The Australian Shareholders’ Association has vowed to vote against AMP’s remuneration report at an investor meeting next week, intensifying pressure on the wealth group as it seeks to avoid a second pay strike. In a statement today, the ASA cited “insufficient detail” about AMP’s 2019 pay arrangements and an “excessive sign-on benefit” for new chief executive Francesco De Ferrari as among its reasons for voting against AMP’s remuneration report. The ASA will, however, vote in favour of electing AMP chairman David Murray to the board. AMP’s annual general meeting is scheduled for May 2, and will be closely watched given last year investors delivered a 61 per cent strike against its remuneration report. A second vote against the pay report could lead to a spill of the board.
Avjennings Ltd (AVJ):
AV Jennings will buy the remaining 50 per cent of the Jimboomba residential greenfields site 40 kilometers south-west of Brisbane, which contains about 1,200 lots. "By having 100 per cent ownership of this attractive development we can implement our plans to provide a broad range of quality product offerings including quality affordable homes for first home buyers and others looking for residential property in one of Australia's fastest growing regions," AV Jennings' managing director Peter Summers told the market this morning.
Bellamy's Australia Ltd (BAL):
Infant milk formula maker Bellamy’s has soared to an eight-month high after receiving Chinese regulatory approval for its formula produced out of its ViPlus Dairy in Victorianch. Bellamy’s said it was awaiting final certification of all changes from the Chinese State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) for the Victorian facility, but that its seperate application for Camperdown Powder remains in progress. The approval paves the way for the Bellamy’s-ViPlus products to be sold on Tier 3 and 4 cities, while the Camperdown produts will target “super premium” Tier 1, 2 and 3 cities. “This is the first step in recommencing sales in the China offline channel and executing a multi-tier product strategy. It will position us well to compete in the critical battleground of Tier 3 and 4 cities,” chief Andrew Cohen told the market.
Cromwell Group (CMW):
Property group Cromwell has ended its planned takeover of British real estate investment trust RDI, walking away from a deal that could have boosted its property empire by about $3 billion after its target said the Australian group’s proposal undervalued its worth. The Paul Weightman-led company, which had until the early hours of this morning to announce its intentions under British takeover rules, will step back from an earlier proposal that would have seen its funds acquire RDI. Cromwell’s plans became public in late March and, as four weeks have now passed, it cannot make another approach for six months, although this time frame is halved if it is invited back in by the target company.
Macquarie Group Ltd (MQG):
Macquarie Group is up 1.97 per cent this morning to an all-time high of $136.47. This gives the 'millionaires factory' a market capitalisation of $46.4 billion and makes it the 7th biggest company in Australia, behind the four banks, CSL and two miners, but ahead of Woolworths, Wesfarmers, and Telstra. This morning the Financial Review reported Macquarie's plans to enter the mobile phone market with a new business called Nu Mobile. It will specialise in mobile phone plans that are bundled with used handsets. The model, which is cheaper than buying new smartphones on a plan, is popular in the United States but is yet to take off in Australia. Nu Mobile will not own its own mobile infrastructure, instead reselling access to Telstra's mobile network. That will class it as a mobile virtual network operator, putting it in the same category as players such as Amaysim, TPG, Vocus and Kogan, in a $750 million-a-year market.
Mount Gibson Iron Limited (MGX):
Mount Gibson Iron’s $180 million resurrection of its high-grade Koolan Island mine in the Kimberley is all-but complete, with the first iron ore shipment in about four years leaving the wharf today. Koolan Island is one of Australia’s oldest iron ore mines, and still its highest-grade operation, shipping product containing 65 per cent iron - well above the 60 to 62 per cent blends most prevalent from Pilbara mines. The mine sits on the side of Koolan Island, underneath sea level, with the waters of Yampi Sound held back by a sea wall. It was mothballed in late 2014 after the seawall collapsed, flooding the main deposit, and Mount Gibson has spent four years re-engineering and replacing the wall - at a total cost of about $180 million, including work to revive the mine itself - to allow renewed access to the deposit.
Northern Star Resources Ltd (NST):
Gold miner Northern Star has reported within guidance results for the March quarter, and forecast a record quarter ahead as it progresses its Pogo mine. The company sold 185,296 ounces of gold at an AISC of $1369/oz, 82,000oz of which was sold in March alone thanks to the changes at Pogo. It said the progress at that mine would help to boost production to record levels in June, between 235,000 and 260,000oz. “The introduction of the new mining method and the late delivery of some equipment reduced production at Pogo, which in turn temporarily drove up the costs per ounce,” chairman Bill Beament said. “But these changes are starting to pay dividends, as the results in the months of March and April show. As well as ramping up tonnages from the long-hole stoping towards the end of the quarter, we cut site expenditure to an average of $US18.5 million a month in the March quarter from an average of $US22.5m a month in the previous two quarters.”
Roots Sustainable Agricultural Techn Ltd (ROO):
An Australian-listed company this morning says keep plant roots warm with its special technology will increase bean yields by 40 per cent. "The results came from a grower in Southern Israel who purchased a Roots Root Zone Temperature Optimisation system and conducted the growing in hoop houses during the Israeli winter from November 2018 to March 2019," ROOTS tells the market this morning. "The region is arid and known for severe temperature fluctuations between day and night...the roots of the Yardlong Beans plants were heated at night to around 20 degrees. This stabilised the plants despite air temperatures in the hoop house frequently dropping to five degrees while roots of control plantings fluctuated between 13 and 18 degrees."
Wagners Holding Company Ltd (WGN):
Shares in building products supplier Wagners have fallen by as much as 12 per cent in early trade after the company revealed a $10 million hit to its earnings from its dispute with customer Boral. In a statement released after market close yesterday, Wagners said it was taking Boral to court over their cement pricing dispute. Shares tanked to record lows of $1.94 when the dispute was first revealed last month, and today reached as low as $1.99.
(Source: AIMS)
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