Downer EDI Limited (DOW):
Engineering group Downer EDI will provide investors with revised full-year guidance after a full review of recently acquired cleaning and catering firm Spotless. Downer yesterday said it expected to complete its review of Spotless’s business planning, budgeting and targetsetting by the end of the month. Downer had previously said that, excluding Spotless, it expected full-year net profit of about $190 million. Spotless in April told investors it expected a profit of $85m to $100m for the same period. Downer owns 88 per cent of Spotless since finalising its takeover in August. At Downer’s AGM yesterday, a resolution put forward by minority shareholders to force the company to act with the objective of holding global warming below 2C was rejected. Downer has been targeted by protesters since securing a $2 billion contract in 2014 for work on Adani’s Carmichael coalmine project in central Queensland.
Kingsgate Consolidated Limited (KCN):
Australian miner Kingsgate Consolidated says it will move immediately to commence international arbitration proceedings against Thailand over the premature shutdown of its Chatree gold mine. After months of negotiations with the Thai government, Kingsgate said on Thursday it had been unable to reach any settlement and would commence arbitration without delay to try to recover ‘‘the substantial losses’’ it has incurred. It is understood the compensation Kingsgate seeks under terms of the free trade agreement between Australia and Thailand amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars. The Thai government shut Chatree on December 31, 2016 in the wake of a sustained campaign by local land owners and environmentalists, which alleged the mine of caused a number of environmental and health issues. Kingsgate has consistently refuted the allegations and accused the government of unlawfully seizing the mine, which it had operated since 2001.
Link Group (LNK):
The chief executive of ASX-listed superannuation administration company Link Group, John McMurtie, hopes by 2019 half the company’s revenue will come from offshore, with the early completion of its $1.5 billion acquisition of London-listed Capita’s asset services surprising the market. At Link’s annual general meeting on Wednesday, Mr McMurtie said Link had secured the regulatory approvals it needed for its acquisition of Capita Asset Services. The completion of the transaction is scheduled to take place on Friday, two months sooner than anticipated. Mr McMurtie said the future of $4 billion Link, which gets 58 per cent of its revenue from looking after some of the country’s largest funds including AustralianSuper and REST Superannuation, is a global one.
National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB):
Investor cynicism that National Australia Bank will be able to deliver the promised cost savings from an aggressive plan of automating work helped drive its shares down almost 3 per cent to $31.95. The plan to cull 6000 jobs and boost technology investment came as NAB announced a 2.5 per cent rise in cash profit to $6.64 billion for the year to September 30, which was in-line with the market's expectations. The full-year dividend of $1.98, or $5.3 billion, was flat and NAB said it expected it to remain so, despite the new investment spending of $1.5 billion over three years. This will see costs grow by between 5 per cent and 8 per cent in the full 2018 financial year, but NAB is confident of growing cash profit, on the back of revenue gains. The cumulative cost savings from the new investment would be "greater than $1 billion" by the end of the full 2020 financial year, it said.
Telstra Corporation Ltd. (TLS):
Telstra boss Andrew Penn has thrown his support behind the competition watchdog’s inquiry into the standard of wholesale service provided by NBN Co as customer complaints increase. High wholesale prices charged by NBN Co have been cited as a contributor to poor service, although Mr Penn said minor changes to the pricing model would not solve service issuesThe NBN, once completed, will punch a $3 billion a year earnings gap in Telstra’s accounts but Mr Penn reiterated that the telco had a strategy in place to ride out the next two to three years.
Seven West Media Ltd (SWM):
Seven West Media chairman Kerry Stokes says the free-to-air broadcaster is yet to be convinced of the benefits of pursuing potential mergers with publishers Fairfax Media or News Corp, and is instead focusing on costs and paying down debt. Speaking at the company’s annual meeting in Sydney, Mr Stokes, who owns 40.9 per cent of the broadcaster, said that while the company was trialling a combined television and print newsroom in Perth with The West Australian , Perth Now and The Sunday Times , the expected savings hadn’t yet been demonstrated. He said he was unsure whether a merged one-purpose newsroom would be successful with broadsheet newspapers. ‘‘Until we understand how those dynamics work we’re not sure how putting two organisations together would actually bring synergies.’’
(Source: AIMS)
Engineering group Downer EDI will provide investors with revised full-year guidance after a full review of recently acquired cleaning and catering firm Spotless. Downer yesterday said it expected to complete its review of Spotless’s business planning, budgeting and targetsetting by the end of the month. Downer had previously said that, excluding Spotless, it expected full-year net profit of about $190 million. Spotless in April told investors it expected a profit of $85m to $100m for the same period. Downer owns 88 per cent of Spotless since finalising its takeover in August. At Downer’s AGM yesterday, a resolution put forward by minority shareholders to force the company to act with the objective of holding global warming below 2C was rejected. Downer has been targeted by protesters since securing a $2 billion contract in 2014 for work on Adani’s Carmichael coalmine project in central Queensland.
Kingsgate Consolidated Limited (KCN):
Australian miner Kingsgate Consolidated says it will move immediately to commence international arbitration proceedings against Thailand over the premature shutdown of its Chatree gold mine. After months of negotiations with the Thai government, Kingsgate said on Thursday it had been unable to reach any settlement and would commence arbitration without delay to try to recover ‘‘the substantial losses’’ it has incurred. It is understood the compensation Kingsgate seeks under terms of the free trade agreement between Australia and Thailand amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars. The Thai government shut Chatree on December 31, 2016 in the wake of a sustained campaign by local land owners and environmentalists, which alleged the mine of caused a number of environmental and health issues. Kingsgate has consistently refuted the allegations and accused the government of unlawfully seizing the mine, which it had operated since 2001.
Link Group (LNK):
The chief executive of ASX-listed superannuation administration company Link Group, John McMurtie, hopes by 2019 half the company’s revenue will come from offshore, with the early completion of its $1.5 billion acquisition of London-listed Capita’s asset services surprising the market. At Link’s annual general meeting on Wednesday, Mr McMurtie said Link had secured the regulatory approvals it needed for its acquisition of Capita Asset Services. The completion of the transaction is scheduled to take place on Friday, two months sooner than anticipated. Mr McMurtie said the future of $4 billion Link, which gets 58 per cent of its revenue from looking after some of the country’s largest funds including AustralianSuper and REST Superannuation, is a global one.
National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB):
Investor cynicism that National Australia Bank will be able to deliver the promised cost savings from an aggressive plan of automating work helped drive its shares down almost 3 per cent to $31.95. The plan to cull 6000 jobs and boost technology investment came as NAB announced a 2.5 per cent rise in cash profit to $6.64 billion for the year to September 30, which was in-line with the market's expectations. The full-year dividend of $1.98, or $5.3 billion, was flat and NAB said it expected it to remain so, despite the new investment spending of $1.5 billion over three years. This will see costs grow by between 5 per cent and 8 per cent in the full 2018 financial year, but NAB is confident of growing cash profit, on the back of revenue gains. The cumulative cost savings from the new investment would be "greater than $1 billion" by the end of the full 2020 financial year, it said.
Telstra Corporation Ltd. (TLS):
Telstra boss Andrew Penn has thrown his support behind the competition watchdog’s inquiry into the standard of wholesale service provided by NBN Co as customer complaints increase. High wholesale prices charged by NBN Co have been cited as a contributor to poor service, although Mr Penn said minor changes to the pricing model would not solve service issuesThe NBN, once completed, will punch a $3 billion a year earnings gap in Telstra’s accounts but Mr Penn reiterated that the telco had a strategy in place to ride out the next two to three years.
Seven West Media Ltd (SWM):
Seven West Media chairman Kerry Stokes says the free-to-air broadcaster is yet to be convinced of the benefits of pursuing potential mergers with publishers Fairfax Media or News Corp, and is instead focusing on costs and paying down debt. Speaking at the company’s annual meeting in Sydney, Mr Stokes, who owns 40.9 per cent of the broadcaster, said that while the company was trialling a combined television and print newsroom in Perth with The West Australian , Perth Now and The Sunday Times , the expected savings hadn’t yet been demonstrated. He said he was unsure whether a merged one-purpose newsroom would be successful with broadsheet newspapers. ‘‘Until we understand how those dynamics work we’re not sure how putting two organisations together would actually bring synergies.’’
(Source: AIMS)
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