Author: roymorgansocial

New Seven bid too low, Boral tells investors

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 15 : 2-Jul-21

Seven Group Holdings has increased its takeover bid for Boral to $7.30 per share after lifting its stake in the building materials group to the previously flagged threshold of 29.5 per cent. Seven had initially offered $6.50 per share, and its offer will rise to $7.40 if it gains 34.5 per cent of Boral by 7 July. Boral has described the revised offer as ‘ opportunistic’ and notes that an independent expert’s report has valued its shares at between $8.25 and $9.13.

CORPORATES
SEVEN GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SVW, BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD

D-Day for dud superannuation funds

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Original article by Michael Read
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 1-Jul-21

Superannuation Minister Jane Hume says the federal government’s new online tool aims to encourage superannuation fund members to exit underperforming funds. The YourSuper tool will be launched on 1 July, and will initially allow super fund members to rank and compare default funds based on their performance over six years. The tool will be expanded to include the majority of non-default funds in mid-2022. The tool can be accessed via the MyGov portal or the Australian Tax Office’s website. It is part of the ‘Your Future, Your Super’ reforms.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE

Rio shuts down violence-riven South African mine

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 1-Jul-21

Rio Tinto has declared force majeure on customer contracts at its Richards Bay mineral sands project in South Africa. The resources giant has put all work at the mine and smelter on hold amid growing violence targeting the project’s workers, plant and equipment. Rio Tinto executive Sinead Kaufman says the safety of workers at the project is its top priority. The increasing violence directed at the Richards Bay project is believed to be linked to employment opportunities for local workers.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, RICHARDS BAY MINERALS

Archives win $67m in urgent funding

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Original article by Troy Bramston
The Australian – Page: 3 : 1-Jul-21

The federal government has approved a $67.7m increase in funding for the National Archives of Australia to preserve and digitise its most at-risk records, including documents, photos, maps and film recordings. This had been recommended by former senior public servant David Tune, although the government will provide the additional funding over four years rather than seven. A group of prominent Australians recently signed an open letter to Prime Minister Scott Morrison urging the government to increase the National Archives’ funding.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Taxes down, super up from today

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Original article by Michael Read
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 1-Jul-21

The corporate tax rate for small and medium enterprises with turnover of less than $50m will be reduced by one per cent to 25 per cent on 1 July. Other changes that take effect at the start of the new financial year include an extension of the low- and middle-income tax offset and an increase in the superannuation guarantee from 9.5 per cent to 10 per cent. The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia estimates that the super change will boost the retirement income of the average worker by about $19,000. New measures aimed at first-home buyers also take effect on 1 July.

CORPORATES
THE ASSOCIATION OF SUPERANNUATION FUNDS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

AGL Energy savaged after demerger given green light

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 1-Jul-21

AGL Energy has incurred the biggest one-day fall in its share price since 2007 after revealing details of its proposed restructuring and demerger. AGL will be rebranded as Accel Energy and retain its coal-fired power plants, while the group’s gas and electricity retailing business will be spun off into a listed company to be called AGL Australia. Acting CEO Graeme Hunt believes that AGL’s shares were sold down in response to changes to its dividend policy and revised earnings guidance, rather than the demerger proposal. Hunt will become CEO of Accel, while chief customer officer Christine Corbett will be CEO of the new AGL. The demerger is subject to shareholder approval.

CORPORATES
AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL

Hot price for Telstra’s $2.8bn tower sale

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Original article by David Swan
The Australian – Page: 15 : 1-Jul-21

Telstra has struck a deal to sell a 49 per cent stake in its mobile phone tower network to a consortium that includes the Future Fund. The telco had previously flagged plans to divest a stake in the InfraCo Towers business via an auction process later in 2020, but Telstra CEO Andrew Penn says the consortium approached it with a "compelling" proposal. Telstra will return about half of the net proceeds of the $2.8bn transaction to its shareholders. Optus is also looking at selling its communications towers.

CORPORATES
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, AUSTRALIA. FUTURE FUND MANAGEMENT AGENCY, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD

ABC hits pause on log-in rollout

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Original article by Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: 3 : 1-Jul-21

The ABC has advised that the introduction of mandatory log-ins for its iview streaming service has been pushed back to the end of 2021. The new system was to have been launched during July and August, but a spokesman says the public broadcaster will give users more time to understand how it will work and the benefits of creating a registered ABC account. Regional Communications Minister Bridget McKenzie has welcomed the decision to delay compulsory log-ins, and says the ABC should implement an ‘opt-in’ model.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS

More than 100 patients and staff at two Sydney hospitals in isolation

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Original article by Lucy Caroll, Mary Ward
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 1-Jul-21

New South Wales has recorded 22 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, although 11 were self-isolating while they were infectious. Premier Gladys Berejiklian has welcomed the lack of a spike in case numbers, and says the state may be on track to lift the lockdown of Greater Sydney and nearby regions as scheduled on 9 July. An unvaccinated student nurse has also tested positive and will be included in the daily case numbers for 1 July; she worked at the Fairfield and Royal North Shore hospitals while she was infectious, prompting the state government to order patients and staff who may have come into contact with her to be tested and self-isolate. Meanwhile, Victoria has reported one new locally-acquired case, while there are three new cases in Queensland and one in Western Australia.

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Shares deliver $560bn windfall

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 13 & 20 : 1-Jul-21

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 capped off a stellar recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic by posting a gain in all but one month during 2020-21. The benchmark index’s 24 per cent gain was the best return for a financial year since its inception, and follows a pandemic-induced loss of 11.3 per cent in 2019-20. The S&P/ASX 200 reached a record high of 7,406.2 points in May, having slumped to a low of 4,402.5 points in March 2020 as the pandemic weighed on global financial markets. Utilities is the only sector that failed to post a positive return in 2020-21.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX