Atlas Iron Limited (AGO):
Atlas Iron says its board has recommended shareholders accept a takeover bid by billionaire Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting that values the iron ore miner at $390 million. With a sweeter cash bid, Ms Rinehart this month elbowed out rival suitor Mineral Resources to take pole position for the iron ore shipper. Her companies already own roughly 20 per cent of Atlas’s stock. Atlas’s assets include rights to potentially valuable undeveloped port capacity in Port Hedland. The miner (AGO) said it expects the Hancock offer to open early next week, and advised investors to wait for an independent expert’s report and target statement before selling their shares. It comes after the “billionaires battle” for Atlas escalated this week with Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Metals Group accusing Hancock of making “misleading statements and material omissions” in its takeover offer for Atlas, as it called for the Takeovers Panel to intervene. Fortescue subsidiary NCZ on Tuesday went to the Takeovers Panel asking that Redstone - a subsidiary of Ms Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting - be prevented from advancing its takeover of Atlas or acquiring any more shares in the junior miner. It took only a matter of hours for Hancock to respond, with the miner shedding new detail on its plans for Atlas while also highlighting what it said was the potential risk posed by Fortescue to “the longer-term viability of Atlas”.
BHP Billiton Limited (BHP):
BHP Billiton will offer up to $US211 million in financial support for its Brazilian iron-ore joint venture, Samarco Mineracao, and the Renova Foundation, an institute established after the deadly 2015 tailings dam failure at Samarco’s operations. BHP said $US158 million will go toward Renova Foundation’s remediation and compensation programs, and will be offset against the BHP’s earlier provision for the Samarco dam failure. A short-term facility of up to $US53 million will also be made available to Samarco for repair work, maintenance and planning tied to a restart of the operations. “Funds will be released to Samarco only as required, and subject to achievement of key milestones,” said BHP in a statement. It comes just days after BHP moved closer to avoiding massive financial damages from the Samarco disaster, striking a peace deal with prosecutors that settles a $7.1 billion claim and paves the way to extinguish a further $55.4bn lawsuit. The iron ore mine dam failure on November 5, 2015, unleashed 30 million tonnes of fast-moving mining waste into the valley below, killing 19 people, destroying the nearby village of Bento Rodriguez and polluting the Doce River system in what has been described as Brazil’s worst environmental disaster.
Brambles Limited (BXB):
Graham Chipchase is coming up to his second anniversary as Brambles boss and sadly the company’s stock price tells you the market is underwhelmed with his efforts so far. Over the last 12 months in which the S & P 200 index has returned 13.4 per cent including dividends, Brambles is down 5.6 per cent. UBS is tipping five per cent profit growth this year to $US629 million, on 10 per cent revenue growth to $US5.6 billion. At a recent strategy day in the UK, the London-based boss talked up spending in digital investments and in process improvement to cut costs. The company should perform well in an expanding economy and while international growth is slow we are in a rare period of co-ordinated international growth.
Mirvac Group (MGR):
Property group Mirvac is defying the apartment slump by forecasting it will hit the top end of its earnings guidance for the year thanks to a strong performance at its residential division. The group, led by Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz, has also been racking up wins as an office developer and is planning new towers in Sydney and Brisbane, partly as it pivots away from the slowing unit market. Ms Lloyd-Hurwitz told The Australian last month that the residential property market was at the mature point of a long--running cycle and argued that conditions were simply -returning to a more stable basis. New taxes and the tighter credit environment have prompted a drop in Chinese investment in new homes and apartments and the tougher regulatory focus on the banking sector stoked fears local buyers would also be hit. However, Mirvac, which focuses on luxury product for owner-occupiers, yesterday firmed up its earnings guidance for this financial year to 15.6c a share, representing growth of 8 per cent over last year. The result is now expected to come at the top end of its previous guidance of 15.3 to 15.6c a share.
Qantas Airways (QAN):
Former Wesfarmers chief executive Richard Goyder has been handed the most coveted chairmanship in the nation, with the corporate high-flyer who grew up on his family’s Tambellup sheep and grain farm in rural Western Australia to become the next chairman of Qantas. The role, which is often required to navigate intense political scrutiny, adds to his already impressive boardroom trophies that include chairman of the nation’s premier sporting code, the Australian Football League, and Woodside chairman. Qantas chairman Leigh Clifford will step down from his role in October after 11 years at the helm. His tenure marks one of the most transformative and disruptive periods in the airline’s history that saw it regroup after the failure of an aggressive takeover bid from private equity, massive job losses and heated clashes with unions, and stiff competition from cashed-up international airlines. Its share price collapsed in the process but has soared since. Mr Clifford’s time at the top also accompanies record profit — and losses — with Qantas posting a stunning turnaround after unsuccessfully seeking a government bailout just five years ago. For Qantas, it will bring a new mindset to the crucial chairman’s role as Mr Clifford, a hardened miner who earned his stripes as a mining engineer and went to become the boss of Rio Tinto, makes way for Mr Goyder, who spent 24 years with Wesfarmers overseeing retailers such as Coles, Bunnings hardware and a portfolio of energy, insurance and industrial services businesses.
Rio Tinto Group (RIO):
Rio Tinto’s Canadian-listed Turquoise Hill subsidiary is under growing investor pressure to appoint independent management, with a second minority shareholder, Invesco, voicing governance concerns about the company that holds all of Rio’s stake in the $US11 billion ($15bn) Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia. The comments came as Turquoise Hill yesterday appointed its chief financial officer, Rio secondee Luke Colton, as acting chief executive from next week, after chief executive (and Rio secondee) Jeff Tygesen’s retirement on July 1. Rio owns 51 per cent of Turquoise Hill, which in turn owns 66 per cent of Oyu Tolgoi, the big mine Rio operates and is currently expanding but does not have a direct stake in. Norm MacDonald, who manages resources funds at Invesco, a top-10 minority shareholder, said Turquoise Hill was set to benefit from huge cash flow and dividends in the medium term. Mr MacDonald said Turquoise was undervalued largely because it was not promoted well enough by Rio secondees in management. “When you look at how the asset is going and how everything at the operations level is doing very well and you look at the performance of the stock, it’s so disappointing there is a big disconnect,” Mr MacDonald said. “The cause of the disconnect, first and foremost, is corporate governance. You can say political risk is maybe a close second, but something is not lining up when you look at the quality of the asset, the strong execution of the expansion and where the stock is trading.”
SunRice:
Bumper rice harvests across the Riverina, good sales for premium rice and a rebound in profitability for its Papua New Guinea joint venture have all helped Australia’s monopoly rice exporter and food snacks manufacturer SunRice to achieve a 32 per cent jump in full-year net profit to $45.1 million. As SunRice prepares to have another go at listing its shares on the Australian Stock Exchange, the agriculture and food manufacturing business has showed off its financial prowess with revenue for the year to April 30 up 6 per cent to $1.2 billion. The company, which has its shares listed on the National Stock Exchange, said the latest financial results were driven by a combination of several factors that included the largest Riverina rice crop in three years, ongoing success of selling premium Riverina rice into high returning markets and sourcing rice offshore to satisfy demand in lower returning markets and a rebound in medium grain rice prices following a 10-year low. SunRice also reported a recovery in profitability by its PNG joint venture Trukai, animal feeds business CopRice and gourmet foods distribution, sales and marketing company Riviana. SunRice chief executive Rob Gordon said the business had performed strongly through the commodity cycle with an immediate return to profit growth.
(Source: AIMS)
Atlas Iron says its board has recommended shareholders accept a takeover bid by billionaire Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting that values the iron ore miner at $390 million. With a sweeter cash bid, Ms Rinehart this month elbowed out rival suitor Mineral Resources to take pole position for the iron ore shipper. Her companies already own roughly 20 per cent of Atlas’s stock. Atlas’s assets include rights to potentially valuable undeveloped port capacity in Port Hedland. The miner (AGO) said it expects the Hancock offer to open early next week, and advised investors to wait for an independent expert’s report and target statement before selling their shares. It comes after the “billionaires battle” for Atlas escalated this week with Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Metals Group accusing Hancock of making “misleading statements and material omissions” in its takeover offer for Atlas, as it called for the Takeovers Panel to intervene. Fortescue subsidiary NCZ on Tuesday went to the Takeovers Panel asking that Redstone - a subsidiary of Ms Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting - be prevented from advancing its takeover of Atlas or acquiring any more shares in the junior miner. It took only a matter of hours for Hancock to respond, with the miner shedding new detail on its plans for Atlas while also highlighting what it said was the potential risk posed by Fortescue to “the longer-term viability of Atlas”.
BHP Billiton Limited (BHP):
BHP Billiton will offer up to $US211 million in financial support for its Brazilian iron-ore joint venture, Samarco Mineracao, and the Renova Foundation, an institute established after the deadly 2015 tailings dam failure at Samarco’s operations. BHP said $US158 million will go toward Renova Foundation’s remediation and compensation programs, and will be offset against the BHP’s earlier provision for the Samarco dam failure. A short-term facility of up to $US53 million will also be made available to Samarco for repair work, maintenance and planning tied to a restart of the operations. “Funds will be released to Samarco only as required, and subject to achievement of key milestones,” said BHP in a statement. It comes just days after BHP moved closer to avoiding massive financial damages from the Samarco disaster, striking a peace deal with prosecutors that settles a $7.1 billion claim and paves the way to extinguish a further $55.4bn lawsuit. The iron ore mine dam failure on November 5, 2015, unleashed 30 million tonnes of fast-moving mining waste into the valley below, killing 19 people, destroying the nearby village of Bento Rodriguez and polluting the Doce River system in what has been described as Brazil’s worst environmental disaster.
Brambles Limited (BXB):
Graham Chipchase is coming up to his second anniversary as Brambles boss and sadly the company’s stock price tells you the market is underwhelmed with his efforts so far. Over the last 12 months in which the S & P 200 index has returned 13.4 per cent including dividends, Brambles is down 5.6 per cent. UBS is tipping five per cent profit growth this year to $US629 million, on 10 per cent revenue growth to $US5.6 billion. At a recent strategy day in the UK, the London-based boss talked up spending in digital investments and in process improvement to cut costs. The company should perform well in an expanding economy and while international growth is slow we are in a rare period of co-ordinated international growth.
Mirvac Group (MGR):
Property group Mirvac is defying the apartment slump by forecasting it will hit the top end of its earnings guidance for the year thanks to a strong performance at its residential division. The group, led by Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz, has also been racking up wins as an office developer and is planning new towers in Sydney and Brisbane, partly as it pivots away from the slowing unit market. Ms Lloyd-Hurwitz told The Australian last month that the residential property market was at the mature point of a long--running cycle and argued that conditions were simply -returning to a more stable basis. New taxes and the tighter credit environment have prompted a drop in Chinese investment in new homes and apartments and the tougher regulatory focus on the banking sector stoked fears local buyers would also be hit. However, Mirvac, which focuses on luxury product for owner-occupiers, yesterday firmed up its earnings guidance for this financial year to 15.6c a share, representing growth of 8 per cent over last year. The result is now expected to come at the top end of its previous guidance of 15.3 to 15.6c a share.
Qantas Airways (QAN):
Former Wesfarmers chief executive Richard Goyder has been handed the most coveted chairmanship in the nation, with the corporate high-flyer who grew up on his family’s Tambellup sheep and grain farm in rural Western Australia to become the next chairman of Qantas. The role, which is often required to navigate intense political scrutiny, adds to his already impressive boardroom trophies that include chairman of the nation’s premier sporting code, the Australian Football League, and Woodside chairman. Qantas chairman Leigh Clifford will step down from his role in October after 11 years at the helm. His tenure marks one of the most transformative and disruptive periods in the airline’s history that saw it regroup after the failure of an aggressive takeover bid from private equity, massive job losses and heated clashes with unions, and stiff competition from cashed-up international airlines. Its share price collapsed in the process but has soared since. Mr Clifford’s time at the top also accompanies record profit — and losses — with Qantas posting a stunning turnaround after unsuccessfully seeking a government bailout just five years ago. For Qantas, it will bring a new mindset to the crucial chairman’s role as Mr Clifford, a hardened miner who earned his stripes as a mining engineer and went to become the boss of Rio Tinto, makes way for Mr Goyder, who spent 24 years with Wesfarmers overseeing retailers such as Coles, Bunnings hardware and a portfolio of energy, insurance and industrial services businesses.
Rio Tinto Group (RIO):
Rio Tinto’s Canadian-listed Turquoise Hill subsidiary is under growing investor pressure to appoint independent management, with a second minority shareholder, Invesco, voicing governance concerns about the company that holds all of Rio’s stake in the $US11 billion ($15bn) Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia. The comments came as Turquoise Hill yesterday appointed its chief financial officer, Rio secondee Luke Colton, as acting chief executive from next week, after chief executive (and Rio secondee) Jeff Tygesen’s retirement on July 1. Rio owns 51 per cent of Turquoise Hill, which in turn owns 66 per cent of Oyu Tolgoi, the big mine Rio operates and is currently expanding but does not have a direct stake in. Norm MacDonald, who manages resources funds at Invesco, a top-10 minority shareholder, said Turquoise Hill was set to benefit from huge cash flow and dividends in the medium term. Mr MacDonald said Turquoise was undervalued largely because it was not promoted well enough by Rio secondees in management. “When you look at how the asset is going and how everything at the operations level is doing very well and you look at the performance of the stock, it’s so disappointing there is a big disconnect,” Mr MacDonald said. “The cause of the disconnect, first and foremost, is corporate governance. You can say political risk is maybe a close second, but something is not lining up when you look at the quality of the asset, the strong execution of the expansion and where the stock is trading.”
SunRice:
Bumper rice harvests across the Riverina, good sales for premium rice and a rebound in profitability for its Papua New Guinea joint venture have all helped Australia’s monopoly rice exporter and food snacks manufacturer SunRice to achieve a 32 per cent jump in full-year net profit to $45.1 million. As SunRice prepares to have another go at listing its shares on the Australian Stock Exchange, the agriculture and food manufacturing business has showed off its financial prowess with revenue for the year to April 30 up 6 per cent to $1.2 billion. The company, which has its shares listed on the National Stock Exchange, said the latest financial results were driven by a combination of several factors that included the largest Riverina rice crop in three years, ongoing success of selling premium Riverina rice into high returning markets and sourcing rice offshore to satisfy demand in lower returning markets and a rebound in medium grain rice prices following a 10-year low. SunRice also reported a recovery in profitability by its PNG joint venture Trukai, animal feeds business CopRice and gourmet foods distribution, sales and marketing company Riviana. SunRice chief executive Rob Gordon said the business had performed strongly through the commodity cycle with an immediate return to profit growth.
(Source: AIMS)
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