Afterpay Touch Group Limited (APT):
Afterpay Touch is once up 7.3 per cent today. The firm is Australia's next big (data) miner, Goldman Sachs told clients on Monday, initiating on the company with a "buy" recommendation. The analysts, led by Ashwini Chandra, reckon Afterpay's first-mover advantage is allowing it to rapidly accumulate a repository of retailer and shopper transactions. This means " Afterpay's credit risk assessment models improve as its transaction history deepens; and the retailer and shopper data it collects offers insight into consumer purchasing decisions," Goldman says. Goldman is forecasting earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to grow 21 times in 2017 to 2020.
Cromwell Property Group (CMW):
Cromwell Property Group’s new European REIT has held steady on its trading debut on the Singapore Stock Exchange as the group eyes the potential to tap Asian investors for more funds in future. The Cromwell European Real Estate Investment Trust ended its first day of trade last week at €0.555 after listing at €0.55 as the first euro-denominated REIT on the exchange. The trust raised gross proceeds of €865.7 million ($1.35bn) and Cromwell has a 35.8 per cent stake as of listing, valued at approximately €310m assuming its over-allotment option is not exercised. Cromwell chairman Geoff Levy told the annual general meeting that the group had just started to explore the possibilities of tapping Asian investors and would keep shareholders updated. Cromwell recut the terms of its planned Singaporean float mid-month, with the vehicle trimmed back.
Crown Resorts Limited (CWN):
Crown Resorts has been hit with a class action alleging it did not give shareholders enough information about risks it was taking in China. Law firm Maurice Blackburn today filed the Federal Court action, saying the James Packer-controlled casino operator did not make timely and accurate disclosures to the market about activities that led to last year’s arrest of 18 employees in China and a 14 per cent fall in its share price. Current and former Crown employees, including three Australians, pleaded guilty to charges of illegal promoting gambling on the Chinese mainland at a hearing in China in June. The arrests also raised questions regarding Crown’s significant investment in its Barangaroo, Sydney, venture which has been spruiked as a VIP-focused casino and luxury resort. Maurice Blackburn’s national head of class actions, Andrew Watson, said shareholders should have been told of the risks Crown was taking in China and the threat those risks posed to the company’s revenue streams. At 11.49am (AEDT) Crown shares were down 20 cents, or 1.6 per cent, to $12.13.
Finders Resources Limited (FND):
Copper junior Finders Resources will be playing for keeps when it makes public the company's view of a $178 million hostile cash offer backed by two of its major shareholders. The company has until Tuesday to issue a target statement backed by an independent expert's report prepared by Deloitte in response to the unsolicited offer from Eastern Fields Developments (EFD), a consortium that holds about 19.8 per cent of Finders shares. Perth-based Finders owns and operates the Wetar copper cathode mine in Indonesia. The company's largest shareholder, Indonesian-backed Provident Capital Partners, and third largest shareholder, Saratoga Investama Sedaya, are behind Eastern Fields Developments along with an Indonesia miner they are both shareholders in, Merdeka Copper Gold.
G8 Education Limited (GEM):
G8 Education shares have crashed more than 24 per cent after the child care operator forecast lower earnings for the 2017 financial year and warned investors of a challenging six to nine months ahead. For the year to December 31, G8 Education now expects underlying earnings of around $160 million, slightly lower than last year’s $160.7m result and well down from its previous guidance of over $170m. The earnings downgrade was partly due to slower occupancy growth and a change in regulations for staffing ratios in New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria, which came into effect from October 1 and appeared to take the child care operator by surprise. It is having to use temporary agency labour to meet the new staffing requirements at a cost of about $3m. The company also increased its forecast for staff training costs for the year by $1m and said the adverse impact of the long day care professional development funding is expected to be around $9m. G8 shares were down 20.48 per cent to $3.52 at 12.15pm (AEDT) after earlier sinking as low as $3.31.
Metcash Limited (MTS): Grocery wholesaler Metcash’s liquor business and Home Timber & Hardware chain have underpinned its 24 per cent lift in half-year profit. Its supermarkets’ business, as the supplier of IGA and Foodlands stores, continued to come under pressure amid Woolworths and Coles’ price cuts and the aggressive expansion of Aldi into South Australia and Western Australia. However net profit grew to $92.9 million during the six months to October 31, up from $74.9 million a year earlier. Sales revenue rose 7.6 per cent to $7.1 billion, up from $6.6 billion in the prior year largely due to a full half-year contribution from Home Timber & Hardware (HTH) that it acquired from Woolworths in October, 2016. Outgoing chief executive Ian Morrice said “The savings achieved have been a key factor in supermarkets maintaining its earnings, despite the significant headwinds that include a continuing high level of deflation.” Metcash (MTS) declared a fully franked interim dividend of six cents per share, compared to no dividend in the 2017 financial year.
Myer Holdings Limited (MYR):
Recently-appointed Myer chairman Garry Hounsell has resigned as a director of paints and hardware products company Dulux as he makes room in his corporate diary to focus on the turnaround of the struggling department store owner. Dulux announced today that Mr Hounsell would step down, with effect from December 31, having been a director of the business since it demerged to become a stand-alone company in July 2010. Mr Hounsell was elected chairman of Myer (MYR) at the end of the retailer’s annual general meeting last month, replacing outgoing chairman Paul McClintock. Mr Hounsell was forced into a public fight to maintain his directorship of Myer after major shareholder and billionaire Solomon Lew used his 10.8 per cent stake in the retailer to vote against all resolutions at its shareholders meeting. His departure from Dulux will free up time in Mr Hounsell’s week as he works with the rest of the Myer board to oversee the implementation of the “New Myer” strategy to resuscitate sales and profits at the retailer following decades of flatlining returns.
News Corporation (NSW):
The Manly Daily is downsizing to become a twice-weekly newspaper next year. The paper’s owners, News Corp, publisher of The Australian, will enhance the publication’s online and mobile offering. Wednesday’s edition will focus on news and sport, supplemented by what’s on planning information about food, music and lifestyle for the weekend. The Weekend Manly Daily, published on Saturday, will include news and features, plus a glossy real estate magazine and a strong focus on homes and lifestyle. NewsLocal publisher John McGourty said the change to the printing schedule would not alter the Manly Daily’s commitment to delivering quality news, in quality environments, for its readers and advertisers. Both the Wednesday and Saturday editions contain the majority of the paper’s advertising. There are expected to be several redundancies among editorial staff.
(Source: AIMS)
Afterpay Touch is once up 7.3 per cent today. The firm is Australia's next big (data) miner, Goldman Sachs told clients on Monday, initiating on the company with a "buy" recommendation. The analysts, led by Ashwini Chandra, reckon Afterpay's first-mover advantage is allowing it to rapidly accumulate a repository of retailer and shopper transactions. This means " Afterpay's credit risk assessment models improve as its transaction history deepens; and the retailer and shopper data it collects offers insight into consumer purchasing decisions," Goldman says. Goldman is forecasting earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to grow 21 times in 2017 to 2020.
Cromwell Property Group (CMW):
Cromwell Property Group’s new European REIT has held steady on its trading debut on the Singapore Stock Exchange as the group eyes the potential to tap Asian investors for more funds in future. The Cromwell European Real Estate Investment Trust ended its first day of trade last week at €0.555 after listing at €0.55 as the first euro-denominated REIT on the exchange. The trust raised gross proceeds of €865.7 million ($1.35bn) and Cromwell has a 35.8 per cent stake as of listing, valued at approximately €310m assuming its over-allotment option is not exercised. Cromwell chairman Geoff Levy told the annual general meeting that the group had just started to explore the possibilities of tapping Asian investors and would keep shareholders updated. Cromwell recut the terms of its planned Singaporean float mid-month, with the vehicle trimmed back.
Crown Resorts Limited (CWN):
Crown Resorts has been hit with a class action alleging it did not give shareholders enough information about risks it was taking in China. Law firm Maurice Blackburn today filed the Federal Court action, saying the James Packer-controlled casino operator did not make timely and accurate disclosures to the market about activities that led to last year’s arrest of 18 employees in China and a 14 per cent fall in its share price. Current and former Crown employees, including three Australians, pleaded guilty to charges of illegal promoting gambling on the Chinese mainland at a hearing in China in June. The arrests also raised questions regarding Crown’s significant investment in its Barangaroo, Sydney, venture which has been spruiked as a VIP-focused casino and luxury resort. Maurice Blackburn’s national head of class actions, Andrew Watson, said shareholders should have been told of the risks Crown was taking in China and the threat those risks posed to the company’s revenue streams. At 11.49am (AEDT) Crown shares were down 20 cents, or 1.6 per cent, to $12.13.
Finders Resources Limited (FND):
Copper junior Finders Resources will be playing for keeps when it makes public the company's view of a $178 million hostile cash offer backed by two of its major shareholders. The company has until Tuesday to issue a target statement backed by an independent expert's report prepared by Deloitte in response to the unsolicited offer from Eastern Fields Developments (EFD), a consortium that holds about 19.8 per cent of Finders shares. Perth-based Finders owns and operates the Wetar copper cathode mine in Indonesia. The company's largest shareholder, Indonesian-backed Provident Capital Partners, and third largest shareholder, Saratoga Investama Sedaya, are behind Eastern Fields Developments along with an Indonesia miner they are both shareholders in, Merdeka Copper Gold.
G8 Education Limited (GEM):
G8 Education shares have crashed more than 24 per cent after the child care operator forecast lower earnings for the 2017 financial year and warned investors of a challenging six to nine months ahead. For the year to December 31, G8 Education now expects underlying earnings of around $160 million, slightly lower than last year’s $160.7m result and well down from its previous guidance of over $170m. The earnings downgrade was partly due to slower occupancy growth and a change in regulations for staffing ratios in New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria, which came into effect from October 1 and appeared to take the child care operator by surprise. It is having to use temporary agency labour to meet the new staffing requirements at a cost of about $3m. The company also increased its forecast for staff training costs for the year by $1m and said the adverse impact of the long day care professional development funding is expected to be around $9m. G8 shares were down 20.48 per cent to $3.52 at 12.15pm (AEDT) after earlier sinking as low as $3.31.
Metcash Limited (MTS): Grocery wholesaler Metcash’s liquor business and Home Timber & Hardware chain have underpinned its 24 per cent lift in half-year profit. Its supermarkets’ business, as the supplier of IGA and Foodlands stores, continued to come under pressure amid Woolworths and Coles’ price cuts and the aggressive expansion of Aldi into South Australia and Western Australia. However net profit grew to $92.9 million during the six months to October 31, up from $74.9 million a year earlier. Sales revenue rose 7.6 per cent to $7.1 billion, up from $6.6 billion in the prior year largely due to a full half-year contribution from Home Timber & Hardware (HTH) that it acquired from Woolworths in October, 2016. Outgoing chief executive Ian Morrice said “The savings achieved have been a key factor in supermarkets maintaining its earnings, despite the significant headwinds that include a continuing high level of deflation.” Metcash (MTS) declared a fully franked interim dividend of six cents per share, compared to no dividend in the 2017 financial year.
Myer Holdings Limited (MYR):
Recently-appointed Myer chairman Garry Hounsell has resigned as a director of paints and hardware products company Dulux as he makes room in his corporate diary to focus on the turnaround of the struggling department store owner. Dulux announced today that Mr Hounsell would step down, with effect from December 31, having been a director of the business since it demerged to become a stand-alone company in July 2010. Mr Hounsell was elected chairman of Myer (MYR) at the end of the retailer’s annual general meeting last month, replacing outgoing chairman Paul McClintock. Mr Hounsell was forced into a public fight to maintain his directorship of Myer after major shareholder and billionaire Solomon Lew used his 10.8 per cent stake in the retailer to vote against all resolutions at its shareholders meeting. His departure from Dulux will free up time in Mr Hounsell’s week as he works with the rest of the Myer board to oversee the implementation of the “New Myer” strategy to resuscitate sales and profits at the retailer following decades of flatlining returns.
News Corporation (NSW):
The Manly Daily is downsizing to become a twice-weekly newspaper next year. The paper’s owners, News Corp, publisher of The Australian, will enhance the publication’s online and mobile offering. Wednesday’s edition will focus on news and sport, supplemented by what’s on planning information about food, music and lifestyle for the weekend. The Weekend Manly Daily, published on Saturday, will include news and features, plus a glossy real estate magazine and a strong focus on homes and lifestyle. NewsLocal publisher John McGourty said the change to the printing schedule would not alter the Manly Daily’s commitment to delivering quality news, in quality environments, for its readers and advertisers. Both the Wednesday and Saturday editions contain the majority of the paper’s advertising. There are expected to be several redundancies among editorial staff.
(Source: AIMS)
Latest comments