Bega Cheese Ltd (BGA):
Bega Cheese has confirmed it bought a parcel of shares in Capilano Honey, raising the prospect of a bidding war for the ASXlisted honey firm. Bega says it paid $5.38 million for 255,291 Capilano shares on Friday, at an average of $21.08 per security, taking its stake in the company to 5.76 per cent. Bega’s purchase should make it the second largest shareholder in Capilano, which last month said it had received a bid from Australian-Chinese private equity fund Wattle Hill.
BHP Billiton Limited (BHP):
BHP’s petroleum production could hit a 20-year low this year, as its exit of onshore US shale assets lays bare declining conventional oil and gas reserves and highlights the importance of converting recent exploration finds into developments. The shale sale will cut BHP’s petroleum production by 40 per cent and in coming years will put at risk its longstanding position as the Australian sharemarket’s biggest oil and gas producer by volume as Woodside Petroleum boosts LNG production. After striking a widely lauded $US10.8 billion ($15bn) deal with BP and others to exit its US shale misadventure, BHP last month said full-year petroleum production was now expected to be between 113 million and 118 million barrels of oil equivalent (a measure that converts gas and other petroleum to oil equivalent based on energy content). This is down from 192 million barrels produced last financial year, including US shale oil and gas. The bottom of this year’s range, which was flagged last month as BHP’s conventional (non-shale) petroleum guidance, would represent the lowest production since 1998-99.
Capilano Honey Ltd (CZZ):
Capilano Honey has defended its honey testing regime amid accusations the company is selling “adulterated” honey. Australia’s biggest honey producer (CZZ) questioned the validity of scientific tests cited in Fairfax and ABC reports as showing other substances had been found in a range of companies’ products blending local and imported honey. The report is set to raise questions about how the purity of honey is tested. Capilano, in a statement to the ASX, said it had previously found the results of Nuclear Magnetic Resolution (NMR) tests, used in European laboratories, to be inconsistent. However it conceded there was no consensus view about the reliability of the NMR test used to detect impurities, and which it has said differs to an official Australian test. “While we have full confidence that Allowrie Honey contains only pure honey, we also recognise that there is no consensus view from across the industry about the reliability of the Nuclear Magnetic Resolution test that has led to the reports in the media,” managing director Ben McKee said. “We call on the industry to work to prove up the Nuclear Magnetic Resolution test so that it matches the robustness of results from other testing currently relied on internationally.” It comes after an international scientific laboratory reportedly said the majority of samples of Capilano’s Allowrie-branded Mixed Blossom Honey, which is made from local and imported honey, tested as being “adulterated”.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp Ltd (FPH):
Fisher & Paykel is set to defend its ranges of sleep masks after allegations of patent infringement from US rival ResMed in the US International Trade Comission. The claims are in relation to its Eson and Simplus range of masks used to treat sleep apnea - for which ResMed is seeking an exclusion order to prevent their import into the US as well as damages. In a note to shareholders this morning, Fisher & Paykel said the legal costs could hurt its outlook by NZ$5 million to NZ$10m. “Given the legal costs expected to be incurred in connection with this additional US litigation activity the company now expects, at current exchange rates, that net profit after tax for the 2019 financial year will be in the range of approximately NZ$205 to NZ$210 million. “The full year earnings guidance previously provided was for net profit after tax to be approximately NZ$215 million.” FPH shares last down 4.44pc at $14.325.
IOOF Holdings Limited (IFL):
Wealth giant IOOF says the "pub test" it used to judge how it balanced members interest reflected community standards and did not show it was struggling to understand its legal duties. In a written submission to the royal commission published Monday, IOOF rejected suggestions from counsel assisting the royal commission that it may have breached superannuation laws in the way it compensated super fund members after an erroneous payment. Instead, it insisted the fact that clients were made whole should be of the highest consideration. "This is not a minor point of peripheral significance. It must be the central and primary consideration when assessing whether or not the best interests of members have been properly accounted for and prioritised," the group said. Counsel assisting accused IOOF of failing to understand the important of super laws that require super trustees to out the interest of super fund members above all else when it compensated fund members for a $6 million over-distribution paid by a cash management trust it operated. IOOF repaid the super fund members and other beneficiaries in different ways.
Macquarie Group Ltd (MQG):
Macquarie Group has quietly brought to an end its six years on the investor register of beleaguered Mark Bouris-led mortgage and wealth group Yellow Brick Road. Sources said Macquarie had offloaded its remaining YBR holding, which was less than 5 per cent, despite a takeover offer for the company lobbed by corporate raider Ron Brierley's Mercantile Investment Company last month. At the height of its YBR support, Macquarie owned an 18.4 per cent stake. Its sell-down began in April and saw a large tranche of YBR shares snapped up by Mercantile. The latest Macquarie YBR divestment also throws into question other parts of the strategic partnership. Macquarie became a YBR partner, equity holder, mortgage funder and home loan white labeller in 2012. Early marketing efforts by YBR talked up the company's prospects, with backing from Macquarie, including becoming a fifth pillar to rival the major banks. Those claims were later played down by Macquarie chief executive Nicholas Moore.
Northern Star Resources Ltd (NST):
Northern Star Resources shares have surged this morning, after resuming trading in the wake of the company’s $US260 million ($360m) acquisition of the high-grade Pogo underground goldmine in Alaska and a $175m equity raising to help finance it. The Perthbased goldminer (NST) said the placement to institutional shareholders was heavily oversubscribed and completed at $6.70 per share. At 11.11am (AEDT), Northern Star shares were up 92c, or 13 per cent, to a record $7.88, giving the company a market value of $4.82bn and making it the second-biggest goldminer by market value on the ASX after Newcrest Mining. Northern Star announced the deal on Thursday, starting a long-awaited push into North America that has been talked up by fellow Australian mid-tier miners of late. The purchase is from Japan’s Sumitomo. The mine produces about 300,000 ounces of gold a year and has averaged a grade of 13.6 grams per tonne over the past 12 years. The deal will be funded from cash and a $175m raising from institutions.
RedFlow Ltd (RFX):
Renewable energy battery developer Redflow has defended not building its new battery manufacture plant in Australia. Redflow, which is backed by entrepreneur Simon Hackett, didn’t opt to create a factory in Australia when it ended its association with electronics manufacturer Flextronics. Redflow had outsourced its production to Flextronics which made its batteries in Mexico. Redflow chief executive Tim Harris says the Australian battery firm chose Thailand because of the costs of establishing and running a plant here. “Clearly when you've got manual cost differences with Australia versus places like Thailand, we need to do what's in the interest of shareholders,” he said. “But we are still very much an Australian based company, we still have all of our R&D and product development here.” He says Redflow’s factory operates in a free-trade zone alongside automotive plants. “It's been a very successful implementation so far. Our current manufacturing is still quite labour intensive.” He says Redflow is targeting markets close to the equator because that's where its batteries perform the best. “So there's a logic to putting the factory there,” he says.
(Source: AIMS)
Latest comments