Friday, August 31, 2018
Atlas Arteria Group (ALX):
Tollroad group Altas Arteria has delivered a $15.5 million interim net loss due to the cost of separating from parent Macquarie as it paid out more than $100 million in final performance fees. The company changed its name to Atlas Arteria from Macquarie Atlas Roads in May after striking an agreement with the Macquarie Group to bring management in-house. Atlas Arteria will pay Macquarie $115.3 million in final performance fees for 2016, 2017 and 2018 and has also incurred $5.4 million in costs related to arranging the split. The costs of running Macquarie Atlas, which has tollroad investments in the US, France and Germany, after internalisation are estimated at $15 million to $20 million a year - far less than the cost of being managed externally by Macquarie. Macquarie Atlas has paid Macquarie $388.7 million in base and performance fees since its listing in early 2010. Macquarie will remain as the tollroad company's manager until mid-May 2019.
Austal Limited (ASB):
Australian shipbuilder Austal has more than doubled full-year profit to $39 million, driven by the strong performance of its US Navy programs. The world’s largest aluminium shipbuilder says net profit for the 12 months to June 30 rose from $15.4 million a year earlier, boosted by above-guidance 9.1 per cent earnings growth in the US. Austal, which has 10 ships on order across two major defence vessel contracts for the US Navy, lifted its final dividend to an unfranked three cents per share, from a fully-franked two cents last year.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA):
The Commonwealth Bank will disclose to home loan customers the value of commissions it pays to mortgage brokers, after being embarrassed by the banking royal commission. A witness for the nation's largest property lender, Daniel Huggins, told the royal commission in March the bank did not disclose the value of commissions to customers because they can't be accurately calculated. "We are unable to accurately calculate the amount that will be payable over the full life of the loan," Mr Huggins said, although he conceded that the bank could disclose the upfront fees that were paid and the rate of the trailing commission. Under the new rules, CBA will be providing details in consumer and loan contracts signed at settlement setting out how it calculates upfront and loan commissions. It will state there is an upfront commission of X dollars and a trailing commission paid at a rate of X per cent of the balance that is outstanding at the end of every month.
Galaxy Resources Limited (GXY):
Galaxy Resources has trebled its net profit, booking $11.5 million for the first half of the year. The miner produced 91,800 tonnes of lithium spodumene, netting US$88.4 million in revenue - up 682 per cent on the year previous. It said the results were down to a ramp up of its operations in Australia, Canada and Argentina. The board declared no dividend.
Northern Star Resources Ltd (NST):
Northern Star Resources, Australia’s third-largest gold miner by market value, said it has agreed to buy the Pogo gold mine in Alaska for US$260 million. Northern Star said it’s buying the mine, which produced 271,273 ounces of gold in 2017 at an all-in cost of US$882/oz, from Japan’s Sumitomo Metal Mining and Sumitomo Corp. It plans to fund the acquisition with cash and a placement of new shares worth $175 to institutional investors.
Ramsay Health Care Limited (RHC):
Ramsay Health Care said its annual net profit fell by 21 per cent, reflecting tougher trading conditions in many of the global markets where it operates and the writedown of several private hospitals in the UK. Ramsay (RHC) reported a net profit of $388.3 million for the 12 months through June, down from $488.9 million a year earlier. The result included $191 million in restructuring, impairments and other charges. The writedowns were largely against UK assets led by its Berkshire independent and Ashtead hospitals. Core net profit — Ramsay’s preferred measure of tracking earnings — rose by 6.8 per cent to $579.3 million. That was in line with pared guidance provided to the market as recently as June when management detailed a significant downturn in UK volumes, weaker growth in procedural work and inpatient admissions at its Australian private hospitals and delays in rolling out a new pharmacy franchise. Ramsay said UK revenue fell by 5.2 per cent, while annual sales in France were only slightly higher.
TPG Telecom Ltd (TPG) & Vodafone:
TPG Telecom and Vodafone Hutchison Australia are set to join forces to create a $15 billion telco challenger to Telstra and Optus. Under the terms of the deal, first reported by The Australian’s DataRoom, TPG will own 49.9 per cent of the merged group, with Vodafone’s shareholders (Vodafone Plc and Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings) owning the remaining 50.1 per cent. The combined entity will bring together TPG’s more than 1.9 million fixed-line residential subscribers and Vodafone’s roughly six million mobile-service subscribers. It will have a combined revenue of over $6bn and EBITDA of over $1.8bn. The deal is expected to be completed next year subject to approval from regulators including the Foreign Investment Review Board and the competition watchdog. The new company will still be known as TPG Telecom and will be listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.
Transurban Group (TCL):
Toll road giant Transurban has cleared a major hurdle in its quest to buy a 51 per cent stake in Sydney’s $16 billion WestConnex motorway project after receiving clearance from the competition regulator. Despite Transurban’s dominance in the major toll road growth markets of Sydney and Melbourne, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission said it won’t oppose the company’s bid following the acceptance of enforceable undertakings involving the publication of traffic data to its competitors. The decision may give Transurban and its consortium partners - AustralianSuper, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority sovereign wealth fund - the upper hand against a rival bid led by infrastructure heavyweight IFM Investors with Canadian pension fund OMERS and Dutch fund APG. With the ACCC completing its review, NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet is now expected to name a winning bidder in the coming days. If successful, Transurban is expected to raise up to $3 billion in equity to fund its share of the deal, Citi analysts said earlier this week.
Viva Energy Group Ltd (VEA):
Oil refiner and fuel retailer Viva Energy, which recently floated on the ASX, delivered a first-half net profit in line with its prospectus forecast as stronger retail earnings offset crimped refining margins. The Melbourne-based company, 45 per cent owned by Swiss commodities giant Vitol, said net profit after tax for the six months to June 30 was $129.4 million, in line with the $129.7m forecast in its prospectus. Its retail, fuels and marketing arm outperformed with underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation up 9.4 per cent to $474.4m, compared with a $465m forecast. Refining slipped by nearly 20 per cent on the prospectus forecast to $48.1m on lower margins and volumes. The company said regional refining margins have improved since June but its August results will be “partially impacted by a temporary loss of production this week following a disruption to power supply from the state electricity grid”.
(Source: AIMS)
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