Coles Group Ltd (COL):
Supermarket giant Coles has offloaded its pubs and pokies business, in a complicated deal designed to skirt around Queensland's unique licensing laws and allow it to continue to own bottle shops in the sunshine state. Coles has been trying to sell its Spirits Hotel business for about a year, and the supermarket's previous owners Wesfarmers had expressed particular discomfort about owning the 300-or-so poker machines that sit inside the group's 87 hotels. On Monday Coles said it had reached a deal with the Australian Venue Co, owned by private equity firm KKR and pub titan Bruce Dixon, to enter a joint venture that will net it about $200 million. Seventy-six of Spirit's hotels are in Queensland, where licencing laws mean that bottle shops owners must also own a pub nearby - a key sticking point as Coles owns 243 Liquorland, First Choice, and Vintage Cellars bottle shops in the state. Under the deal announced Monday, Coles and the AVC will form a joint venture called the Queensland Venue Co. AVC will run the pubs business and receive the revenue and profits from those operations, while Coles will run and receive the profits from its bottle shops.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA):
Commonwealth Bank of Australia's top bankers and directors are being interviewed by the corporate regulator as it moves closer to launching a landmark case against the bank and its board alleging breaches of directors duties and continuous disclosure. Former CEO Ian Narev and chairman Catherine Livingstone are among the serving and former bank executives and directors the regulator has issued notices to interview, plans to interview or has recently questioned. "CBA continues to engage with ASIC regarding a number of matters and responds to requests made by the regulator. We won't be commenting on any individual matter," a CBA spokesman said on Monday. Commonwealth Bank shares are $73.73, down 0.4 per cent today in step with the ASX 200 index. The case relates to the board's response to AUSTRAC warnings in 2016 that the bank was being used for money laundering and knowingly failed to disclose the breaches or adequately respond.
Decmil Group Ltd (DCG):
Speaking of government spending boosting economic activity, mining-sector engineering group Decmil Group announced this afternoon it has jointly won a tender to build the Mordialloc Freeway project in Melbourne's east. Early design works worth $25 million have been approved with the main works to be awarded at the end of this year. Decmil shares have traded at 87 cents for the past four sessions and are unchanged today. The three largest shareholders are Denis Criddle, Commonwealth Bank, and Thorney Opportunities. "Together with our joint venture partner McConnell Dowell, we are extremely pleased to be appointed preferred for this large-scale transport project and are looking forward to delivering works," managing director Scott Criddle told the market.
Fonterra Shareholders' Fund (FSF):
New Zealand milk group Fonterra has weighed in on a cut to its outlook by rating agency Fitch’s after it reduced its forecast earnings for the full year. Fitch Ratings cut its rating outlook to Negative, from Stable but kept its long-term credit rating at ‘A’. Fonterra said it acknowledged that the co-op’s performance “is not satisfactory” and “it needs a fundamental change in direction if it is to increase its earning capacity and quality”, and laid out a six-point plan for its turnaround. “We need stronger earnings to deliver a respectable return on the capital invested in the Co-op and a strong balance sheet. We are taking a series of proactive steps to make this happen,” chief Marc Rivers said. Shares in the company dropped to an all time low of $3.80 last week on its downwards revision.
Janus Henderson Group Plc (JHG):
Janus Henderson has kicked off a $US200 million on-market buyback of its New York Stock Exchange shares and locally-listed CDIs. The company resolved to return capital to shareholders at its last AGM, and will continue the buyback until March 4, 2020. “Citigroup Global Markets Australia undertakes to purchase CDIs as principal and sell the CDIs to the Company by way of one or more special crossings,” it said. The company completed a $US99.5 million buyback at the end of last year, of which $49.1m (or $US35.6m) was on CDIs.
Pental Ltd (PTL):
Consumer goods supplier Pental is bolstering its commitment to batteries, today appointing a former Energizer exec to its board. The company, who last week lifted profit thanks to its new Duracell battery distribution deal, appointed Jeff Miciulis as a non-executive director after 35 years at rival battery firm Energizer. “We are very pleased to be able to appoint someone of Jeff’s calibre and experience to the Board. He will bring invaluable assistance to our Duracell distribution business and other opportunities we are pursuing,” Pental chairman Peter Robinson.
Qantas Airways Ltd (QAN):
A Qantas flight from Adelaide to Canberra has been diverted to Melbourne after a cabin pressurisation issue. A statement from the airline says pilots on flight QF706 followed standard procedure when the incident occurred on Tuesday morning, descending to 10,000 feet. Facebook user Jeffrey Malone said he was aboard the flight and the cabin staff did a great job at "keeping the passengers calm and informed of what was happening". A spokesperson from Qantas said the aircraft was given a priority landing at Melbourne Airport and "landed without incident. It was not an emergency landing". A Qantas statement said that all customers left the aircraft normally and will be transferred onto other flights.
Reject Shop Ltd (TRS):
Raphael Geminder’s Allensford Trust looks has clinched just 7 per cent of acceptances for its takeover bid of The Reject Shop, with just one day remaining before it expires. Allensford made an unconditional off-market cash offer for the retailer in November, at $2.70 per share to value it at $78 million but it is due to expire today. In a filling to the market this morning, Allensford registered a 7.1 per cent interest in the company as of March 4, up from 2.72pc a week ago after three notices to the market in quick succession. Allensford extended the offer period in February, to close at 4pm AEDT today.
Telstra Corporation Ltd (TLS):
Telstra is cutting back its small business offering, shutting 78 business centres and opening 28 Telstra Business Technology Centres in their place. Telstra acting group executive for consumer and small business, Michael Ackland, said it was "a real structural change" for the telco. "For our small business customers this is a very, very big transformation," he said. "It is an evolution of the Telstra Business Centre model which first kicked off close to a decade ago. Small business technology and connectivity needs have changed significantly since then." Mr Ackland said the business centres, which number around 78, would be "phased out" as part of Telstra's T22 strategy and the closures had already started. Telstra shares closed at $3.13 in the past four sessions.
(Source: AIMS)
Supermarket giant Coles has offloaded its pubs and pokies business, in a complicated deal designed to skirt around Queensland's unique licensing laws and allow it to continue to own bottle shops in the sunshine state. Coles has been trying to sell its Spirits Hotel business for about a year, and the supermarket's previous owners Wesfarmers had expressed particular discomfort about owning the 300-or-so poker machines that sit inside the group's 87 hotels. On Monday Coles said it had reached a deal with the Australian Venue Co, owned by private equity firm KKR and pub titan Bruce Dixon, to enter a joint venture that will net it about $200 million. Seventy-six of Spirit's hotels are in Queensland, where licencing laws mean that bottle shops owners must also own a pub nearby - a key sticking point as Coles owns 243 Liquorland, First Choice, and Vintage Cellars bottle shops in the state. Under the deal announced Monday, Coles and the AVC will form a joint venture called the Queensland Venue Co. AVC will run the pubs business and receive the revenue and profits from those operations, while Coles will run and receive the profits from its bottle shops.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA):
Commonwealth Bank of Australia's top bankers and directors are being interviewed by the corporate regulator as it moves closer to launching a landmark case against the bank and its board alleging breaches of directors duties and continuous disclosure. Former CEO Ian Narev and chairman Catherine Livingstone are among the serving and former bank executives and directors the regulator has issued notices to interview, plans to interview or has recently questioned. "CBA continues to engage with ASIC regarding a number of matters and responds to requests made by the regulator. We won't be commenting on any individual matter," a CBA spokesman said on Monday. Commonwealth Bank shares are $73.73, down 0.4 per cent today in step with the ASX 200 index. The case relates to the board's response to AUSTRAC warnings in 2016 that the bank was being used for money laundering and knowingly failed to disclose the breaches or adequately respond.
Decmil Group Ltd (DCG):
Speaking of government spending boosting economic activity, mining-sector engineering group Decmil Group announced this afternoon it has jointly won a tender to build the Mordialloc Freeway project in Melbourne's east. Early design works worth $25 million have been approved with the main works to be awarded at the end of this year. Decmil shares have traded at 87 cents for the past four sessions and are unchanged today. The three largest shareholders are Denis Criddle, Commonwealth Bank, and Thorney Opportunities. "Together with our joint venture partner McConnell Dowell, we are extremely pleased to be appointed preferred for this large-scale transport project and are looking forward to delivering works," managing director Scott Criddle told the market.
Fonterra Shareholders' Fund (FSF):
New Zealand milk group Fonterra has weighed in on a cut to its outlook by rating agency Fitch’s after it reduced its forecast earnings for the full year. Fitch Ratings cut its rating outlook to Negative, from Stable but kept its long-term credit rating at ‘A’. Fonterra said it acknowledged that the co-op’s performance “is not satisfactory” and “it needs a fundamental change in direction if it is to increase its earning capacity and quality”, and laid out a six-point plan for its turnaround. “We need stronger earnings to deliver a respectable return on the capital invested in the Co-op and a strong balance sheet. We are taking a series of proactive steps to make this happen,” chief Marc Rivers said. Shares in the company dropped to an all time low of $3.80 last week on its downwards revision.
Janus Henderson Group Plc (JHG):
Janus Henderson has kicked off a $US200 million on-market buyback of its New York Stock Exchange shares and locally-listed CDIs. The company resolved to return capital to shareholders at its last AGM, and will continue the buyback until March 4, 2020. “Citigroup Global Markets Australia undertakes to purchase CDIs as principal and sell the CDIs to the Company by way of one or more special crossings,” it said. The company completed a $US99.5 million buyback at the end of last year, of which $49.1m (or $US35.6m) was on CDIs.
Pental Ltd (PTL):
Consumer goods supplier Pental is bolstering its commitment to batteries, today appointing a former Energizer exec to its board. The company, who last week lifted profit thanks to its new Duracell battery distribution deal, appointed Jeff Miciulis as a non-executive director after 35 years at rival battery firm Energizer. “We are very pleased to be able to appoint someone of Jeff’s calibre and experience to the Board. He will bring invaluable assistance to our Duracell distribution business and other opportunities we are pursuing,” Pental chairman Peter Robinson.
Qantas Airways Ltd (QAN):
A Qantas flight from Adelaide to Canberra has been diverted to Melbourne after a cabin pressurisation issue. A statement from the airline says pilots on flight QF706 followed standard procedure when the incident occurred on Tuesday morning, descending to 10,000 feet. Facebook user Jeffrey Malone said he was aboard the flight and the cabin staff did a great job at "keeping the passengers calm and informed of what was happening". A spokesperson from Qantas said the aircraft was given a priority landing at Melbourne Airport and "landed without incident. It was not an emergency landing". A Qantas statement said that all customers left the aircraft normally and will be transferred onto other flights.
Reject Shop Ltd (TRS):
Raphael Geminder’s Allensford Trust looks has clinched just 7 per cent of acceptances for its takeover bid of The Reject Shop, with just one day remaining before it expires. Allensford made an unconditional off-market cash offer for the retailer in November, at $2.70 per share to value it at $78 million but it is due to expire today. In a filling to the market this morning, Allensford registered a 7.1 per cent interest in the company as of March 4, up from 2.72pc a week ago after three notices to the market in quick succession. Allensford extended the offer period in February, to close at 4pm AEDT today.
Telstra Corporation Ltd (TLS):
Telstra is cutting back its small business offering, shutting 78 business centres and opening 28 Telstra Business Technology Centres in their place. Telstra acting group executive for consumer and small business, Michael Ackland, said it was "a real structural change" for the telco. "For our small business customers this is a very, very big transformation," he said. "It is an evolution of the Telstra Business Centre model which first kicked off close to a decade ago. Small business technology and connectivity needs have changed significantly since then." Mr Ackland said the business centres, which number around 78, would be "phased out" as part of Telstra's T22 strategy and the closures had already started. Telstra shares closed at $3.13 in the past four sessions.
(Source: AIMS)
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