Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ):
ANZ Bank and its group treasurer Rick Moscati, as well as two other unnamed companies, face criminal proceedings for their alleged involvement in cartel conduct relating to the bank’s $2.5 billion capital raising in late 2015. The move, brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, marks one of the biggest cases since the competition regulator was last year given tough powers to pursue Australian companies under criminal cartel provisions. ANZ says it will defend the criminal cartel charges planned by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.
BHP Billiton Limited (BHP):
BHP Billiton’s claims that its dual-listed Australian and London companies are not associates “make a mockery” of the law, an Australian Taxation Office lawyer has told a Melbourne court, as the tax office seeks to overturn an $87 million tribunal ruling in BHP’s favour over its controversial Singapore trading office. The court case started yesterday, just three days after BHP confidentially settled a Queensland royalties case around the Singapore business that former federal treasurer Wayne Swan claims is worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Queensland. In Melbourne, counsel for the ATO, James Hmelnitsky, SC, told a panel of three Federal Court judges that the Administrative Appeals Tribunal should have concluded BHP’s dual-listed structure meant its Australian and London-listed arms were associates, along with the Singaporean outpost. This would make the earnings reaped by the Singapore operation from NSW mines controlled by the London-listed part of the group, BHP Billiton plc, liable for tax under Australia’s controlled foreign corporation rules. BHP is facing more than $1.1 billion of tax office claims over the Singapore hub.
DEXUS Property Group (DXS):
Dexus may be drawn into the tussle for the listed Investa Office Fund, potentially complicating the $3.1 billion takeover bid by private equity group Blackstone. A play for IOF could be funded by Dexus selling its $2bn-plus industrial portfolio and focusing on office towers, according to the Merrill Lynch analysts that suggested the idea of a return to the fray by the Darren Steinberg-led group. Dexus has been adamant for some years it would not pursue mergers, but the investment bank’s property research team said there was merit in the idea. “We believe Dexus Property Group may be tempted to take a look at Investa Office Fund on the back of Blackstone’s $3.1bn all-cash non-binding bid for the company earlier this week,” Merrill Lynch analysts Simon Chan and Lauren Berry said. Dexus made a takeover play in 2015 for the Investa-run fund, which owns a $4bn portfolio of towers, and Merrill Lynch said it could now trump Blackstone’s $5.25 per unit bid for IOF.
iSelect (ISU):
Online mortgage broker iSelect says it has received “several” unsolicited proposals in relation to mergers or an acquisition. It comes after IHA Group, which is linked to UK-based online insurance broker Compare the Market, snapped up a 12.21 per cent stake in the company last week. The move triggered a 13 per cent spike in the price of iSelect shares and the company told the market on Monday that it had not been contacted by the IHA Group or its representatives. In a statement to the ASX this morning, iSelect (ISU) said it was referring to IHA Group’s substantial holder notice when it confirmed it had received several unsolicited and non-binding proposals from both listed and unlisted parties in recent weeks, but gave no further detail.
Metcash Limited (MTS):
Shares in Metcash continue to slide amid fears the IGA and Foodland supermarkets supplier could lose more contracts with its independent retailers. Metcash shares have plunged 21 per cent in the past four days after the grocery supplier flagged on Monday a potential $270 million sales hit if it loses a contract with independent chain Drakes Supermarkets. Drakes Supermarkets, which has more than 50 stores across South Australia and Queensland, will not commit to Metcash (MTS) beyond the end of the parties’ current South Australian agreement in June 2019. Citi analysts Bryan Raymond and Craig Woolford say there is a risk Metcash could lose up to three more contracts which are also up for renegotiation over the next 12 months.
Qantas Airways Limited (QAN):
Qantas will add 115 domestic routes in New Zealand and Australia as part of a codeshare deal with Air New Zealand announced today. Qantas will add its code on up to 30 routes on Air New Zealand’s domestic network, while Air New Zealand will add up to 85 route’s to Qantas’ domestic network under the deal, which Qantas says will make travel within Australia and New Zealand easier. “Our relationship with Air New Zealand goes back almost 80 years. We’ve been partners at various stages over that time and we have a lot of respect for them as a competitor,” said Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce.
Viva Energy:
Viva Energy is preparing to launch one of Australia’s largest-ever public listings, valued at up to $6.2 billion. Viva’s owner, global oil and gas company Vitol, plans to list its Australian assets in July – which includes an oil refinery, three oil import terminals and petrol stations – in what will be Australia’s biggest IPO since 2014. Vitol itself lodged a prospectus, to trade as Vivo Energy, on the London and Johannesburg stock exchanges earlier this month, raising about £2 billion ($3.5 billion). A source close to Viva said after the company’s roadshow it would likely lodge a prospectus in the second half of June with a listing to be carried out in the middle of July.
Woolworths Group Ltd (WOW):
Ratings agency Moody’s has upgraded its outlook on its Woolworths rating to stable, on the back of business improvements and stronger credit metrics. Moody’s reaffirmed its Baa2 issuer rating and senior unsecured rating on Woolworths (WOW), as its rating outlook swung from negative to stable on the expectation that its credit metrics will improve slightly in the short term and stabilise in 2019 or 2020. “The change in outlook to stable reflects the improvement in Woolworths’ core Australian food business; lower losses in the general merchandise segment; and the strengthening of the company’s credit metrics,” said Moody’s vice president and lead Woolworths analyst Ian Chitterer. Over the next year, Moody’s said it expects debt-to-EBITDA ratio to improve by between 3.5 times and 3.7 compared to 3.8 times for the 12 months to December 31. This is down from 4.3 times at June 2016.
(Source: AIMS)
ANZ Bank and its group treasurer Rick Moscati, as well as two other unnamed companies, face criminal proceedings for their alleged involvement in cartel conduct relating to the bank’s $2.5 billion capital raising in late 2015. The move, brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, marks one of the biggest cases since the competition regulator was last year given tough powers to pursue Australian companies under criminal cartel provisions. ANZ says it will defend the criminal cartel charges planned by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.
BHP Billiton Limited (BHP):
BHP Billiton’s claims that its dual-listed Australian and London companies are not associates “make a mockery” of the law, an Australian Taxation Office lawyer has told a Melbourne court, as the tax office seeks to overturn an $87 million tribunal ruling in BHP’s favour over its controversial Singapore trading office. The court case started yesterday, just three days after BHP confidentially settled a Queensland royalties case around the Singapore business that former federal treasurer Wayne Swan claims is worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Queensland. In Melbourne, counsel for the ATO, James Hmelnitsky, SC, told a panel of three Federal Court judges that the Administrative Appeals Tribunal should have concluded BHP’s dual-listed structure meant its Australian and London-listed arms were associates, along with the Singaporean outpost. This would make the earnings reaped by the Singapore operation from NSW mines controlled by the London-listed part of the group, BHP Billiton plc, liable for tax under Australia’s controlled foreign corporation rules. BHP is facing more than $1.1 billion of tax office claims over the Singapore hub.
DEXUS Property Group (DXS):
Dexus may be drawn into the tussle for the listed Investa Office Fund, potentially complicating the $3.1 billion takeover bid by private equity group Blackstone. A play for IOF could be funded by Dexus selling its $2bn-plus industrial portfolio and focusing on office towers, according to the Merrill Lynch analysts that suggested the idea of a return to the fray by the Darren Steinberg-led group. Dexus has been adamant for some years it would not pursue mergers, but the investment bank’s property research team said there was merit in the idea. “We believe Dexus Property Group may be tempted to take a look at Investa Office Fund on the back of Blackstone’s $3.1bn all-cash non-binding bid for the company earlier this week,” Merrill Lynch analysts Simon Chan and Lauren Berry said. Dexus made a takeover play in 2015 for the Investa-run fund, which owns a $4bn portfolio of towers, and Merrill Lynch said it could now trump Blackstone’s $5.25 per unit bid for IOF.
iSelect (ISU):
Online mortgage broker iSelect says it has received “several” unsolicited proposals in relation to mergers or an acquisition. It comes after IHA Group, which is linked to UK-based online insurance broker Compare the Market, snapped up a 12.21 per cent stake in the company last week. The move triggered a 13 per cent spike in the price of iSelect shares and the company told the market on Monday that it had not been contacted by the IHA Group or its representatives. In a statement to the ASX this morning, iSelect (ISU) said it was referring to IHA Group’s substantial holder notice when it confirmed it had received several unsolicited and non-binding proposals from both listed and unlisted parties in recent weeks, but gave no further detail.
Metcash Limited (MTS):
Shares in Metcash continue to slide amid fears the IGA and Foodland supermarkets supplier could lose more contracts with its independent retailers. Metcash shares have plunged 21 per cent in the past four days after the grocery supplier flagged on Monday a potential $270 million sales hit if it loses a contract with independent chain Drakes Supermarkets. Drakes Supermarkets, which has more than 50 stores across South Australia and Queensland, will not commit to Metcash (MTS) beyond the end of the parties’ current South Australian agreement in June 2019. Citi analysts Bryan Raymond and Craig Woolford say there is a risk Metcash could lose up to three more contracts which are also up for renegotiation over the next 12 months.
Qantas Airways Limited (QAN):
Qantas will add 115 domestic routes in New Zealand and Australia as part of a codeshare deal with Air New Zealand announced today. Qantas will add its code on up to 30 routes on Air New Zealand’s domestic network, while Air New Zealand will add up to 85 route’s to Qantas’ domestic network under the deal, which Qantas says will make travel within Australia and New Zealand easier. “Our relationship with Air New Zealand goes back almost 80 years. We’ve been partners at various stages over that time and we have a lot of respect for them as a competitor,” said Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce.
Viva Energy:
Viva Energy is preparing to launch one of Australia’s largest-ever public listings, valued at up to $6.2 billion. Viva’s owner, global oil and gas company Vitol, plans to list its Australian assets in July – which includes an oil refinery, three oil import terminals and petrol stations – in what will be Australia’s biggest IPO since 2014. Vitol itself lodged a prospectus, to trade as Vivo Energy, on the London and Johannesburg stock exchanges earlier this month, raising about £2 billion ($3.5 billion). A source close to Viva said after the company’s roadshow it would likely lodge a prospectus in the second half of June with a listing to be carried out in the middle of July.
Woolworths Group Ltd (WOW):
Ratings agency Moody’s has upgraded its outlook on its Woolworths rating to stable, on the back of business improvements and stronger credit metrics. Moody’s reaffirmed its Baa2 issuer rating and senior unsecured rating on Woolworths (WOW), as its rating outlook swung from negative to stable on the expectation that its credit metrics will improve slightly in the short term and stabilise in 2019 or 2020. “The change in outlook to stable reflects the improvement in Woolworths’ core Australian food business; lower losses in the general merchandise segment; and the strengthening of the company’s credit metrics,” said Moody’s vice president and lead Woolworths analyst Ian Chitterer. Over the next year, Moody’s said it expects debt-to-EBITDA ratio to improve by between 3.5 times and 3.7 compared to 3.8 times for the 12 months to December 31. This is down from 4.3 times at June 2016.
(Source: AIMS)
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