Avanco Resources Limited (AVB):
OZ Minerals said it plans to purchase Avanco Resources in a deal that values the Brazil-focused copper company at $418 million. The Adelaide-based mining company (OZL) said it is offering a 50-50 cash-scrip deal that comprises $0.085 cash and 0.009 OZ Minerals shares for each Avanco share. That values Avanco at 17c a share, a 119 per cent premium to its one-month volume weighted average price and roughly 16 per cent of OZ Minerals’ market value. In early trade Avanco shares more than doubled to a seven-year high of $0.155. OZ Minerals shares were down 1.7 per cent at $8.845.
AMP Limited (AMP):
The biggest institutional shareholders in AMP will launch a renewed push on the group’s senior management to break up the $15 billion wealth management company, as under pressure chief executive Craig Meller plans to leave the group at the end of the year. AMP chairwoman Catherine Brenner yesterday said Mr Meller would retire at the end of the calendar year, five years after taking the top job at the company. Her announcement comes just a week before she meets with key institutional shareholders ahead of the wealth manager’s annual general meeting in May. Mr Meller’s departure will cap off a tumultuous period for AMP, with the collapse in the group’s value a source of frustration for shareholders.
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd (BEN):
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank will continue to present itself as the trusted alternative to the four major banks, after announcing yesterday that chief customer officer Marnie Baker would succeed chief executive Mike Hirst from July 2. Ms Baker joined Bendigo in 1989 and has held key roles in most areas of the group, including, most recently, digital banking and Bendigo’s entry into the new payments platform. Chairman Robert Johanson, who will step down in 18 months, said she would build on Bendigo’s position as Australia’s most trusted lender. “Marnie has been instrumental in driving the successful delivery of our customer-connected strategy, which has delivered significant commercial and reputational value for the business,” Mr Johanson said.
Fortescue Metals Group Limited (FMG):
Fortescue Metals Group said prices for its low-grade ore aren’t recovering as quickly as it expected because of lacklustre Chinese demand and fears of escalating trade tensions. The world’s No. 4 iron ore producer (FMG) today said it now expects to receive an average of roughly 65 per cent of the benchmark Platts 62 per cent CFR index during its fiscal year through to June, 2018. That is downgraded from a forecast of 70-75 per cent alongside its half-year results in February. Around 11.20am (AEDT) Fortescue shares were down 2.3 per cent at $4.50, in a rising market.
Newcrest Mining Limited (NCM):
Newcrest Mining said it will restart mining at its Cadia East operations today, after a dam spill sparked a shutdown at the site earlier in the month. Newcrest (NCM) said there was “a limited breakthrough of tailings material,” a slurry of finely ground rock, water and some benign processing reagents, when the northern tailings dam embankment burst on March 9 at the gold operation in eastern Australia. The company today said mined ore will be stockpiled at the site, with processing operations to remain suspended. “It remains too early for guidance to be updated,” said Newcrest. The gold miner previously confirmed it will miss its full-year production guidance and said it will be unable to satisfy contracts for copper concentrate product because of the Cadia mine closure. The Cadia mine was closed for three months last year because of earthquake damage.
National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB):
National Australia Bank gave itself a “red”, or high, rating for regulatory and compliance risk for “many months” in 2015, according to bank board minutes released last night by the royal commission into financial services. Minutes of the principal board risk committee meeting also reveal issues, including $780 million on loan to debt laden Anglo Swiss miner and commodities trader Glencore, findings of “non-compliance” against the bank by anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism finance watchdog Austrac and inadequate disaster recovery plans for its data centres.
Telstra Corporation Ltd (TLS):
Telstra could end up paying more than $15 million in refunds to more than 100,000 mobile customers after charging them for digital content they unknowingly purchased, with the competition regulator forcing the telco to court for taking its customers for a ride. Australian Competition & Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims told The Australian the regulator’s comprehensive investigation had highlighted how lax Telstra had been in protecting its customers. “We took the view that having a billing system whereby people can be billed on their Telstra mobile account for third-party services, which would otherwise require them to use a credit card, created a real opportunity for -people to end up paying for things they didn’t want nor use,” Mr Sims said. “In this case they also had trouble getting out of these things as well, so clearly there was a problem and in one month I think they had 10,000 complaints.
Vocus Group Ltd (VOC):
Australia-listed telco Vocus is believed to be poised to strike a deal to offload its assets across the Tasman to Trustpower in a sale expected to be worth about $250 million. The New Zealand arm of Vocus has been up for sale through investment bank Goldman Sachs and it is now understood that a sale is close to being reached, but at far less than the $400m it was earlier estimated to be worth. Trustpower is a New Zealandlisted power company, which provides gas and electricity. It also has its own telecoms business, providing internet to 76,000 customers and its interest in Vocus indicates an eagerness to expand. The sale of Vocus’s NZ operations, which generated $29m in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for the half year, as well as some assets in Australia, was to reduce its $1bn debt load at a time its market value is only $1.47bn. However, it is understood lenders are hesitant about funding Vocus’s Australia-Singapore undersea cable project, and the cable may now also have to be sold down to other parties in order to succeed.
(Source: AIMS)
OZ Minerals said it plans to purchase Avanco Resources in a deal that values the Brazil-focused copper company at $418 million. The Adelaide-based mining company (OZL) said it is offering a 50-50 cash-scrip deal that comprises $0.085 cash and 0.009 OZ Minerals shares for each Avanco share. That values Avanco at 17c a share, a 119 per cent premium to its one-month volume weighted average price and roughly 16 per cent of OZ Minerals’ market value. In early trade Avanco shares more than doubled to a seven-year high of $0.155. OZ Minerals shares were down 1.7 per cent at $8.845.
AMP Limited (AMP):
The biggest institutional shareholders in AMP will launch a renewed push on the group’s senior management to break up the $15 billion wealth management company, as under pressure chief executive Craig Meller plans to leave the group at the end of the year. AMP chairwoman Catherine Brenner yesterday said Mr Meller would retire at the end of the calendar year, five years after taking the top job at the company. Her announcement comes just a week before she meets with key institutional shareholders ahead of the wealth manager’s annual general meeting in May. Mr Meller’s departure will cap off a tumultuous period for AMP, with the collapse in the group’s value a source of frustration for shareholders.
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd (BEN):
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank will continue to present itself as the trusted alternative to the four major banks, after announcing yesterday that chief customer officer Marnie Baker would succeed chief executive Mike Hirst from July 2. Ms Baker joined Bendigo in 1989 and has held key roles in most areas of the group, including, most recently, digital banking and Bendigo’s entry into the new payments platform. Chairman Robert Johanson, who will step down in 18 months, said she would build on Bendigo’s position as Australia’s most trusted lender. “Marnie has been instrumental in driving the successful delivery of our customer-connected strategy, which has delivered significant commercial and reputational value for the business,” Mr Johanson said.
Fortescue Metals Group Limited (FMG):
Fortescue Metals Group said prices for its low-grade ore aren’t recovering as quickly as it expected because of lacklustre Chinese demand and fears of escalating trade tensions. The world’s No. 4 iron ore producer (FMG) today said it now expects to receive an average of roughly 65 per cent of the benchmark Platts 62 per cent CFR index during its fiscal year through to June, 2018. That is downgraded from a forecast of 70-75 per cent alongside its half-year results in February. Around 11.20am (AEDT) Fortescue shares were down 2.3 per cent at $4.50, in a rising market.
Newcrest Mining Limited (NCM):
Newcrest Mining said it will restart mining at its Cadia East operations today, after a dam spill sparked a shutdown at the site earlier in the month. Newcrest (NCM) said there was “a limited breakthrough of tailings material,” a slurry of finely ground rock, water and some benign processing reagents, when the northern tailings dam embankment burst on March 9 at the gold operation in eastern Australia. The company today said mined ore will be stockpiled at the site, with processing operations to remain suspended. “It remains too early for guidance to be updated,” said Newcrest. The gold miner previously confirmed it will miss its full-year production guidance and said it will be unable to satisfy contracts for copper concentrate product because of the Cadia mine closure. The Cadia mine was closed for three months last year because of earthquake damage.
National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB):
National Australia Bank gave itself a “red”, or high, rating for regulatory and compliance risk for “many months” in 2015, according to bank board minutes released last night by the royal commission into financial services. Minutes of the principal board risk committee meeting also reveal issues, including $780 million on loan to debt laden Anglo Swiss miner and commodities trader Glencore, findings of “non-compliance” against the bank by anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism finance watchdog Austrac and inadequate disaster recovery plans for its data centres.
Telstra Corporation Ltd (TLS):
Telstra could end up paying more than $15 million in refunds to more than 100,000 mobile customers after charging them for digital content they unknowingly purchased, with the competition regulator forcing the telco to court for taking its customers for a ride. Australian Competition & Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims told The Australian the regulator’s comprehensive investigation had highlighted how lax Telstra had been in protecting its customers. “We took the view that having a billing system whereby people can be billed on their Telstra mobile account for third-party services, which would otherwise require them to use a credit card, created a real opportunity for -people to end up paying for things they didn’t want nor use,” Mr Sims said. “In this case they also had trouble getting out of these things as well, so clearly there was a problem and in one month I think they had 10,000 complaints.
Vocus Group Ltd (VOC):
Australia-listed telco Vocus is believed to be poised to strike a deal to offload its assets across the Tasman to Trustpower in a sale expected to be worth about $250 million. The New Zealand arm of Vocus has been up for sale through investment bank Goldman Sachs and it is now understood that a sale is close to being reached, but at far less than the $400m it was earlier estimated to be worth. Trustpower is a New Zealandlisted power company, which provides gas and electricity. It also has its own telecoms business, providing internet to 76,000 customers and its interest in Vocus indicates an eagerness to expand. The sale of Vocus’s NZ operations, which generated $29m in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for the half year, as well as some assets in Australia, was to reduce its $1bn debt load at a time its market value is only $1.47bn. However, it is understood lenders are hesitant about funding Vocus’s Australia-Singapore undersea cable project, and the cable may now also have to be sold down to other parties in order to succeed.
(Source: AIMS)
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