A2 Milk Company Ltd (A2M):
New Zealand-based a2 Milk has increased its shareholding in dairy processor Synlait, further cementing the relationship between the two companies. A2 (A2M) said today that it would acquire a further 8.3 per cent holding in Synlait from Misui & Co, adding to the 8.2 per cent stake it took in March last year. “This investment in Synlait is consistent with The a2 Milk Company’s commitment to long-term supply arrangement with high quality partners such as Synlait Milk and Fonterra Co-operative group,” said a2 managing director Jayne Hrdlicka. The shares were purchased at $NZ10.90 per share for $NZ161.8 million. It comes after dual ASX and NZX-listed Synlait and a2 in July extended their long-term infant formula supply agreement for another two years, as the two companies work closely to develop a2 Platinum for the Australian, New Zealand and Chinese markets.
APA Group (APA):
CKI Group’s $13 billion bid for Australia’s largest gas pipeline operator, APA Group, is looking more likely to be approved by the competition watchdog despite the political sensitivities around the nation’s energy sector, Citi analysts say. After reviewing 15 M&A decisions made by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission and 28 Foreign Investment Review Board rulings, Citi reckons the common themes like market concentration and divestments “are not insurmountable challenges” for the Hong-Kong based infrastructure firm. It argues the establishment of the Critical Infrastructure Centre actually increases the chance of regulatory approvals because the government gains additional transparency over the assets and some discretion over their operations. CKI’s knock back by Treasurer Scott Morrison for NSW electricity distributor Ausgrid two years ago was more likely due to its Chinese state-owned bidding partner State Grid being in the mix, Citi contends. While energy is “an acutely sensitive topic politically” at the moment, one scenario which could work to the government’s favour should it approve the bid would be for the Treasurer via the ACCC to increase the degree to which APA’s assets were regulated.
BWP Trust (BWP):
Listed Bunnings Warehouse landlord the BWP Trust has increased its distribution to unitholders on the back of higher rent prices, despite booking a lower full-year profit. The vehicle yesterday unveiled an 18 per cent profit fall to $183 million but was supported by rental growth from its core Bunnings Warehouse properties. “The trust is in a strong financial position at year end with a high-quality core portfolio of well-located Bunnings Warehouse properties, balance sheet flexibility and good future prospects for trust-owned properties that Bunnings has vacated, or is considering vacating,” the trust said. Income edged 0.6 per cent higher to $153.4m due rental increases. BWP’s portfolio was revalued, showing a lift of $58.1m to $2.4 billion during the year, partly as capitalisation rates tightened to 6.48 per cent, compared with 6.59 per cent at June 30 last year. The trust declared a full-year distribution to 17.81c, up 1.7 per cent on the 2017 fiscal year.
Macquarie Group Ltd (MQG):
Underpayment claims laid against Macquarie Group have climbed to almost $10.5m after a fresh lawsuit lodged this week brought the number of financial planners alleging the company ripped them off to 41 since March last year. While the bank (MQG) has earned the nickname “The Millionaires Factory” for hefty paypackets handed out to top executives, financial planners in four cases, lodged in Federal Circuit Court registries from Brisbane to Melbourne, claim the company failed to deliver basic entitlements including regular wages and annual leave. The claims by advisers follow a three-year remediation program for victims of shoddy advice given through the troubled division, which wrapped up last year after paying clients $24.7m in compensation. A Macquarie spokeswoman said the company “will be defending the proceedings”. In the latest wage theft lawsuit, filed in Sydney on Monday, six former investment advisers from Macquarie’s wealth division say that the bank short changed them and breached the Fair Work Act by paying them on a commission-only basis when it should have employed them under the Banking, Finance and Insurance Award.
NIB Holdings Limited (NHF):
Nib has acquired QBE’s travel insurance business in a $25 million deal, which the insurer’s boss says boosts its move to lessen its earnings reliance on health insurance. Australian-listed Nib said the deal was consistent with its strategy to grow its World Nomads Group travel business. The company said that on completion of the acquisition, WNG annual domestic gross written premium had the potential to increase by up to 40 per cent. Nib managing director Mark Fitzgibbon said the QBE acquisition added momentum to Nib’s travel business, which he said that aside from this transaction, had already seen sales lift by seven per cent for fiscal 2018. “Travel insurance is much closer to health insurance than most imagine given more than 60 per cent of travel insurance claims are medically related,” Mr Fitzgibbon said. “Greater scale is becoming increasingly important as are opportunities to achieve revenue and cost synergies. Being part of the Nib group allows the WNG business to access Nib hospital and provider networks, claims management capability and distribution channels.”
ResMed Inc (RMD):
Sleep device maker ResMed has increased its annual revenue as its chief Mick Farrell tips future growth, saying the company is well-positioned entering the new fiscal year. The company released its quarterly results today, which showed that for the quarter ended June 30, revenue increased 12 per cent on the corresponding period last year to $US623.6 million. The company also reported that revenue for the year increased 13 per cent to $US2.3 billion. Income from operations for the year was $US541.8 million, a 27 per cent increase over the prior year. “We closed out the year with strong performance across all aspects of our business, from solid top-line revenue growth, driven by geographically balanced results across our entire portfolio of offerings, to continued improvements in operating leverage, which has resulted in double-digit bottom-line growth,” Mick Farrell, ResMed’s chief executive, said. “We continue to advance our cloud-connected medical device strategy and are growing our cloud-based software-as-a-service business. The ResMed board declared a quarterly cash dividend of US37c-per-share, which will be paid on September 20.
Transurban Group (TCL):
Transurban is said to be gearing up for a $2 billion capital raising to fund the acquisition of an interest in WestConnex should Australia’s largest toll road operator be successful in the competition for the Sydney motorway project. It is understood that Transurban will go to the market seeking about $2 billion in equity. However, some say the raising could be as high as $3bn, which is possible if the company takes the opportunity to secure additional cash for other projects.Morgan Stanley and UBS will be working on the raising, which could be announced in days should the NSW government announce that Transurban is the preferred party for the project.
(Source: AIMS)
New Zealand-based a2 Milk has increased its shareholding in dairy processor Synlait, further cementing the relationship between the two companies. A2 (A2M) said today that it would acquire a further 8.3 per cent holding in Synlait from Misui & Co, adding to the 8.2 per cent stake it took in March last year. “This investment in Synlait is consistent with The a2 Milk Company’s commitment to long-term supply arrangement with high quality partners such as Synlait Milk and Fonterra Co-operative group,” said a2 managing director Jayne Hrdlicka. The shares were purchased at $NZ10.90 per share for $NZ161.8 million. It comes after dual ASX and NZX-listed Synlait and a2 in July extended their long-term infant formula supply agreement for another two years, as the two companies work closely to develop a2 Platinum for the Australian, New Zealand and Chinese markets.
APA Group (APA):
CKI Group’s $13 billion bid for Australia’s largest gas pipeline operator, APA Group, is looking more likely to be approved by the competition watchdog despite the political sensitivities around the nation’s energy sector, Citi analysts say. After reviewing 15 M&A decisions made by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission and 28 Foreign Investment Review Board rulings, Citi reckons the common themes like market concentration and divestments “are not insurmountable challenges” for the Hong-Kong based infrastructure firm. It argues the establishment of the Critical Infrastructure Centre actually increases the chance of regulatory approvals because the government gains additional transparency over the assets and some discretion over their operations. CKI’s knock back by Treasurer Scott Morrison for NSW electricity distributor Ausgrid two years ago was more likely due to its Chinese state-owned bidding partner State Grid being in the mix, Citi contends. While energy is “an acutely sensitive topic politically” at the moment, one scenario which could work to the government’s favour should it approve the bid would be for the Treasurer via the ACCC to increase the degree to which APA’s assets were regulated.
BWP Trust (BWP):
Listed Bunnings Warehouse landlord the BWP Trust has increased its distribution to unitholders on the back of higher rent prices, despite booking a lower full-year profit. The vehicle yesterday unveiled an 18 per cent profit fall to $183 million but was supported by rental growth from its core Bunnings Warehouse properties. “The trust is in a strong financial position at year end with a high-quality core portfolio of well-located Bunnings Warehouse properties, balance sheet flexibility and good future prospects for trust-owned properties that Bunnings has vacated, or is considering vacating,” the trust said. Income edged 0.6 per cent higher to $153.4m due rental increases. BWP’s portfolio was revalued, showing a lift of $58.1m to $2.4 billion during the year, partly as capitalisation rates tightened to 6.48 per cent, compared with 6.59 per cent at June 30 last year. The trust declared a full-year distribution to 17.81c, up 1.7 per cent on the 2017 fiscal year.
Macquarie Group Ltd (MQG):
Underpayment claims laid against Macquarie Group have climbed to almost $10.5m after a fresh lawsuit lodged this week brought the number of financial planners alleging the company ripped them off to 41 since March last year. While the bank (MQG) has earned the nickname “The Millionaires Factory” for hefty paypackets handed out to top executives, financial planners in four cases, lodged in Federal Circuit Court registries from Brisbane to Melbourne, claim the company failed to deliver basic entitlements including regular wages and annual leave. The claims by advisers follow a three-year remediation program for victims of shoddy advice given through the troubled division, which wrapped up last year after paying clients $24.7m in compensation. A Macquarie spokeswoman said the company “will be defending the proceedings”. In the latest wage theft lawsuit, filed in Sydney on Monday, six former investment advisers from Macquarie’s wealth division say that the bank short changed them and breached the Fair Work Act by paying them on a commission-only basis when it should have employed them under the Banking, Finance and Insurance Award.
NIB Holdings Limited (NHF):
Nib has acquired QBE’s travel insurance business in a $25 million deal, which the insurer’s boss says boosts its move to lessen its earnings reliance on health insurance. Australian-listed Nib said the deal was consistent with its strategy to grow its World Nomads Group travel business. The company said that on completion of the acquisition, WNG annual domestic gross written premium had the potential to increase by up to 40 per cent. Nib managing director Mark Fitzgibbon said the QBE acquisition added momentum to Nib’s travel business, which he said that aside from this transaction, had already seen sales lift by seven per cent for fiscal 2018. “Travel insurance is much closer to health insurance than most imagine given more than 60 per cent of travel insurance claims are medically related,” Mr Fitzgibbon said. “Greater scale is becoming increasingly important as are opportunities to achieve revenue and cost synergies. Being part of the Nib group allows the WNG business to access Nib hospital and provider networks, claims management capability and distribution channels.”
ResMed Inc (RMD):
Sleep device maker ResMed has increased its annual revenue as its chief Mick Farrell tips future growth, saying the company is well-positioned entering the new fiscal year. The company released its quarterly results today, which showed that for the quarter ended June 30, revenue increased 12 per cent on the corresponding period last year to $US623.6 million. The company also reported that revenue for the year increased 13 per cent to $US2.3 billion. Income from operations for the year was $US541.8 million, a 27 per cent increase over the prior year. “We closed out the year with strong performance across all aspects of our business, from solid top-line revenue growth, driven by geographically balanced results across our entire portfolio of offerings, to continued improvements in operating leverage, which has resulted in double-digit bottom-line growth,” Mick Farrell, ResMed’s chief executive, said. “We continue to advance our cloud-connected medical device strategy and are growing our cloud-based software-as-a-service business. The ResMed board declared a quarterly cash dividend of US37c-per-share, which will be paid on September 20.
Transurban Group (TCL):
Transurban is said to be gearing up for a $2 billion capital raising to fund the acquisition of an interest in WestConnex should Australia’s largest toll road operator be successful in the competition for the Sydney motorway project. It is understood that Transurban will go to the market seeking about $2 billion in equity. However, some say the raising could be as high as $3bn, which is possible if the company takes the opportunity to secure additional cash for other projects.Morgan Stanley and UBS will be working on the raising, which could be announced in days should the NSW government announce that Transurban is the preferred party for the project.
(Source: AIMS)
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