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AUSTRALIA MARKETS(2019-03-04)

Australia Channel
2019-03-04 15:34

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Coolgardie Minerals Ltd (CM1):
Junior gold miner Coolgardie Minerals has been placed into administration, just seven months after its debut on the local bourse. In a note this afternoon, administrators Pitcher Partners said the company had incurred mining issues at its Geko Gold project in Coolgardie, but that the company “believes those issues have now been substantially resolved”. “The delays and significant additional costs incurred to date were not budgeted and are unfunded. The Administration process provides a moratorium to allow the Company to explore all options for resolving this,” administrators said. “Those options include the sale of the Geko Gold Project and surrounding portfolio of tenements, which will now be put to the market, whilst the Company also explores debt restructuring and capital raising alternatives.” They have tipped no further updated until mid-April. Shares in the company have been halted since February 8 and last traded at 5.2c. In August, the miner made its debut on the ASX after raising $4.25 million at 20c a share.
 
Middle Island Resources Ltd (MDI):
Middle Island Resources has made a $9.4 million all-scrip takeover bid for Alto Metals, a fellow small gold miner in WA. Middle Island is offering five Middle Island shares for every one Alto share, representing a 61 per cent premium to Alto’s last closing price. Both companies have operations near Sandstone, a tiny township 700km northeast of Perth where gold was first discovered in 1894. Middle Island said the merger would give Alto access to Middle Island’s processing plant, “an immediate, proximal and cost-effective processing solution for Alto’s gold resources that is not otherwise available to Alto”. Middle Island bought the processing plant when Black Oak Minerals Ltd was liquidated in 2016. It hasn’t operated since 2010 but Middle Island plans to recommission it.
 
National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB):
A woman has been arrested in Sydney in relation to an investigation into a multi-million-dollar fraud at National Australia Bank, NSW Police have told The Australian. The name of the arrestee has not been confirmed. The former chief of staff to three NAB chief executives including Andrew Thorburn, has been under investigation by NSW Financial Crime Squad over services provided by The Human Group over a ten-year period to the NAB. Police are investigating whether kickbacks were paid by The Human Group to bank staff to secure inflated contracts with the NAB.
 
National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB):
National Australia Bank's acting chief executive, Phil Chronican, says the bank must "obsess" about customer outcomes in the way airlines think about safety, as he signalled that remediating customers and responding to the royal commission would be an immediate priority. In a note to the bank's 100 most senior managers, Mr Chronican, who took up the role on Friday, also said the Hayne royal commission was "right", and there was a "big gap" between where the bank was and what customers expected. Mr Chronican wrote that senior managers within the bank needed to lead the change the community wanted to see, and this started with "customers and culture". "It's not enough to simply focus on our customers; we need to obsess about getting it right for them, every time. We need to bring the same obsession to customer outcomes that airline companies do to safety. We must deliver an exceptional experience, ensure our products and services provide fair value, and be uncompromising on accountability, quality and standards," Mr Chronican wrote on Thursday night.
 
Oliver's Real Food Ltd (OLI):
Changes are afoot at healthy fast food chain Oliver’s, the group today announcing the resignation of its chief just three days after its chairman stepped down. In a note to the market this morning, interim chair and co-founder Kathy Hatzis told the market that Greg Madigan had resigned, after 10 months leading the group. It comes after a reshuffle of the board yesterday, after chairman Mark Richardson resigned. The company said the changes came ahead of a period of “financial and operational consolidation... with an emphasis on cost rationalisation, operational efficiency and revenue improvements”. In its most recent earnings update, the company posted a set out expectations of a loss in earnings between $1 million and $4m, subject to the implementation of cost-cutting measures. It reported $3.47m in the bank at the end of the December quarter, with $11.45m in outgoings expected for the quarter ahead.
 
TPG Telecom Ltd (TPM):
The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission has again pushed back the release of its verdict on the TPG Telecom and Vodafone merger, in what some pundits are suggesting is sign of uncertainty. In an update after the market close yesterday, the ACCC said the timeline for a decision was suspended “as continuing to receive information from merger parties”. “New provisional decision date will be confirmed once information has been received and assessed,” it said. The date was originally slated for March 28, then pushed back to April 11 and NAB’s Andrew Jones says the delay could suggest the deal is on shaky ground. “We see the continued delay as further raising uncertainty on the deal proceeding, which would represent a negative development for the industry,” he said. All eyes will be on TPG’s share price at the open, last at $6.66.
 
Woodside Petroleum Ltd (WPL) & Santos Ltd (STO):
Energy producers Woodside Petroleum and Santos face a new wave of climate change activism as investors call for two of Australia’s largest oil and gas players to lower emissions to meet Paris climate targets. The Climate Action 100+ initiative, which controls $US32 trillion ($45 trillion) in global investment and is backed by major Australian superannuation funds, will hold talks with the two companies in coming weeks about their commitment and accountability on climate change issues after reporting earnings last month. “We meet with them, we engage with them, look at what their public disclosures are and their reporting and we review their performance,” Emma Herd, a member of the Climate Action 100+ steering committee said. Companies will be assessed against a global benchmarking model developed with other green groups, with a final report due in August on their performance.
 
Yellow Brick Road Holdings Ltd (YBR):
Shares in Mark Bouris-led mortgage broker Yellow Brick Road have been suspended from trade this morning after the company delayed the release of its first-half results and flagged a non-cash impairment. In an update to the market after the close yesterday, Yellow Brick Road said its first-half result for the six months through December was expected to show an after-tax loss and include a material non-cash impairment charge on the carrying value of its wealth management and lending business, as well as other assets. It said its first-half audit review had not yet been completed but was expected to be lodged before March 15.
(Source: AIMS)
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