Ardent (AAD):
Just three months after replacing Deborah Thomas, chief executive Simon Kelly has turned to an old mate at Credit Suisse to provide advice on the activists that have encircled the theme park and entertainment group. Earlier this month, Ariadne director Kevin Seymour – who with fellow Ariadne director Gary Weiss is pushing for four Ardent board seats – said the latter’s team had no turnaround plan of its own and would have kept Deborah Thomas if shareholders had not applied pressure to replace the former CEO. Ariadne, which has a near-9.9 per cent voting stake in the troubled leisure operator, has called a shareholder meeting for September 4 to vote on its proposal to elect Seymour and Weiss to the board, along with US-based Brad Richmond and former Scentre Group executive Andy Hedges.
BHP Billiton Limited (BHP):
Korean steel giant POSCO’s plan to build a new coal mine in the Southern Highlands region of New South Wales has taken a hit after a state water agency raised ‘‘significant concerns’’ about the optimistic water modelling used in the project’s environmental impact statement. Known as Hume Coal, the project aims to extract 39 million tonnes of coking and thermal coal from near Berrima over 23 years, with coking coal expected to comprise 55 per cent of the mine’s sales. Groundwater has also been a major issue in the fight of Shenhua’s Watermark coal project on the Liverpool Plains. Last week Shenhua sold 51.4 per cent of its exploration licence for Watermark back to the NSW government in exchange for $262 million. It came after the NSW government paid BHP Billiton $220 million to cancel its Caroona coal licence. POSCO was a bidder for Arrium’s Whyalla steelworks but was beaten by Liberty House and SIMEC.
Brickworks (BKW):
Brickworks, Soul Patts crossholding can’t last A court held earlier this month that the cross-holding with Soul Pattinson was not an oppression of Brickworks shareholders. Unfortunately, the court has fallen for the ‘‘diversification’’ story. But its continuation is a bit of a blot on their otherwise impeccable record. The cross-holding has two effects only. The main one is that it effectively disenfranchises shareholders whose votes can never exceed those of the controllers of the cross-holding. A secondary effect is that it slightly distorts the incidence of ownership of each company. If the cross-holding is removed, Brickworks’ asset backing rises from $12.36 to $17.50. Similarly, Soul Pattinson’s rises from $15.65 to $18.80. Group assets are still the same at $4.038 billion. There are no additional riches flooding through the door. All group assets are captured in the respective balance sheets. But Brickworks seems to have had the better deal of the share swap. According to Tony Bannon, SC, for Perpetual, the Brickworks-Soul Pattinson structure is unique. But still no smiling photos of the board of directors. The day that appears is the day I will sell my shares. In May 2000, Guiness Peat Group (GPG) made an unsuccessful takeover offer of $10 and four Soul Pattinson shares for every five Brickworks. It was worth about $5.30 for a Brickworks share. Today it would be worth about $16.25 for each Brickwork share. It is a formula which has stood the test of time.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA):
The Commonwealth Bank directly accused Ms Carnell of giving her report to 60 Minutes – which she denied – and revealing information from a confidential briefing by one of its top executives.‘‘We remain very concerned that your inquiry has delivered an inaccurate assessment of the facts and that this view will gain further currency through your decision to give it public profile in breach of your assurances about confidentiality,’ ’CBA’s top lawyer, Anna Lenahan, wrote to Ms Carnell on July 14.
Crown Resorts (CWN):
Crown Resorts’ big mistake in China was sending a large, visible group of its own people to collect debts from VIP gamblers on the mainland, according to the vice-chairman of rival casino operator Wynn Macau. Crown Resorts’ big mistake in China was sending a large, visible group of its own people to collect debts from VIP gamblers on the mainland, according to the vice-chairman of rival casino operator Wynn Macau The matter triggered Crown Resorts’ exodus from the lucrative Chinese VIP gambling market that saw it hand out $35.8 billion in ‘‘rolling chips’’ to clients last financial year. These chips, the currency high-rollers buy on credit and play with, made the company an estimated $875 million in VIP revenue over the same period. Crown Resorts’ shares closed at $12.35 on Friday, but have risen 14 per cent since the start of the year.
(Source: AIMS)
Just three months after replacing Deborah Thomas, chief executive Simon Kelly has turned to an old mate at Credit Suisse to provide advice on the activists that have encircled the theme park and entertainment group. Earlier this month, Ariadne director Kevin Seymour – who with fellow Ariadne director Gary Weiss is pushing for four Ardent board seats – said the latter’s team had no turnaround plan of its own and would have kept Deborah Thomas if shareholders had not applied pressure to replace the former CEO. Ariadne, which has a near-9.9 per cent voting stake in the troubled leisure operator, has called a shareholder meeting for September 4 to vote on its proposal to elect Seymour and Weiss to the board, along with US-based Brad Richmond and former Scentre Group executive Andy Hedges.
BHP Billiton Limited (BHP):
Korean steel giant POSCO’s plan to build a new coal mine in the Southern Highlands region of New South Wales has taken a hit after a state water agency raised ‘‘significant concerns’’ about the optimistic water modelling used in the project’s environmental impact statement. Known as Hume Coal, the project aims to extract 39 million tonnes of coking and thermal coal from near Berrima over 23 years, with coking coal expected to comprise 55 per cent of the mine’s sales. Groundwater has also been a major issue in the fight of Shenhua’s Watermark coal project on the Liverpool Plains. Last week Shenhua sold 51.4 per cent of its exploration licence for Watermark back to the NSW government in exchange for $262 million. It came after the NSW government paid BHP Billiton $220 million to cancel its Caroona coal licence. POSCO was a bidder for Arrium’s Whyalla steelworks but was beaten by Liberty House and SIMEC.
Brickworks (BKW):
Brickworks, Soul Patts crossholding can’t last A court held earlier this month that the cross-holding with Soul Pattinson was not an oppression of Brickworks shareholders. Unfortunately, the court has fallen for the ‘‘diversification’’ story. But its continuation is a bit of a blot on their otherwise impeccable record. The cross-holding has two effects only. The main one is that it effectively disenfranchises shareholders whose votes can never exceed those of the controllers of the cross-holding. A secondary effect is that it slightly distorts the incidence of ownership of each company. If the cross-holding is removed, Brickworks’ asset backing rises from $12.36 to $17.50. Similarly, Soul Pattinson’s rises from $15.65 to $18.80. Group assets are still the same at $4.038 billion. There are no additional riches flooding through the door. All group assets are captured in the respective balance sheets. But Brickworks seems to have had the better deal of the share swap. According to Tony Bannon, SC, for Perpetual, the Brickworks-Soul Pattinson structure is unique. But still no smiling photos of the board of directors. The day that appears is the day I will sell my shares. In May 2000, Guiness Peat Group (GPG) made an unsuccessful takeover offer of $10 and four Soul Pattinson shares for every five Brickworks. It was worth about $5.30 for a Brickworks share. Today it would be worth about $16.25 for each Brickwork share. It is a formula which has stood the test of time.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA):
The Commonwealth Bank directly accused Ms Carnell of giving her report to 60 Minutes – which she denied – and revealing information from a confidential briefing by one of its top executives.‘‘We remain very concerned that your inquiry has delivered an inaccurate assessment of the facts and that this view will gain further currency through your decision to give it public profile in breach of your assurances about confidentiality,’ ’CBA’s top lawyer, Anna Lenahan, wrote to Ms Carnell on July 14.
Crown Resorts (CWN):
Crown Resorts’ big mistake in China was sending a large, visible group of its own people to collect debts from VIP gamblers on the mainland, according to the vice-chairman of rival casino operator Wynn Macau. Crown Resorts’ big mistake in China was sending a large, visible group of its own people to collect debts from VIP gamblers on the mainland, according to the vice-chairman of rival casino operator Wynn Macau The matter triggered Crown Resorts’ exodus from the lucrative Chinese VIP gambling market that saw it hand out $35.8 billion in ‘‘rolling chips’’ to clients last financial year. These chips, the currency high-rollers buy on credit and play with, made the company an estimated $875 million in VIP revenue over the same period. Crown Resorts’ shares closed at $12.35 on Friday, but have risen 14 per cent since the start of the year.
(Source: AIMS)
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