Australian Agricultural Company Ltd (AAC):
Speculation is mounting that some sort of corporate activity could be about to unfold involving the Australian Agricultural Company, with suggestions in the market that its major shareholder could be progressing with a privatisation. Some have questioned whether investment bank Macquarie Capital is now on the scene, although sources close to the bank said yesterday it was not involved and that UBS was considered AACo’s house adviser. The country’s largest cattle group is listed as a $700 million company on the Australian Securities Exchange and has experienced a dramatic fall in its share price over the past year from close to $1.90 to $1.165, which may make it a good time for a buyout. AACo counts the company of British billionaire Joe Lewis as its largest shareholder, with a 42.48 per cent stake in the business, according to Bloomberg data, and the expectation has always been that he would move to privatise the company.
Fonterra Shareholders' Fund (FSF):
Fonterra’s milk collection in New Zealand took a hit for the season due to dry weather, while Australian milk production increased. Fonterra’s milk collection across Australia for the season reached 100 million kilos of milk solids, up 27 per cent on the previous season. For January, it collected 14 million kilos of milk solids, a 32 per cent lift on the same month last year. “This has been driven by increased market share and favourable seasonal conditions across milk collection regions,” the company said. It comes after the company downgraded its New Zealand milk collection forecast for the 2017/2018 season (from July 1 to January 31) to 1,480 million kilograms of milk solids, down from its November forecast of 1,525 million kilograms, a 4 per cent drop compared to the previous season. “Although rain in late December and early January helped in some regions, other regions were heavily impacted by soil moisture and pasture growth challenges caused by difficult weather conditions,” the company said.
Myer Holdings Ltd (MYR):
Myer’s woes have led to the struggling department store being removed from the Australian share market’s benchmark ASX200 index. Myer (MYR), whose shares have shed two thirds of their value in the past year amid sluggish sales and a series of profit warnings, has been dropped from the index of the top companies on the Australian Securities Exchange along with cattle producer Australian Agricultural Company and HT&E, the renamed APN News and Media. The demotion is likely to put even more pressure on Myer shares because some fund managers track the index and are therefore likely to jettison the stock. Myer shares floated at $4.10 in 2009 but never again reached that level and were valued at 45.5 cents before the market opened on Friday. The move may also provide more ammunition to Myer’s leading shareholder, retail veteran Solomon Lew, who is agitating for a complete overhaul of the department store chain’s leadership team.
Magnis Resources Ltd (MNS):
Magnis Resources has reached agreement with the government of Tanzania on amendments to the special economic zone licence granted to Magnis Technologies Tanzania. "The amendments are significant and a major value catalyst for Magnis and underpins the development of the company's Nachu Graphite Project which includes the processing facility," the company said.
NAOS Small Cap Opportunities Company Ltd (NSC):
NSC has established a large core position in MNF Group, which it describes as offering "an exceptional buying opportunity on a 2- to 3-year view" by the investment manager. "The market update provided by MNF confirmed that the business continues to grow organically at a strong rate, due to the unique software services that MNF provides to enterprise businesses both domestically and around the world. What took the market by surprise was the announcement of a $3.5 million investment (that will be fully expensed in FY18) into the launch of a mobile brand called Pennytel." About $100 million of market value has been wiped out since, "which we believe has been a short-term over-reaction". "Over the years the MNF management team has proved themselves as very conservative when it comes to both investing internally in new initiative." The NSC portfolio returned -0.57 per cent in February versus the +0.03 per cent for the benchmark index.
News Corp (NWS):
Foxtel's frenemies News Corp and Telstra may have finally sorted out how to merge Foxtel and Fox Sports, but fund managers are unlikely to see the merged entity on the ASX-boards anytime soon. While an initial public offering is said to remain on the minds of both shareholders, the owners and new Foxtel boss Patrick Delany have plenty of other things to do first. Those things are expected to take some time. Top of the list is sorting out the company's streaming strategy and without which, there seems little hope of investors paying up for an ASX-listing. Streaming is not an easy task. It is competitive, and Foxtel has tried a number of times. Delany is expected to try again.
OZ Minerals Limited (OZL):
OZ Minerals is considering renewable energy options for its current and future assets, in a bid to combat ongoing pressure from soaring electricity prices. The copper miner on Friday said it also plans to secure affordable power and increase measures to prevent blackouts at its current South Australian assets by building a new high voltage power transmission line to ensure its assets remain connected to the electricity grid. Agreements to enable the development and operation of the line are currently being progressed with industry participants and the state government, OZ Minerals (OZL) said. Chief executive Andrew Cole said the new transmission line, due to be completed in 2020, will allow other users to draw power or input generation, which will improve the economics for other developments in the region and reduce OZ Minerals’ operating costs.
REA Group Limited (REA):
Citigroup has upgraded its REA Group recommendation to a "buy" from "neutral" and has a $90 price target on the stock. Analyst David Kaynes sees "rapid growth" in Australian revenue which the broker forecasts to increase by 50 per cent over the next three years. That equals compound annual growth in earnings per share of 22 per cent. Citi also estimates that REA's pricing structure is "supportive of pushing agents to continue to move up the product curve". That is enough to warrant earnings upgrades of 1 per cent to 3 per cent from 2017-18 to 2019-20. Investors should be prepared for a soft third-quarter result because of costs and timing, so the broker advises long-term investors to buy the dip. Shares of REA were trading at $79.58 on Friday.
（Source: AIMS）
Speculation is mounting that some sort of corporate activity could be about to unfold involving the Australian Agricultural Company, with suggestions in the market that its major shareholder could be progressing with a privatisation. Some have questioned whether investment bank Macquarie Capital is now on the scene, although sources close to the bank said yesterday it was not involved and that UBS was considered AACo’s house adviser. The country’s largest cattle group is listed as a $700 million company on the Australian Securities Exchange and has experienced a dramatic fall in its share price over the past year from close to $1.90 to $1.165, which may make it a good time for a buyout. AACo counts the company of British billionaire Joe Lewis as its largest shareholder, with a 42.48 per cent stake in the business, according to Bloomberg data, and the expectation has always been that he would move to privatise the company.
Fonterra Shareholders' Fund (FSF):
Fonterra’s milk collection in New Zealand took a hit for the season due to dry weather, while Australian milk production increased. Fonterra’s milk collection across Australia for the season reached 100 million kilos of milk solids, up 27 per cent on the previous season. For January, it collected 14 million kilos of milk solids, a 32 per cent lift on the same month last year. “This has been driven by increased market share and favourable seasonal conditions across milk collection regions,” the company said. It comes after the company downgraded its New Zealand milk collection forecast for the 2017/2018 season (from July 1 to January 31) to 1,480 million kilograms of milk solids, down from its November forecast of 1,525 million kilograms, a 4 per cent drop compared to the previous season. “Although rain in late December and early January helped in some regions, other regions were heavily impacted by soil moisture and pasture growth challenges caused by difficult weather conditions,” the company said.
Myer Holdings Ltd (MYR):
Myer’s woes have led to the struggling department store being removed from the Australian share market’s benchmark ASX200 index. Myer (MYR), whose shares have shed two thirds of their value in the past year amid sluggish sales and a series of profit warnings, has been dropped from the index of the top companies on the Australian Securities Exchange along with cattle producer Australian Agricultural Company and HT&E, the renamed APN News and Media. The demotion is likely to put even more pressure on Myer shares because some fund managers track the index and are therefore likely to jettison the stock. Myer shares floated at $4.10 in 2009 but never again reached that level and were valued at 45.5 cents before the market opened on Friday. The move may also provide more ammunition to Myer’s leading shareholder, retail veteran Solomon Lew, who is agitating for a complete overhaul of the department store chain’s leadership team.
Magnis Resources Ltd (MNS):
Magnis Resources has reached agreement with the government of Tanzania on amendments to the special economic zone licence granted to Magnis Technologies Tanzania. "The amendments are significant and a major value catalyst for Magnis and underpins the development of the company's Nachu Graphite Project which includes the processing facility," the company said.
NAOS Small Cap Opportunities Company Ltd (NSC):
NSC has established a large core position in MNF Group, which it describes as offering "an exceptional buying opportunity on a 2- to 3-year view" by the investment manager. "The market update provided by MNF confirmed that the business continues to grow organically at a strong rate, due to the unique software services that MNF provides to enterprise businesses both domestically and around the world. What took the market by surprise was the announcement of a $3.5 million investment (that will be fully expensed in FY18) into the launch of a mobile brand called Pennytel." About $100 million of market value has been wiped out since, "which we believe has been a short-term over-reaction". "Over the years the MNF management team has proved themselves as very conservative when it comes to both investing internally in new initiative." The NSC portfolio returned -0.57 per cent in February versus the +0.03 per cent for the benchmark index.
News Corp (NWS):
Foxtel's frenemies News Corp and Telstra may have finally sorted out how to merge Foxtel and Fox Sports, but fund managers are unlikely to see the merged entity on the ASX-boards anytime soon. While an initial public offering is said to remain on the minds of both shareholders, the owners and new Foxtel boss Patrick Delany have plenty of other things to do first. Those things are expected to take some time. Top of the list is sorting out the company's streaming strategy and without which, there seems little hope of investors paying up for an ASX-listing. Streaming is not an easy task. It is competitive, and Foxtel has tried a number of times. Delany is expected to try again.
OZ Minerals Limited (OZL):
OZ Minerals is considering renewable energy options for its current and future assets, in a bid to combat ongoing pressure from soaring electricity prices. The copper miner on Friday said it also plans to secure affordable power and increase measures to prevent blackouts at its current South Australian assets by building a new high voltage power transmission line to ensure its assets remain connected to the electricity grid. Agreements to enable the development and operation of the line are currently being progressed with industry participants and the state government, OZ Minerals (OZL) said. Chief executive Andrew Cole said the new transmission line, due to be completed in 2020, will allow other users to draw power or input generation, which will improve the economics for other developments in the region and reduce OZ Minerals’ operating costs.
REA Group Limited (REA):
Citigroup has upgraded its REA Group recommendation to a "buy" from "neutral" and has a $90 price target on the stock. Analyst David Kaynes sees "rapid growth" in Australian revenue which the broker forecasts to increase by 50 per cent over the next three years. That equals compound annual growth in earnings per share of 22 per cent. Citi also estimates that REA's pricing structure is "supportive of pushing agents to continue to move up the product curve". That is enough to warrant earnings upgrades of 1 per cent to 3 per cent from 2017-18 to 2019-20. Investors should be prepared for a soft third-quarter result because of costs and timing, so the broker advises long-term investors to buy the dip. Shares of REA were trading at $79.58 on Friday.
（Source: AIMS）
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