of a push to boost the precinct bounded by Wellington, William and Murray streets.
(Source: AIMS)
Traditional payment terminals sold to merchants by the big banks could be rendered obsolete by smartphones and tablets, with the security standards body for the world’s largest credit card companies set to allow personal identification numbers (PINs) to be entered through mobile device software rather than special hardware. Visa, which owns about 1 per cent of Square, is also comfortable with ‘‘PIN on glass’’ technology following its own 18-month pilot of Square in Australia and Britain and has been working with the PCI on the new standard. The move is disruptive to banks who earn fees by selling or hiring terminals to merchants, while some banks have also invested heavily in building their own hardware devices, such as Commonwealth Bank’s Albert or ANZ Banking Group’s Blade.
Bellamy’s Australia Limited (BAL):
One of the men who sold Camperdown Powder to Bellamy’s Australia expects Chinese authorities will quickly reinstate an import licence for the canning facility, which was suspended just days after Bellamy’s finalised its purchase of the business. Queensland businessman and racehorse identity Graham Huddy, who is executive chairman and a secured creditor of Camperdown Dairy International (CDI), which sold the canner to Bellamy’s, said he expected the licence to be reinstated right away. ‘‘I’m at a loss at why someone would do this. You would think they would front the company first,’’ Mr Huddy told The Australian Financial Review.
BHP Billiton Limited (BHP):
China’s biggest coal producer has not given up hope of building a thermal coal mine in the Liverpool Plains region of NSW, despite selling more than half its exploration licence back to the state government. In a rare public statement, Shenhua Australia vowed it would continue trying to develop the remaining section of its controversial Watermark coal project, despite selling 51.4 per cent of it to the NSW government yesterday in exchange for $262 million. But critics of the project believe it is unlikely to go ahead. China’s biggest coal producer has not given up hope of building a thermal coal mine in the Liverpool Plains region of NSW, despite selling more than half its exploration licence back to the NSW government. The Shenhua deal comes 11 months after the NSW government paid $220 million to BHP Billiton to buy back the Caroona coal lease, which was also located on the Liverpool plains.
Crown Resorts Limited (CWN):
The release of 10 Crown Resorts staff in Shanghai on Wednesday and the latest obstacles for Bellamy’s Australia in China are further reminders of the challenges facing foreign firms investing in one of the world’s fastest growing economies. While concerns about the slowing Chinese economy have eased, foreign companies are rethinking the benefits of investing in China for the first time in years due to increasing concern about regulatory uncertainty and new rules favouring domestic companies. A closely watched annual survey of more than 400 American companies operating in China released on Wednesday found that while many US firms reported improved revenue growth in 2016 their optimism about the five-year business outlook was flat.
Charter Hall (CHC):
Charter Hall has appointed Built as primary contractor for stage one of its Raine Square development in the Perth CBD. Preliminary work started this week on the $50 million project, due for completion in the third quarter of next year. It will turn the 14,000-square-metre site into a precinct with 40 new retail stores, restaurants, a 12-screen Palace Cinema complex and boutique hotel accommodation. The Cox Architecture- and Taylor Robinson-designed project will put three new levels of upmarket retail in the Wentworth Hotel building, refurbish the retail podium of the Bankwest Tower and gut the nearby Royal Hotel in preparation for a new hotel. It is part of a push to boost the precinct bounded by Wellington, William and Murray streets.
(Source: AIMS)
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