Author: roymorgansocial

Westpac gives itself 12 months to replace CFO

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Original article by Tim Boyd
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 13-Sep-19

Westpac announced on 12 September that chief financial officer Peter King will retire in 2020, with King having joined Westpac from Deloitte in 1994. King became deputy CFO in 2011 and CFO in 2014, replacing Phil Coffey. King says that Westpac has transformed itself in the time that he has been there, while UBS banking analyst Jonathan Mott said that whomever Westpac chooses to replace King "will have some big boots to fill". Westpac CEO Brian Hartzer thanked King for his significant contribution to the company.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED

Google, Facebook, Twitter hit back at ACCC

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 13-Sep-19

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Digital Platforms Inquiry final report recommended changes to merger laws. The ACCC’s flagged crackdown on mergers within the technology sector has been attacked by the Digital Industry Group Inc, which represents companies such as Google, Twitter and Facebook. DIGI’s criticism came in a submission to Treasury, prior to the federal government releasing its response to the ACCC’s report.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, DIGITAL INDUSTRY GROUP INC, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, TWITTER INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED

Coal still produces most of Australia’s electricity, report finds

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Original article by Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 13-Sep-19

Fossil fuels accounted for 81 per cent of Australia’s electricity generation in 2018, according to a report to be released on 13 September. The Department of Environment and Energy’s Australian Energy Update shows that coal was the dominant producer of electricity, accounting for 60 per cent of generation, and that over 75 per cent of electricity generation in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria was coal-fired. Despite the continued dominance of fossil fuels when it comes to electricity generation, Energy Minister Angus Taylor says Australia leads the world in terms of clean energy investment.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

A Foxtel IPO still the goal for News Corp

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 13-Sep-19

News Corp global chief financial officer Susan Panuccio says the media company remains committed to spinning off Foxtel over the long term. News Corp owns 65 per cent of the pay television operator, with the remaining 35 per cent owned by Telstra. Foxtel has 2.4 million residential and commercial subscribers, with its residential customers had an average revenue per user of $78 as of the end of June. News Corp has indicated it sees Foxtel’s future growth coming from streaming rather than broadcasting.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS

Rundle Place deal ditched by Cromwell

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Original article by Su-Lin Tan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 34 : 13-Sep-19

Property group Cromwell has pulled out of a possible $250 million transaction to acquire Rundle Place in Adelaide from private equity company Blackstone. AMP Capital had previously passed up on the chance to purchase Rundle Place, which consists of a shopping centre and an 11-storey office tower, in June. Blackstone purchased Rundle Place for over $400 million dollars in early 2016.

CORPORATES
CROMWELL PROPERTY GROUP – ASX CMW, THE BLACKSTONE GROUP LP, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED

From first lady of Labor to the bench

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Original article by Nicola Berkovic
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 12-Sep-19

The New South Wales government announced the appointment of eight new magistrates to the NSW Local Court on 11 September, with one of the new appointees being Janine Lacy. Lacy is the wife of Mark Latham, who was leader of the federal Labor party when it was defeated heavily by the Howard government in 2004. Latham, who now represents One Nation in the NSW Upper House, said the NSW government had made no contact with him in regard to Lacy’s appointment. Latham said he was confident "she’ll do a great job".

CORPORATES
LOCAL COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY ONE NATION PARTY

Business warns about religious freedom bill

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 12-Sep-19

The Australian Industry Group has called for the federal government’s proposed religious freedom bill to be overhauled before it is put to a vote in Parliament. Attorney-General Christian Porter has said the bill does not stop companies from imposing ‘reasonable’ conditions on their staff. However, the AI Group contends the bill gives staff too much latitude in terms of using social media to violate company policies, and that the bill poses "significant" commercial challenges to businesses

CORPORATES
THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT

HK exchange in London bid

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Original article by Steven Russolillo
The Australian – Page: 17 & 27 : 12-Sep-19

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) has launched an unsolicited takeover bid for the London Stock Exchange (LSE). LSE has indicated it will consider the bid, which is valued at Stg29.6 billion ($53.27 billion), and which it described as "unsolicited, preliminary and highly conditional". The HKEX bid for the LSE is aimed at preventing the proposed merger between the LSE and financial-information provider Refinitiv Holding, which was announced in August. In commenting on the HKEX bid, the LSE stated it remained committed to its bid for Refinitiv.

CORPORATES
HONG KONG EXCHANGES AND CLEARING LIMITED LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE REFINITIV RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP

Neoen mulls bet on SA renewable

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith Simon Evans
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 12-Sep-19

French renewable energy developer Neoen has unveiled plans for a large renewable facility in South Australia. The Goyder South plant will involve up to 1200 megawatts of wind power, 600 MW of solar and 900 MW of battery storage. The facility will be constructed in at least three stages, with the initial stage requiring an investment of up to $1 billion. The proposed battery is nine times as big as the Tesla battery at Neoen’s Hornsdale site, which is around 80 kilometres away. Full development of the Goyder South plant is dependent on the proposed $1.5 billion interconnector cable with New South Wales proceeding.

CORPORATES
NEOEN TESLA INCORPORATED

ALP push for carbon target cut

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Original article by Rosie Lewis Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 12-Sep-19

It is understood that Labor may scrap its policy to cut emissions by 45 per cent by 2030, as Labor continues to review its policies in the wake of its surprise election loss in May. It is believed it is considering replacing that policy with one of having zero net emissions by 2050, with some Labor MPs seemingly of the view that it would be clearer than the ’45 per cent by 2030′ target. Opposition assistant climate change spokesman Pat Conroy claims it is vital that Australia be carbonneutral by 2050.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY