AMP Limited (AMP):
Law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart and Sullivan says it will be ready to file a shareholder class action against embattled finance group AMP within 10 days. Quinn Emanuel partner Damian Scattini, who has done stints at class action specialist firms Slater & Gordon and Maurice Blackburn, said he had been investigating an action against AMP since early last month, well before revelations at the banking royal commission last week smashed its share price. More than $1 billion was carved off AMP’s market capitalisation last week as the commission heard evidence the finance group had charged clients fees for services they did not get and misled the corporate regulator about it 20 times.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ):
ANZ dumped incentives for financial planners to bring in revenue just four days before the current round of hearings at the banking royal commission opened, the inquiry has heard. The bank’s chief risk officer for its digital and wealth businesses, Kylie Rixon, is giving evidence this morning as the commission probes shoddy financial advice. Ms Rixon said that when she provided her witness statement on April 9, 15 per cent of the so-called “balanced scorecard” was used to decide the bonuses of financial planners. But a change reducing this to zero was approved within the bank on April 18, she said. In addition to Ms Rixon, AMP’s head of advice compliance, Sarah Britt and NAB’s “chief customer officer” for consumer and wealth, Andrew Hagger, are also listed to give evidence today. However, there is no guarantee all of them will be heard from today.
Blue Sky Alternative Investments Ltd (BLA):
Embattled fund manager Blue Sky Alternative Investments has announced the resignation of managing director Robert Shand and the departure of two directors. It follows the hammering for Blue Sky shares in the wake of a report by short-seller Glaucus, accusing the Brisbane firm of exaggerating its fee-earnings assets and charging extortionate fees. Blue Sky (BLA) said Kim Morison had been appointed interim managing director. In a statement to the ASX, Mr Morison said he would focus on rebuilding market confidence and act on the board’s commitment to greater transparency in the role. “I’m committed to ensuring Blue Sky strengthens its governance and transparency to our shareholders and investors in order to restore and build confidence among all of our stakeholders,” Mr Morison said.
Brambles Limited (BXB):
Slater and Gordon and litigation fund IMF Bentham have announced a proposed class action against Brambles, alleging the logistics firm ‘cannibalised’ growth and misled investors over future higher profits. Slater and Gordon alleges that investors lost millions after Brambles doubled growth in 2016, but failed to account for the increased costs which “effectively ‘cannibalised’ the company’s upgraded profit guidance given in January and February 2017. The proposed class action would be open to investors who acquired shares in Brambles between August 18, 2016 and February 17, 2017.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA):
Commonwealth Bank was forced to hand the financial intelligence regulator board meeting minutes wherever a review of its compliance with anti-money-laundering laws had been discussed more than a year before Austrac sued the lender in the Federal Court. Documents obtained by The Australian under Freedom of Information laws reveal the money-laundering watchdog had serious concerns with CBA’s compliance and audit of its anti-money-laundering policy well before Austrac filed its explosive legal suit against the lender in August last year. According to documents dated June 2016, CBA was forced to hand over to Austrac all of the bank’s “internal and external audit reports” relating to its compliance with anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism-financing laws between 2011 and 2016. Also requested were “all minutes of meetings” of the CBA board, its audit committee and its risk committee at which any audit report concerning its money-laundering compliance was considered.
iSelect Ltd (ISU):
Comparison website iSelect says chief executive Scott Wilson has resigned effective immediately, as it warned its earnings will likely be significantly lower than previously forecast. Shares in iSelect plummeted 52 per cent in early trade following the announcement. For fiscal year 2018, iSelect said its underlying earnings before interest and tax will likely be in the range of between $8 million and $12m, down from the previous guidance of between $26m and $29m. Trading through the last two weeks of March and the first three weeks of April fell below expectations, with the health and energy and telco divisions impacted by market volatility and health experiencing a softening in overall demand due to ongoing insurance affordability issues, it said. The company (ISU) said it will begin the search for a replacement for Mr Wilson, who has been with the company for the last five years. Independent non-executive director and audit and risk committee chair Brodie Arnhold has been appointed chief executive in the interim. iSelect’s marketing head, Warren Hebard, is undertaking a full strategic review of marketing and modelling tools to address underperformance.
Kogan.com Ltd (KGN):
Kogan founder and CEO Ruslan Kogan says his mobile offering will continue to nab disillusioned customers from Australia’s major telcos, as the unit posted record gross profits for the quarter. Customers are complaining about their telcos in record numbers, with an ombudsman’s report last week declaring complaints were up 29 per cent year-on-year. That dissatisfaction is playing in to Kogan’s (KGN) hands, with its boss declaring customers have more choice now than ever. “Kogan mobile customers are delighted with the service they get, and you can see that through our metrics and our growing customer base. They love it and they’re telling all their friends about it,” Mr Kogan told The Australian. “There’s no doubt that when people see someone can offer something like Kogan Mobile for such an incredible price, it would make anyone upset with their current provider. Kogan’s telco offering is possible through a partnership with Vodafone, and Mr Kogan said the fact Vodafone handles the infrastructure side of things means the savings can then be passed on to the customer.
Macquarie Atlas Roads Limited (MQA):
Macquarie Atlas Roads has announced that Graeme Bevans will be the chief executive of the company once it separates its management from the Macquarie Group. The toll road operator, which will be renamed Atlas Arteria once it is spun-off, says Mr Bevans will start his role in May after current chief executive James Hooke opted to stay with Macquarie Group. The appointment of Mr Bevans, who will need to recruit a new management team and establish the infrastructure for the company to manage its own operations, is subject to a successful vote at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) on May 15. Under the proposed spin-off, Macquarie Group will remain manager for 12 months after MQA’s AGM on its existing terms of a fee worth 0.85 per cent of the toll road operator’s market value.
Medibank Private Ltd (MPL):
Health insurance giant Medibank will today launch a new initiative to provide treatments in the home, with an expansion of its chemotherapy trial and the rollout of a program for dialysis. The new initiative, Medibank at Home, comes as insurers increasingly look for new options to attract and retain customers, as questions remain over the value of health insurance. Linda Swan, Medibank’s chief medical officer, said Medibank at Home was about empowering customers with greater choice, control and flexibility about where they received their care.
Mirvac Group (MGR):
Diversified property giant Mirvac has warned that retail sales growth will stay below average but says the group is well placed even in a challenging environment. he developer also described housing market conditions as “more moderate” after years of strong price growth on the eastern seaboard, while first home buyers have been better able to get into the market. The comments came as Mirvac (MGR) reaffirmed its fullyear operating earnings guidance of 15.3 to 15.6 cents per stapled security, with distributions of 11 cents per security. “Mirvac is in excellent shape, and we are confident that we will achieve guidance for FY18,” chief executive Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz said in a third-quarter market update. The update comes amid headwinds for retail landlords such as cautious consumers and a trend to online shopping.
Newcrest Mining Limited (NCM):
Newcrest will use its Cadia Hill open pit as a tailings storage dam, sacrificing remaining gold and copper reserves to help it return to full production after a dam collapse halted operations at its NSW underground mine complex. Newcrest said using its old Cadia open pit as a long-term tailings storage facility is the best possible economic outcome despite the move meaning it will forego ore reserves of approximately 1.5 million ounces of gold and 130,000 tonnes of copper.
(Source: AIMS)
Law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart and Sullivan says it will be ready to file a shareholder class action against embattled finance group AMP within 10 days. Quinn Emanuel partner Damian Scattini, who has done stints at class action specialist firms Slater & Gordon and Maurice Blackburn, said he had been investigating an action against AMP since early last month, well before revelations at the banking royal commission last week smashed its share price. More than $1 billion was carved off AMP’s market capitalisation last week as the commission heard evidence the finance group had charged clients fees for services they did not get and misled the corporate regulator about it 20 times.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ):
ANZ dumped incentives for financial planners to bring in revenue just four days before the current round of hearings at the banking royal commission opened, the inquiry has heard. The bank’s chief risk officer for its digital and wealth businesses, Kylie Rixon, is giving evidence this morning as the commission probes shoddy financial advice. Ms Rixon said that when she provided her witness statement on April 9, 15 per cent of the so-called “balanced scorecard” was used to decide the bonuses of financial planners. But a change reducing this to zero was approved within the bank on April 18, she said. In addition to Ms Rixon, AMP’s head of advice compliance, Sarah Britt and NAB’s “chief customer officer” for consumer and wealth, Andrew Hagger, are also listed to give evidence today. However, there is no guarantee all of them will be heard from today.
Blue Sky Alternative Investments Ltd (BLA):
Embattled fund manager Blue Sky Alternative Investments has announced the resignation of managing director Robert Shand and the departure of two directors. It follows the hammering for Blue Sky shares in the wake of a report by short-seller Glaucus, accusing the Brisbane firm of exaggerating its fee-earnings assets and charging extortionate fees. Blue Sky (BLA) said Kim Morison had been appointed interim managing director. In a statement to the ASX, Mr Morison said he would focus on rebuilding market confidence and act on the board’s commitment to greater transparency in the role. “I’m committed to ensuring Blue Sky strengthens its governance and transparency to our shareholders and investors in order to restore and build confidence among all of our stakeholders,” Mr Morison said.
Brambles Limited (BXB):
Slater and Gordon and litigation fund IMF Bentham have announced a proposed class action against Brambles, alleging the logistics firm ‘cannibalised’ growth and misled investors over future higher profits. Slater and Gordon alleges that investors lost millions after Brambles doubled growth in 2016, but failed to account for the increased costs which “effectively ‘cannibalised’ the company’s upgraded profit guidance given in January and February 2017. The proposed class action would be open to investors who acquired shares in Brambles between August 18, 2016 and February 17, 2017.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA):
Commonwealth Bank was forced to hand the financial intelligence regulator board meeting minutes wherever a review of its compliance with anti-money-laundering laws had been discussed more than a year before Austrac sued the lender in the Federal Court. Documents obtained by The Australian under Freedom of Information laws reveal the money-laundering watchdog had serious concerns with CBA’s compliance and audit of its anti-money-laundering policy well before Austrac filed its explosive legal suit against the lender in August last year. According to documents dated June 2016, CBA was forced to hand over to Austrac all of the bank’s “internal and external audit reports” relating to its compliance with anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism-financing laws between 2011 and 2016. Also requested were “all minutes of meetings” of the CBA board, its audit committee and its risk committee at which any audit report concerning its money-laundering compliance was considered.
iSelect Ltd (ISU):
Comparison website iSelect says chief executive Scott Wilson has resigned effective immediately, as it warned its earnings will likely be significantly lower than previously forecast. Shares in iSelect plummeted 52 per cent in early trade following the announcement. For fiscal year 2018, iSelect said its underlying earnings before interest and tax will likely be in the range of between $8 million and $12m, down from the previous guidance of between $26m and $29m. Trading through the last two weeks of March and the first three weeks of April fell below expectations, with the health and energy and telco divisions impacted by market volatility and health experiencing a softening in overall demand due to ongoing insurance affordability issues, it said. The company (ISU) said it will begin the search for a replacement for Mr Wilson, who has been with the company for the last five years. Independent non-executive director and audit and risk committee chair Brodie Arnhold has been appointed chief executive in the interim. iSelect’s marketing head, Warren Hebard, is undertaking a full strategic review of marketing and modelling tools to address underperformance.
Kogan.com Ltd (KGN):
Kogan founder and CEO Ruslan Kogan says his mobile offering will continue to nab disillusioned customers from Australia’s major telcos, as the unit posted record gross profits for the quarter. Customers are complaining about their telcos in record numbers, with an ombudsman’s report last week declaring complaints were up 29 per cent year-on-year. That dissatisfaction is playing in to Kogan’s (KGN) hands, with its boss declaring customers have more choice now than ever. “Kogan mobile customers are delighted with the service they get, and you can see that through our metrics and our growing customer base. They love it and they’re telling all their friends about it,” Mr Kogan told The Australian. “There’s no doubt that when people see someone can offer something like Kogan Mobile for such an incredible price, it would make anyone upset with their current provider. Kogan’s telco offering is possible through a partnership with Vodafone, and Mr Kogan said the fact Vodafone handles the infrastructure side of things means the savings can then be passed on to the customer.
Macquarie Atlas Roads Limited (MQA):
Macquarie Atlas Roads has announced that Graeme Bevans will be the chief executive of the company once it separates its management from the Macquarie Group. The toll road operator, which will be renamed Atlas Arteria once it is spun-off, says Mr Bevans will start his role in May after current chief executive James Hooke opted to stay with Macquarie Group. The appointment of Mr Bevans, who will need to recruit a new management team and establish the infrastructure for the company to manage its own operations, is subject to a successful vote at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) on May 15. Under the proposed spin-off, Macquarie Group will remain manager for 12 months after MQA’s AGM on its existing terms of a fee worth 0.85 per cent of the toll road operator’s market value.
Medibank Private Ltd (MPL):
Health insurance giant Medibank will today launch a new initiative to provide treatments in the home, with an expansion of its chemotherapy trial and the rollout of a program for dialysis. The new initiative, Medibank at Home, comes as insurers increasingly look for new options to attract and retain customers, as questions remain over the value of health insurance. Linda Swan, Medibank’s chief medical officer, said Medibank at Home was about empowering customers with greater choice, control and flexibility about where they received their care.
Mirvac Group (MGR):
Diversified property giant Mirvac has warned that retail sales growth will stay below average but says the group is well placed even in a challenging environment. he developer also described housing market conditions as “more moderate” after years of strong price growth on the eastern seaboard, while first home buyers have been better able to get into the market. The comments came as Mirvac (MGR) reaffirmed its fullyear operating earnings guidance of 15.3 to 15.6 cents per stapled security, with distributions of 11 cents per security. “Mirvac is in excellent shape, and we are confident that we will achieve guidance for FY18,” chief executive Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz said in a third-quarter market update. The update comes amid headwinds for retail landlords such as cautious consumers and a trend to online shopping.
Newcrest Mining Limited (NCM):
Newcrest will use its Cadia Hill open pit as a tailings storage dam, sacrificing remaining gold and copper reserves to help it return to full production after a dam collapse halted operations at its NSW underground mine complex. Newcrest said using its old Cadia open pit as a long-term tailings storage facility is the best possible economic outcome despite the move meaning it will forego ore reserves of approximately 1.5 million ounces of gold and 130,000 tonnes of copper.
(Source: AIMS)
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