AMP Limited (AMP):
Treasurer Scott Morrison has warned AMP executives could face stiff penalties including jail time, saying the financial service's giant admission it had charged customers for services it did not provide and lied repeatedly to the regulator were "deeply disturbing". Reacting to the damaging revelations aired at the banking royal commission, Mr Morrison said ASIC had been investigating the financial services giant for some time and was pursuing compensation for victims. Commissioner Kenneth Hayne heard on Monday and Tuesday that AMP had charged customers for financial advice it did not provide, made as many as 20 false statements to ASIC over the nature and extent of its overcharging and its outgoing chief executive Craig Meller and chairman Catherine Brenner had interfered with a report prepared by law firm Clayton Utz that was presented to ASIC as independent.
Aurizon Holdings Ltd (AZJ):
Aurizon Holdings says it hauled 3 per cent more coal in its third quarter versus the year-earlier period, reflecting the startup of new customer contracts. The Australian rail operator (AZJ) said it carried 49.9 million tonnes of the energy commodity from mines in the country’s east to regional port facilities in the three months through March. That was up from 48.4 million in the same period a year ago, although down from 52.9 million tonnes in the quarter immediately prior. Aurizon said increased tonnage was underpinned by new coal volumes from operations including the Callide mine owned by Batchfire Resources and increased shipments from the likes of Whitehaven Coal. Aurizon reiterated expectations that it will haul 210 million-220 million tonnes this fiscal year, which was in February downgraded from 215 million-225 million tonnes because of changes to its maintenance plans on a major coal-export network. Aurizon says it expects to reduce capacity on the country’s largest coalexport rail network by roughly 20 million tonnes a year following a preliminary regulatory decision that will cap what it can charge for access well below what it wants users to pay.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA):
Commonwealth Bank of Australia may look to sell down 70 per cent or more in an ASX listing of its $4 billion global asset management arm. Sources told The Australian Financial Review the bank was open to a large initial public offering for Colonial First State Global Asset Management, depending on investor demand and broader equity market conditions. A divestment of 70 per cent to up to 100 per cent is not out of the question, sources said. It's understood the current thinking is a non-deal roadshow for the transaction may occur in June or July, allowing CBA to get the transaction away ahead of calendar year end. CBA told the market on Tuesday it would push ahead with a float of CFSGAM, which has $219 billion under management. On Wednesday CBA's stock was 0.5 per cent lower. The bank is also the latest firm to appear at the royal commission into financial services. Analysts at CLSA view the transaction as a positive for CBA and note it may trigger a large share buyback given the CFSGAM valuation and a surplus franking credit balance.
CYBG PLC/IDR UNRESTR (CYB):
CYBG shares are down 5.9 per cent today and it's the worst performer in percentage terms on the S&P/ASX200. The parent of British banks Clydesdale, Yorkshire and app-based bank "B" said that it expects to increase provisions relating to legacy costs for payment protection insurance by around 350 million pounds ($645 million). CYBG said that its review of final PPI cases was more complicated and timeconsuming than previously expected. It also commented that complaints rose to a higher-than-expected 59,000 in the six months to the end of March, peaking in January. "The elevated level of complaints has been driven by a combination of factors including heightened media coverage, the FCA advertising campaign and increased activity by claims management companies," it said. It added that it expects current level of complaints to remain at an elevated level for a period of time before reducing in volumes and costs by August 2019. CYBG was spun out of National Australia Bank in 2016.
Jupiter Mines Limited (JMS):
The next stage of Jupiter Mining’s corporate history will emerge today when the manganese investor returns to the public markets after finalising a $240 million capital raising, one of the largest mining deals in recent history. The size of the transaction exceeded expectations and the company, through lead adviser Hartleys, reportedly could have raised $300m. Jupiter was delisted in late 2014 after the global market downturn for commodities, especially manganese, which pushed its shares to below 10c. At that level Jupiter was valued at about $200m, which prompted chairman Brian Gilbertson to delist the company from the ASX because he felt the market was not properly valuing manganese mine Tshipi for the type of scale and long-life asset that he believed it represented. Nearly four years on, Jupiter will return to the ASX today with a market capitalisation of almost $800m.
Nextdc Ltd (NXT):
Data centre operator NextDC is buying three new development sites to plan for its expanding business on the back of the “exponential” growth in digital technologies used in Australians’ daily lives. But the group has not been able to agree on a deal to purchase three sites it occupies that have been offered for sale by its landlord Asia Pacific Data Centres, saying the asking price is still too high. To fund the new purchase, the group announced a fully underwritten $281 million institutional placement of new shares and a non-underwritten share purchase plan. UniSuper will be the cornerstone investor, contributing $150m to the institutional placement. Of the raising, $87m would be allocated to a Sydney site, more than $20m to a Perth site and about $60m to a Melbourne site, but the group would invest up to $2 billion to develop the centres over time.
Rio Tinto Limited (RIO):
Miner Rio Tinto has revealed a significant jump in iron ore production in the March quarter, with Pilbara iron ore production rising eight per cent to 83.1 million tonnes for the quarter compared to the same period in 2017. Iron ore shipments also rose, by five per cent, with the miner attributing the growth to "productivity improvements and fewer weather disruptions". Rio reported higher bauxite production, up 12 per cent to 12,653 tonnes, and a hefty 65 per cent jump in mined copper production, to 139,300 tonnes as production ramped up at the vast Escondida mine in Chile, after a lengthy strike hit production at the world's biggest copper mine in the first half of 2017. Rio said its 2018 iron ore shipments remained on track to be between 330 and 340 million tonnes.
Woodside Petroleum Limited (WPL):
Woodside Petroleum's first quarter revenue rose 30 percent from a year earlier on increased output and higher liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices. The country's largest independent oil and gas producer said revenue rose to $1.17 billion for the quarter ended March 31, compared with $902.4 million a year ago. Output increased to 22.2 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) from 21.4 mmboe in the March quarter last year, helped by a ramp-up in production at the Wheatstone LNG project in Western Australia.
(Source: AIMS)
Treasurer Scott Morrison has warned AMP executives could face stiff penalties including jail time, saying the financial service's giant admission it had charged customers for services it did not provide and lied repeatedly to the regulator were "deeply disturbing". Reacting to the damaging revelations aired at the banking royal commission, Mr Morrison said ASIC had been investigating the financial services giant for some time and was pursuing compensation for victims. Commissioner Kenneth Hayne heard on Monday and Tuesday that AMP had charged customers for financial advice it did not provide, made as many as 20 false statements to ASIC over the nature and extent of its overcharging and its outgoing chief executive Craig Meller and chairman Catherine Brenner had interfered with a report prepared by law firm Clayton Utz that was presented to ASIC as independent.
Aurizon Holdings Ltd (AZJ):
Aurizon Holdings says it hauled 3 per cent more coal in its third quarter versus the year-earlier period, reflecting the startup of new customer contracts. The Australian rail operator (AZJ) said it carried 49.9 million tonnes of the energy commodity from mines in the country’s east to regional port facilities in the three months through March. That was up from 48.4 million in the same period a year ago, although down from 52.9 million tonnes in the quarter immediately prior. Aurizon said increased tonnage was underpinned by new coal volumes from operations including the Callide mine owned by Batchfire Resources and increased shipments from the likes of Whitehaven Coal. Aurizon reiterated expectations that it will haul 210 million-220 million tonnes this fiscal year, which was in February downgraded from 215 million-225 million tonnes because of changes to its maintenance plans on a major coal-export network. Aurizon says it expects to reduce capacity on the country’s largest coalexport rail network by roughly 20 million tonnes a year following a preliminary regulatory decision that will cap what it can charge for access well below what it wants users to pay.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA):
Commonwealth Bank of Australia may look to sell down 70 per cent or more in an ASX listing of its $4 billion global asset management arm. Sources told The Australian Financial Review the bank was open to a large initial public offering for Colonial First State Global Asset Management, depending on investor demand and broader equity market conditions. A divestment of 70 per cent to up to 100 per cent is not out of the question, sources said. It's understood the current thinking is a non-deal roadshow for the transaction may occur in June or July, allowing CBA to get the transaction away ahead of calendar year end. CBA told the market on Tuesday it would push ahead with a float of CFSGAM, which has $219 billion under management. On Wednesday CBA's stock was 0.5 per cent lower. The bank is also the latest firm to appear at the royal commission into financial services. Analysts at CLSA view the transaction as a positive for CBA and note it may trigger a large share buyback given the CFSGAM valuation and a surplus franking credit balance.
CYBG PLC/IDR UNRESTR (CYB):
CYBG shares are down 5.9 per cent today and it's the worst performer in percentage terms on the S&P/ASX200. The parent of British banks Clydesdale, Yorkshire and app-based bank "B" said that it expects to increase provisions relating to legacy costs for payment protection insurance by around 350 million pounds ($645 million). CYBG said that its review of final PPI cases was more complicated and timeconsuming than previously expected. It also commented that complaints rose to a higher-than-expected 59,000 in the six months to the end of March, peaking in January. "The elevated level of complaints has been driven by a combination of factors including heightened media coverage, the FCA advertising campaign and increased activity by claims management companies," it said. It added that it expects current level of complaints to remain at an elevated level for a period of time before reducing in volumes and costs by August 2019. CYBG was spun out of National Australia Bank in 2016.
Jupiter Mines Limited (JMS):
The next stage of Jupiter Mining’s corporate history will emerge today when the manganese investor returns to the public markets after finalising a $240 million capital raising, one of the largest mining deals in recent history. The size of the transaction exceeded expectations and the company, through lead adviser Hartleys, reportedly could have raised $300m. Jupiter was delisted in late 2014 after the global market downturn for commodities, especially manganese, which pushed its shares to below 10c. At that level Jupiter was valued at about $200m, which prompted chairman Brian Gilbertson to delist the company from the ASX because he felt the market was not properly valuing manganese mine Tshipi for the type of scale and long-life asset that he believed it represented. Nearly four years on, Jupiter will return to the ASX today with a market capitalisation of almost $800m.
Nextdc Ltd (NXT):
Data centre operator NextDC is buying three new development sites to plan for its expanding business on the back of the “exponential” growth in digital technologies used in Australians’ daily lives. But the group has not been able to agree on a deal to purchase three sites it occupies that have been offered for sale by its landlord Asia Pacific Data Centres, saying the asking price is still too high. To fund the new purchase, the group announced a fully underwritten $281 million institutional placement of new shares and a non-underwritten share purchase plan. UniSuper will be the cornerstone investor, contributing $150m to the institutional placement. Of the raising, $87m would be allocated to a Sydney site, more than $20m to a Perth site and about $60m to a Melbourne site, but the group would invest up to $2 billion to develop the centres over time.
Rio Tinto Limited (RIO):
Miner Rio Tinto has revealed a significant jump in iron ore production in the March quarter, with Pilbara iron ore production rising eight per cent to 83.1 million tonnes for the quarter compared to the same period in 2017. Iron ore shipments also rose, by five per cent, with the miner attributing the growth to "productivity improvements and fewer weather disruptions". Rio reported higher bauxite production, up 12 per cent to 12,653 tonnes, and a hefty 65 per cent jump in mined copper production, to 139,300 tonnes as production ramped up at the vast Escondida mine in Chile, after a lengthy strike hit production at the world's biggest copper mine in the first half of 2017. Rio said its 2018 iron ore shipments remained on track to be between 330 and 340 million tonnes.
Woodside Petroleum Limited (WPL):
Woodside Petroleum's first quarter revenue rose 30 percent from a year earlier on increased output and higher liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices. The country's largest independent oil and gas producer said revenue rose to $1.17 billion for the quarter ended March 31, compared with $902.4 million a year ago. Output increased to 22.2 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) from 21.4 mmboe in the March quarter last year, helped by a ramp-up in production at the Wheatstone LNG project in Western Australia.
(Source: AIMS)
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