Baby Bunting Group Ltd (BBN):
Shares in Baby Bunting shot up as much as 39 per cent in early trade after it’s full-year profit figure beat consensus estimates (despite tumbling almost 30 per cent) and as it flagged a stronger than expected fiscal year 2019. Unveiling a net profit attributable to members of $8.7 million, down 29.1 per cent on the prior year, the retailer (BBN) also expressed confidence about future growth prospects as a wave of steep discounting across the baby goods sector comes to an end. On a pro forma basis, underlying net profit attributable to members was $9.6m, 13 per cent above Citibank estimates of $8.5m and 4 per cent above Consensus of $9.2m. The result follows a string of profit warnings after distressed trading by failed rivals dented its gross margins, as Baby Bunting was forced to offer discounts to avoid losing shoppers.
BHP Billiton Limited (BHP):
Mining heavyweight BHP says a federal court in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais has approved an agreement between miner Samarco and Brazil authorities, marking a milestone in the legal battle over a deadly 2015 dam failure. A 20 billion reals ($A7.2 billion) lawsuit against Samarco, which is a joint venture of BHP and Vale, was quashed by the accord, which was signed in June. An even more expansive lawsuit was also suspended under the agreement. The company (BHP) said it had separately agreed to pay $US50 million as part of a settlement for a class-action complaint filed by American depositary receipt (ADR) holders over the disaster. Bryan Quinn, BHP’s head of non-operated joint ventures, said in an interview in Sao Paulo that the deal “creates a more stable legal and institutional environment for ongoing work and negotiations.” “There is still a lot of work to do and a long way to go on many fronts,” he added. “We now have even more stakeholders involved than in the past, which is positive, but it also means that activity doesn’t always move as quickly as we would like.” Samarco told Reuters in a statement this week that next year it expects to obtain licences needed to resume operations.
Crown Resorts Ltd (CWN):
Melbourne barrister Neil Young will be all warmed up by the time he represents billionaire James Packer’s Crown Resorts in its escalating stoush with Terry Moran’s Barangaroo Development Authority. The John Alexander-led $9 billion Crown yesterday lobbed an injunction on the BDA to preserve the $2bn casino development’s views of Sydney’s Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Young will hope the NSW -Supreme Court assignment is less grim. Joining him on Team Crown is top-tier law firm Ashurst in an extraordinary action that pits Premier Gladys Berejiklian against one of Australia’s richest men. Crown is demanding the court forces the BDA to comply with its contractual obligations under the Crown Development Agreement (CDA). Crown wants the BDA to fulfil its requirement to consult with the $9bn casino company over the BDA’s revised development of the Central Barangaroo precinct, which the gaming group says is a requirement of the CDA. Crown wants to keep its sight lines from its $2bn development to the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House.
James Hardie Industries plc (JHX):
Shares in building materials supplier James Hardie plummeted more than 7 per cent to a near-seven month low despite the company reporting a 58 per cent rise in first-quarter net profit. James Hardie (JHX) was upbeat about the outlook for the US housing market as it said net profit totalled $US90.6 million in the three months through June, up from $US57.4 million a year earlier. The company’s adjusted net operating profit, which strips out asbestos liabilities, rose by 29 per cent to $US79.9 million. James Hardie has faced thousands of compensation claims in Australia after workers who mined asbestos for decades, before it was phased out in the 1980s, developed deadly asbestos-related lung diseases such as mesothelioma. Looking across the full year, James Hardie said it expects an adjusted net operating profit of between $US300 million and $US340 million, assuming US housing conditions continue to improve as management expect. That’s a slight miss on consensus forecasts for a $US313 million-$US358 million profit.
Macquarie Group Ltd (MQG):
Investment bank Macquarie has today confirmed it will make a full return to property funds management in Australia by taking a stake in the $11 billion Investa Property Group platform. The Australian reported on Tuesday that the bank had won the support of the Investa group’s superannuation fund owners for the deal. Macquarie today said it was in talks to take a half stake in the Investa management platform, just as the battle for control of its listed trust, the Investa Office Fund, comes to a head. Blackstone has made a $3.1bn takeover bid for that fund, which owns stakes in towers, including Sydney’s Deutsche Bank Place. In a note to clients today, Macquarie said it had entered a “standstill agreement” not to acquire units in IOF. The bank’s Macquarie Capital unit said a subsidiary was in “discussions” with the holding company of IOF’s sister fund, Investa Commercial Property Fund, “regarding a possible funds and property management joint venture”. The deal would see Macquarie take a half interest in the management company, which also manages the listed IOF. The parties have entered an “exclusivity agreement” for the purposes of negotiating and finalising their joint venture.
National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB):
National Australia Bank has no plans to refund customers it has stung with a so-called “adviser contribution fee”, which has come under heavy fire at the financial services royal commission, when it ends the impost in October. The bank planned to announce an end to the charge, a hefty payment to financial advisers when savers contribute to their retirement nest egg, a fortnight ago but decided to delete references to it from a media release, the financial services royal commission heard yesterday. NAB executive Paul Carter this week revealed the bank was insisting the impost was not a fee but a commission in order to avoid any potential compensation over the gouge, as no services had to be provided in return for the payment. NAB’s super trustee continues to bleed members with the fee, which could be as high as 5.88 per cent of contributions to a member’s savings, and transfer it to financial advisers despite Future of Financial Advice laws in 2013 that clamped down on commissions. The bank’s efforts to keep the details from the public were laid bare at the hearing yesterday when a draft version of the media release was displayed.
NEWS CORPORATION (NWS):
News Corp reported a 29 per cent increase in revenue for the fourth quarter, reflecting the consolidation of Foxtel and Fox Sports into a merged subscription-TV player and strong performances in digital real estate and book publishing. For the quarter, the company reported a net loss of $US355 million, which includes a non-cash impact of $US337 million resulting from the Foxtel-Fox Sports deal, compared with a loss of $US424 million in the same period a year earlier. News Corp, which publishes The Australian and major newspapers in the US and UK, reported total revenue of $US2.69 billion for the three months ended June 30. Revenue at the news and information services business, which accounts for 48 per cent of the company’s top line, rose 1 per cent at $1.3 billion. News Corp said digital revenues now represent 30 per cent of news and information services segment revenues, compared to 26 per cent in the prior year, reflecting efforts to attract more paid digital subscriber growth at mastheads. Book publishing posted a record quarter in revenues, up 20 per cent to $US490 million. Digital real estate services also delivered a strong performance with revenues up 19 per cent to $US299 million.
REA Group Limited (REA):
REA Group has posted a 23 per cent increase in profit, fuelled by a robust residential property listings market in Australia and strong demand for premium advertising products. The operator of realestate.com.au recorded a net profit of $279.9 million for the full year. This was on revenue of $807.7 million, up 20 per cent on the prior corresponding period. The board declared a final dividend of 62 cents per share fully franked, up from 51 cents. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation increased 22 per cent to $463.7 million. The main revenue driver was the Australian business, which drove revenue 21 per cent higher to $763.4 million. Much of the pick up in revenue was due to residential revenue, up 23 per cent to $513m, bucking a downward drop in total property listings. The unit was also boosted by the inclusion of Financial Services. Total residential listings declined approximately 2 per cent for the year, accompanied by a moderate increase in Melbourne and Sydney.
(Source: AIMS)
Shares in Baby Bunting shot up as much as 39 per cent in early trade after it’s full-year profit figure beat consensus estimates (despite tumbling almost 30 per cent) and as it flagged a stronger than expected fiscal year 2019. Unveiling a net profit attributable to members of $8.7 million, down 29.1 per cent on the prior year, the retailer (BBN) also expressed confidence about future growth prospects as a wave of steep discounting across the baby goods sector comes to an end. On a pro forma basis, underlying net profit attributable to members was $9.6m, 13 per cent above Citibank estimates of $8.5m and 4 per cent above Consensus of $9.2m. The result follows a string of profit warnings after distressed trading by failed rivals dented its gross margins, as Baby Bunting was forced to offer discounts to avoid losing shoppers.
BHP Billiton Limited (BHP):
Mining heavyweight BHP says a federal court in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais has approved an agreement between miner Samarco and Brazil authorities, marking a milestone in the legal battle over a deadly 2015 dam failure. A 20 billion reals ($A7.2 billion) lawsuit against Samarco, which is a joint venture of BHP and Vale, was quashed by the accord, which was signed in June. An even more expansive lawsuit was also suspended under the agreement. The company (BHP) said it had separately agreed to pay $US50 million as part of a settlement for a class-action complaint filed by American depositary receipt (ADR) holders over the disaster. Bryan Quinn, BHP’s head of non-operated joint ventures, said in an interview in Sao Paulo that the deal “creates a more stable legal and institutional environment for ongoing work and negotiations.” “There is still a lot of work to do and a long way to go on many fronts,” he added. “We now have even more stakeholders involved than in the past, which is positive, but it also means that activity doesn’t always move as quickly as we would like.” Samarco told Reuters in a statement this week that next year it expects to obtain licences needed to resume operations.
Crown Resorts Ltd (CWN):
Melbourne barrister Neil Young will be all warmed up by the time he represents billionaire James Packer’s Crown Resorts in its escalating stoush with Terry Moran’s Barangaroo Development Authority. The John Alexander-led $9 billion Crown yesterday lobbed an injunction on the BDA to preserve the $2bn casino development’s views of Sydney’s Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Young will hope the NSW -Supreme Court assignment is less grim. Joining him on Team Crown is top-tier law firm Ashurst in an extraordinary action that pits Premier Gladys Berejiklian against one of Australia’s richest men. Crown is demanding the court forces the BDA to comply with its contractual obligations under the Crown Development Agreement (CDA). Crown wants the BDA to fulfil its requirement to consult with the $9bn casino company over the BDA’s revised development of the Central Barangaroo precinct, which the gaming group says is a requirement of the CDA. Crown wants to keep its sight lines from its $2bn development to the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House.
James Hardie Industries plc (JHX):
Shares in building materials supplier James Hardie plummeted more than 7 per cent to a near-seven month low despite the company reporting a 58 per cent rise in first-quarter net profit. James Hardie (JHX) was upbeat about the outlook for the US housing market as it said net profit totalled $US90.6 million in the three months through June, up from $US57.4 million a year earlier. The company’s adjusted net operating profit, which strips out asbestos liabilities, rose by 29 per cent to $US79.9 million. James Hardie has faced thousands of compensation claims in Australia after workers who mined asbestos for decades, before it was phased out in the 1980s, developed deadly asbestos-related lung diseases such as mesothelioma. Looking across the full year, James Hardie said it expects an adjusted net operating profit of between $US300 million and $US340 million, assuming US housing conditions continue to improve as management expect. That’s a slight miss on consensus forecasts for a $US313 million-$US358 million profit.
Macquarie Group Ltd (MQG):
Investment bank Macquarie has today confirmed it will make a full return to property funds management in Australia by taking a stake in the $11 billion Investa Property Group platform. The Australian reported on Tuesday that the bank had won the support of the Investa group’s superannuation fund owners for the deal. Macquarie today said it was in talks to take a half stake in the Investa management platform, just as the battle for control of its listed trust, the Investa Office Fund, comes to a head. Blackstone has made a $3.1bn takeover bid for that fund, which owns stakes in towers, including Sydney’s Deutsche Bank Place. In a note to clients today, Macquarie said it had entered a “standstill agreement” not to acquire units in IOF. The bank’s Macquarie Capital unit said a subsidiary was in “discussions” with the holding company of IOF’s sister fund, Investa Commercial Property Fund, “regarding a possible funds and property management joint venture”. The deal would see Macquarie take a half interest in the management company, which also manages the listed IOF. The parties have entered an “exclusivity agreement” for the purposes of negotiating and finalising their joint venture.
National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB):
National Australia Bank has no plans to refund customers it has stung with a so-called “adviser contribution fee”, which has come under heavy fire at the financial services royal commission, when it ends the impost in October. The bank planned to announce an end to the charge, a hefty payment to financial advisers when savers contribute to their retirement nest egg, a fortnight ago but decided to delete references to it from a media release, the financial services royal commission heard yesterday. NAB executive Paul Carter this week revealed the bank was insisting the impost was not a fee but a commission in order to avoid any potential compensation over the gouge, as no services had to be provided in return for the payment. NAB’s super trustee continues to bleed members with the fee, which could be as high as 5.88 per cent of contributions to a member’s savings, and transfer it to financial advisers despite Future of Financial Advice laws in 2013 that clamped down on commissions. The bank’s efforts to keep the details from the public were laid bare at the hearing yesterday when a draft version of the media release was displayed.
NEWS CORPORATION (NWS):
News Corp reported a 29 per cent increase in revenue for the fourth quarter, reflecting the consolidation of Foxtel and Fox Sports into a merged subscription-TV player and strong performances in digital real estate and book publishing. For the quarter, the company reported a net loss of $US355 million, which includes a non-cash impact of $US337 million resulting from the Foxtel-Fox Sports deal, compared with a loss of $US424 million in the same period a year earlier. News Corp, which publishes The Australian and major newspapers in the US and UK, reported total revenue of $US2.69 billion for the three months ended June 30. Revenue at the news and information services business, which accounts for 48 per cent of the company’s top line, rose 1 per cent at $1.3 billion. News Corp said digital revenues now represent 30 per cent of news and information services segment revenues, compared to 26 per cent in the prior year, reflecting efforts to attract more paid digital subscriber growth at mastheads. Book publishing posted a record quarter in revenues, up 20 per cent to $US490 million. Digital real estate services also delivered a strong performance with revenues up 19 per cent to $US299 million.
REA Group Limited (REA):
REA Group has posted a 23 per cent increase in profit, fuelled by a robust residential property listings market in Australia and strong demand for premium advertising products. The operator of realestate.com.au recorded a net profit of $279.9 million for the full year. This was on revenue of $807.7 million, up 20 per cent on the prior corresponding period. The board declared a final dividend of 62 cents per share fully franked, up from 51 cents. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation increased 22 per cent to $463.7 million. The main revenue driver was the Australian business, which drove revenue 21 per cent higher to $763.4 million. Much of the pick up in revenue was due to residential revenue, up 23 per cent to $513m, bucking a downward drop in total property listings. The unit was also boosted by the inclusion of Financial Services. Total residential listings declined approximately 2 per cent for the year, accompanied by a moderate increase in Melbourne and Sydney.
(Source: AIMS)
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