Author: roymorgansocial

Prime offer too low: Catalano

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Original article by John Stensholt
The Australian – Page: 19 : 21-Nov-19

Businessman Antony Catalano says Seven West Media’s takeover offer for regional affiliate Prime Media Group is close to fair value, but he has urged Seven to increase the offer to make it both "fair and reasonable". An independent expert’s report has concluded that the $63m bid is "not fair but reasonable". Catalano and Alex Waislitz bought Australian Community Media earlier in 2019. Waislitz says there is potential for Prime to share newsroom and advertising resources with ACM, and he has urged Prime shareholders to consider alternatives to the Seven deal.

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, THORNEY OPPORTUNITIES LIMITED – ASX TOP, THORNEY TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED – ASX TEK

Ita stymies ABC staff climate crisis group

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 3 : 21-Nov-19

Several of the ABC’s senior journalists have expressed support for a proposal to establish a staff climate crisis advisory group. However, ABC chair Ita Buttrose says the proposal does not have the support of the public broadcaster’s leadership team, adding that "it is not going to happen". Some journalists had warned that the proposal could be at odds with the ABC’s editorial guidelines.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Gaines proves her mettle

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Original article by Glenda Korporaal
The Australian – Page: 18 : 21-Nov-19

Fortescue Metals Group CEO Elizabeth Gaines is ranked second in Fortune magazine’s 2019 list of the world’s most successful business leaders. Gaines is the first woman to make the annual list. Fortune notes that the pure-play iron ore miner delivered 263 per cent profit growth and revenue growth of 45 per cent in 2018-19, with both metrics rising to record levels in Gaines’ first full financial year at the helm. Meanwhile, Fortescue has achieved a total return of 90 per cent since Gaines was appointed in February 2018, increasing its market value to around $US20bn ($29.4bn).

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

$1bn scandal hits Westpac

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis, Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 1 & 8 : 21-Nov-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says banks must "lift their game" in the wake of revelations that Westpac has been charged with more 23 million breaches of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws. Amongst other things, Austrac’s statement of claim alleges that Westpac failed to conduct due diligence on 12 customers linked to child exploitation in the Philippines. Brett Le Mesurier of Shaw & Partners says Westpac may face a larger penalty than the Commonwealth Bank’s record $700m fine in 2018 for more than 53,000 breaches of financial crime laws. Westpac could potentially incur fines in excess of $1bn.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

Rio’s ERA equity raising challenged

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 20-Nov-19

Zentree Investments has asked the Takeovers Panel to intervene in Energy Resources of Australia’s proposed $476m capital raising. The proceeds of the entitlement offer will be used to help meet the cost of rehabilitation work at the Ranger uranium mine in the Northern Territory. Zentree is concerned that the capital raising will allow Rio Tinto to increase its 68.4 per cent stake in ERA while gaining access to its tax losses and franking credits. Zentree is ERA’s second-largest shareholder.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, ENERGY RESOURCES OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX ERA, ZENTREE INVESTMENTS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. TAKEOVERS PANEL

Judge’s news dictate sets risky precedent

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Original article by Nicola Berkovic
The Australian – Page: 3 : 20-Nov-19

A Curtin University academic has expressed concern about a court ruling about disclosing the identify of a psychologist who was found guilty of professional misconduct. The Family Court of Western Australia ruled that ‘The Australian’ must submit a draft article for its approval before the story can be published, as the Family Law Act prevents the identification of witnesses in family law proceedings. Associate professor of journalism Joseph Fernandez says the ruling is "troubling" and has implications for freedom of the press.

CORPORATES
FAMILY COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA, CURTIN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, ONE NATION PARTY, AUSTRALIAN LAW REFORM COMMISSION

Remediation bill $10bn and counting

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 21 : 20-Nov-19

A parliamentary committee has been told that the total cost of customer remediation programs in the financial services sector has now topped $10bn. However, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission’s deputy chair Karen Chester said that customers have only been paid $660m in compensation to date. Meanwhile, ASIC chairman James Shipton has indicated that the corporate regulator will release updated guidance on responsible lending obligations before the end of 2019.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. JOINT STATUTORY COMMITTEE ON CORPORATIONS AND FINANCIAL SERVICES, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

Woodside tests patience on Scarborough

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 20-Nov-19

The recently-announced 52 per cent increase in the resource estimate for the Scarborough gas field may prompt Woodside Petroleum to retain more of its stake in the project. Woodside had previously flagged plans to reduce its 75 per cent stake in Scarborough. However, CEO Peter Coleman says Woodside still intends to reduce its stake in the Pluto 2 LNG plant by up to 50 per cent, although it is not an immediate priority. A deal with BHP to process gas from the Scarborough field via the Pluto plant is expected to be finalised by March.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, CHEVRON CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, ALLAN GRAY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FAR LIMITED – ASX FAR, CONOCOPHILLIPS

Minutes show Reserve Bank was close to November cut

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 20-Nov-19

The minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s board meeting on 5 November show that the central bank gave serious consideration to reducing the cash rate to 0.5 per cent. However, board members took into account factors such as the likely effect of further monetary policy easing on savers and consumer confidence. The board ultimately concluded that the best course of action would be to wait until the impact of previous interest rate cuts became clear.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

Unpaid wages bill at $1.4bn annually

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Original article by Andrew White, Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 17 & 21 : 20-Nov-19

More than $500m worth of wage underpayments have been disclosed to date; however, modelling by accounting firm PwC suggests that in total, Australian workers may be underpaid by up to $1.35bn a year. The modelling, which is based on data from the Fair Work Ombudsman, shows that up to 13 per cent of all workers may be underpaid, with construction workers found to be most at risk of being underpaid. The federal government is considering the introduction of criminal penalties for wage theft, as well as an increase in civil penalties.

CORPORATES
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, 7-ELEVEN STORES PTY LTD, SUPER RETAIL GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUL, MICHAEL HILL INTERNATIONAL LIMITED – ASX MHJ, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT