Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ):
ANZ Banking Group chairman David Gonski has called on the Australian business sector to ditch its traditional role as “solely shareholder-focused organisations” and put customers and communities at the centre of “everything”. Speaking at the bank’s annual general meeting in Sydney, Mr Gonski said the banking sector had “a great deal to do” to restore trust with the Australian public. Mr Gonski, along with the chairmen and chief executives of the other big four banks, last month convinced the federal government to launch a royal commission into the financial services industry. Analysts are expecting further share buybacks to be announced, figuring the bank has around $5 billion to $6 billion in unneeded cash. Mr Gonski said the sale of its life insurance and wealth management units should give the bank “flexibility” to consider further capital management plans in the future.
BHP Billiton Limited(BHP):
BHP Billiton has threatened to leave the powerful Minerals Council of Australia if the lobby group continues to push for energy policy that prioritises costs and reliability over emissions reduction, and keeps calling for policies that would encourage coal power plant development over other sources. In a review of its membership of industry groups that hold positions on climate and energy policy, released today, the big miner said it would quit the World Coal Association but for now stay a member of the Minerals Council, for which it is the biggest source of funding. BHP said it would remain a member of the Minerals Council because it derives a high level of benefit from membership. This week, it gave a commitment to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to stop marketing gas jointly with partner ExxonMobil, in order to avoid court action over what the ACCC has alleged were breaches of the Competition Act.
Caltex (CTX):
Shares in Caltex are trading down almost 1 per cent to $34.92 despite the company saying it expects its full-year underlying profit to rise as much as 18.3 per cent. Strong growth in premium diesel sales are the primary driver. In its end-of-year profit guidance, the company said core net profit would be between $600 million and $620 million in 2017, up from $524 million the previous year. Earnings from the supply and marketing business are expected to have risen about 9 per cent, while earnings from Caltex's sole remaining refinery, the Lytton plant at Brisbane, are set to see a 51 per cent surge higher. Bottom line net income, a figure less closely watched by the market, is expected to increase to between $620 million and $640 million, up from $610 million in 2016.
Coca-cola Amatil Limited (CCL): Coca-Cola Amatil boss Alison Watkins has told Sky News Business, “I do think its very important that we stay competitive as a destination for capital and investment. The changes that are going on around corporate tax rates around the world and in other development markets with similar governance standards do leave us exposed, so I think tax reform needs to be approached holistically. But certainly corporate tax reform within that over the medium term is going to be very important to make sure we remain attractive for new investment and new investment ultimately is what creates productivity gains, its what creates jobs and is what creates growth and prosperity for Australia.”
Fairfax Media Limited (FXJ):
Fairfax has failed in its bid to overturn a decision by New Zealand’s competition watchdog blocking a merger between its local assets and rival NAME. New Zealand’s High Court has dismissed the media firms’ appeal against the NZ Commerce Commission’s ruling, which blocked the merger for reasons including a likely rise in advertising and subscription costs. Fairfax Media chief executive Greg Hywood called the court decision “disappointing” and said the ASX-listed company will review the judgement in detail when it becomes available.
Getswift Limited (GSW):
Delivery logistics SaaS provider GetSwift has partnered with US cafe and restaurant point-of-sale platform Toast shortly after signing a deal with Amaon last month that saw its share price double. Toast is present in 42 US states, covers a network of more than 20,000 merchant outlets and GetSwift estimates organic channel growth of up to 400,000 deliveries a month associated with the deal. The deal is set to “offer additional global touchpoints for its platform”, according GetSwift, while software integration has been progressing alongside negotiations.
Japara Healthcare Limited (JHC):
Aged care provider Japara Healthcare has revealed its occupancy rate was dramatically hit by the deadly Australian flu season, which claimed the lives of a number of its residents. The company told the market today that its occupancy rate during fiscal 2018 had been impacted by the unusually severe influenza outbreak, which it said was experienced across south eastern Australia. Japara’s occupancy levels declined from 94.2 per cent at June 2017 to a low of 91.7 per cent at September. Japara shares fell as much as 8 per cent to $1.96 in early trade, since recovering to $2.00. Reports
National Australia Bank Limited(NAB):
There’s change right at the heart of NAB’s bunker in Melbourne’s Docklands: CEO Andrew Thorburn’s chief-ofstaff Rosemary Rogers has resigned. Rogers had worked in the all-seeing, all-knowing position for nine years, first under Cameron Clyne, then Clyne’s Kiwi successor Thorburn. That gave her unrivalled intelligence on the bank’s executive team, its relations with the board and, of course, everything to do with the CEO. Rogers’ 20-year stint at NAB ended last week. She has been temporarily replaced by Sarah White, NAB’s executive general manager of talent and leadership, while Thorburn looks for a new permanent consigliore.
Retail Food Group Limited (RFG):
Embattled Retail Food Group has issued a profit warning following attacks on the viability and ethics of its franchise model, which have contributed to a share price collapse. The food franchise company is also in talks with its lenders over the rollover of its $150 million debt facility. Retail Food Group (RFG) said it expects a near 30 per cent decline in its first-half net profit after tax on the same period a year prior to $22 million. This is against a first half net profit of $33.5 million in 2017. The first half results for 2018 will be hit by one-off costs of around $7 million post tax. Retail Food had forecast 6 per cent net profit growth on $75.7 million in the current financial year in its most recent full-year results, while Bloomberg’s consensus analyst estimate for its FY18 GAAP net income last stood at $71.6m ahead of this latest announcement.
Treasury Wine Estates Limited(TWE):
Treasury Wine Estates, with labels such as Penfolds, Wolf Blass and Pepperjack among its sprawling US businesses, could be on the receiving end of an 8 per cent kick to its earnings thanks to President Donald Trump’s corporate tax cuts. “The US tax changes look closer to being passed by the Congress,’’ says Citi analyst Bryan Raymond in a note to clients this morning, “the potential boost to Treasury Wines is around 8 per cent to EPS for calendar 2018. “We estimate Treasury’s group-wide effective tax rate will fall from 31 per cent to 26 per cent.” Treasury Wine generates about 42 per cent of its revenue and EBIT from the Americas, while its Canadian business purchases wine from the US segment.
(Source: AIMS)
ANZ Banking Group chairman David Gonski has called on the Australian business sector to ditch its traditional role as “solely shareholder-focused organisations” and put customers and communities at the centre of “everything”. Speaking at the bank’s annual general meeting in Sydney, Mr Gonski said the banking sector had “a great deal to do” to restore trust with the Australian public. Mr Gonski, along with the chairmen and chief executives of the other big four banks, last month convinced the federal government to launch a royal commission into the financial services industry. Analysts are expecting further share buybacks to be announced, figuring the bank has around $5 billion to $6 billion in unneeded cash. Mr Gonski said the sale of its life insurance and wealth management units should give the bank “flexibility” to consider further capital management plans in the future.
BHP Billiton Limited(BHP):
BHP Billiton has threatened to leave the powerful Minerals Council of Australia if the lobby group continues to push for energy policy that prioritises costs and reliability over emissions reduction, and keeps calling for policies that would encourage coal power plant development over other sources. In a review of its membership of industry groups that hold positions on climate and energy policy, released today, the big miner said it would quit the World Coal Association but for now stay a member of the Minerals Council, for which it is the biggest source of funding. BHP said it would remain a member of the Minerals Council because it derives a high level of benefit from membership. This week, it gave a commitment to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to stop marketing gas jointly with partner ExxonMobil, in order to avoid court action over what the ACCC has alleged were breaches of the Competition Act.
Caltex (CTX):
Shares in Caltex are trading down almost 1 per cent to $34.92 despite the company saying it expects its full-year underlying profit to rise as much as 18.3 per cent. Strong growth in premium diesel sales are the primary driver. In its end-of-year profit guidance, the company said core net profit would be between $600 million and $620 million in 2017, up from $524 million the previous year. Earnings from the supply and marketing business are expected to have risen about 9 per cent, while earnings from Caltex's sole remaining refinery, the Lytton plant at Brisbane, are set to see a 51 per cent surge higher. Bottom line net income, a figure less closely watched by the market, is expected to increase to between $620 million and $640 million, up from $610 million in 2016.
Coca-cola Amatil Limited (CCL): Coca-Cola Amatil boss Alison Watkins has told Sky News Business, “I do think its very important that we stay competitive as a destination for capital and investment. The changes that are going on around corporate tax rates around the world and in other development markets with similar governance standards do leave us exposed, so I think tax reform needs to be approached holistically. But certainly corporate tax reform within that over the medium term is going to be very important to make sure we remain attractive for new investment and new investment ultimately is what creates productivity gains, its what creates jobs and is what creates growth and prosperity for Australia.”
Fairfax Media Limited (FXJ):
Fairfax has failed in its bid to overturn a decision by New Zealand’s competition watchdog blocking a merger between its local assets and rival NAME. New Zealand’s High Court has dismissed the media firms’ appeal against the NZ Commerce Commission’s ruling, which blocked the merger for reasons including a likely rise in advertising and subscription costs. Fairfax Media chief executive Greg Hywood called the court decision “disappointing” and said the ASX-listed company will review the judgement in detail when it becomes available.
Getswift Limited (GSW):
Delivery logistics SaaS provider GetSwift has partnered with US cafe and restaurant point-of-sale platform Toast shortly after signing a deal with Amaon last month that saw its share price double. Toast is present in 42 US states, covers a network of more than 20,000 merchant outlets and GetSwift estimates organic channel growth of up to 400,000 deliveries a month associated with the deal. The deal is set to “offer additional global touchpoints for its platform”, according GetSwift, while software integration has been progressing alongside negotiations.
Japara Healthcare Limited (JHC):
Aged care provider Japara Healthcare has revealed its occupancy rate was dramatically hit by the deadly Australian flu season, which claimed the lives of a number of its residents. The company told the market today that its occupancy rate during fiscal 2018 had been impacted by the unusually severe influenza outbreak, which it said was experienced across south eastern Australia. Japara’s occupancy levels declined from 94.2 per cent at June 2017 to a low of 91.7 per cent at September. Japara shares fell as much as 8 per cent to $1.96 in early trade, since recovering to $2.00. Reports
National Australia Bank Limited(NAB):
There’s change right at the heart of NAB’s bunker in Melbourne’s Docklands: CEO Andrew Thorburn’s chief-ofstaff Rosemary Rogers has resigned. Rogers had worked in the all-seeing, all-knowing position for nine years, first under Cameron Clyne, then Clyne’s Kiwi successor Thorburn. That gave her unrivalled intelligence on the bank’s executive team, its relations with the board and, of course, everything to do with the CEO. Rogers’ 20-year stint at NAB ended last week. She has been temporarily replaced by Sarah White, NAB’s executive general manager of talent and leadership, while Thorburn looks for a new permanent consigliore.
Retail Food Group Limited (RFG):
Embattled Retail Food Group has issued a profit warning following attacks on the viability and ethics of its franchise model, which have contributed to a share price collapse. The food franchise company is also in talks with its lenders over the rollover of its $150 million debt facility. Retail Food Group (RFG) said it expects a near 30 per cent decline in its first-half net profit after tax on the same period a year prior to $22 million. This is against a first half net profit of $33.5 million in 2017. The first half results for 2018 will be hit by one-off costs of around $7 million post tax. Retail Food had forecast 6 per cent net profit growth on $75.7 million in the current financial year in its most recent full-year results, while Bloomberg’s consensus analyst estimate for its FY18 GAAP net income last stood at $71.6m ahead of this latest announcement.
Treasury Wine Estates Limited(TWE):
Treasury Wine Estates, with labels such as Penfolds, Wolf Blass and Pepperjack among its sprawling US businesses, could be on the receiving end of an 8 per cent kick to its earnings thanks to President Donald Trump’s corporate tax cuts. “The US tax changes look closer to being passed by the Congress,’’ says Citi analyst Bryan Raymond in a note to clients this morning, “the potential boost to Treasury Wines is around 8 per cent to EPS for calendar 2018. “We estimate Treasury’s group-wide effective tax rate will fall from 31 per cent to 26 per cent.” Treasury Wine generates about 42 per cent of its revenue and EBIT from the Americas, while its Canadian business purchases wine from the US segment.
(Source: AIMS)
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