Rinehart in secret talks on Fairfax

Original article by Sharri Markson
The Australian – Page: 19 : 10-Sep-14

A spokesman for mining magnate Gina Rinehart has downplayed speculation that she is planning to make a takeover bid for Fairfax Media. Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting holds a 14.99 per cent stake in the media group, and it has been revealed that she held talks with Matt Handbury regarding a bid for Fairfax in 2012. Handbury sold Murdoch Magazines in 2004 and Murdoch Books in 2012

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD, MURDOCH MAGAZINES PTY LTD, MURDOCH BOOKS PTY LTD, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, ALLEN AND UNWIN PTY LTD

Contractors feel pain of tumbling iron ore prices

Original article by Jenny Wiggins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 9-Sep-14

Falling iron ore prices have had a negative impact on engineering and mining contractors providing services to iron ore mining companies. Analysts have downgraded their ratings, and the share prices of companies such as Mineral Resources, NRW Holdings and Macmahon Holdings are likely to be under pressure. The stock of Mineral Resources fell 1.8 per cent on 8 September 2014 after it was downgraded by RBC Capital Markets from "outperform" to "sector perform"

CORPORATES
MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN, NRW HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NWH, MACMAHON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MAH, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, WESTERN DESERT RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX WDR, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, LEIGHTON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX LEI, DOWNER EDI LIMITED – ASX DOW, MONADELPHOUS GROUP LIMITED – ASX MND, AUSTIN ENGINEERING LIMITED – ASX ANG, BRADKEN LIMITED – ASX BKN, EMECO HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX EHL, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS

Woolworths’ pub fund lightens load with $603m property sale

Original article by Ben Wilmot, Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 17 : 9-Sep-14

Real estate funds management group Charter Hall and industry superannuation fund HOSTPLUS will jointly pay $A603m via a new unlisted vehicle to acquire pub assets. The seller of the freehold properties is the ALH Group linked to bottle shops and pubs operator Woolworths. The latter, through its venture with entrepreneur Bruce Mathieson, will lease back the 54 sites. The real estate holdings divestment by Woolworths has now reached $A2.9bn in value

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, CHARTER HALL GROUP – ASX CHC, AUSTRALIAN LEISURE AND HOSPITALITY GROUP LIMITED, BRUANDWO PTY LTD, HOST-PLUS, MH CARNEGIE AND COMPANY PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN PUBS FUND, DAN MURPHY’S, BWS – BEER WINE SPIRITS, SHOPPING CENTRES AUSTRALASIA PROPERTY GROUP – ASX SCP, LAUNDY HOTELS PTY LTD, TELSTRA STAFF SUPERANNUATION SCHEME, ALE PROPERTY GROUP – ASX LEP, HOTEL PROPERTIES INVESTMENTS – ASX HPI, COLES GROUP LIMITED, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES

Board members: when enough is enough

Original article by Philip Baker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 9-Sep-14

Analysis by Credit Suisse suggests that the number of directors on a listed company’s board can influence shareholder returns. The firm concludes that the optimum number of directors for companies with a market value of at least $A5bn is between nine and 11, and 6-8 in the case of those with a capitalisation of less than $A5bn. The majority of companies have 6-8 directors, although BHP Billiton and Crown Resorts each have 13

CORPORATES
CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, CROWN RESORTS LIMITED – ASX CWN, INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG, QBE INSURANCE GROUP LIMITED – ASX QBE, AMCOR LIMITED – ASX AMC, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGK, STOCKLAND – ASX SGP, SONIC HEALTHCARE LIMITED – ASX SHL, CALTEX AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX CTX, SYDNEY AIRPORT – ASX SYD, INCITEC PIVOT LIMITED – ASX IPL, MIRVAC GROUP – ASX MGR, DEXUS PROPERTY GROUP – ASX DXS, HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX HVN, BLUESCOPE STEEL LIMITED – ASX BSL, JAMES HARDIE INDUSTRIES PLC – ASX JHX, METCASH LIMITED – ASX MTS, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, CHALLENGER LIMITED – ASX CGF, ATLAS IRON LIMITED – ASX AGO, FLIGHT CENTRE TRAVEL GROUP LIMITED – ASX FLT, SEEK LIMITED – ASX SEK, INVESTA OFFICE FUND – ASX IOF, INDEPENDENCE GROUP NL – ASX IGO, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, GOODMAN GROUP – ASX GMG, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE. CORPORATE GOVERNANCE COUNCIL, GMI RATINGS

ACCC orange light on Wotif takeover

Original article by Jamie Freed
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 5-Sep-14

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) had been widely tipped to approve Expedia’s acquisition of Wotif.com. However, the competition regulator has expressed concern that the $A703m deal may lead to an increase in commission rates in the accommodation sector. The ACCC has noted that Wotif.com’s low commission rates may have influenced rivals such as Expedia to offer lower rates in Australia than in other markets

CORPORATES
WOTIF.COM HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX WTF, EXPEDIA INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, BOOKING.COM BV, BELL POTTER SECURITIES LIMITED, BELL FINANCIAL GROUP LIMITED – ASX BFG, CLIFFORD CHANCE, FLIGHT CENTRE TRAVEL GROUP LIMITED – ASX FLT, HELLOWORLD LIMITED – ASX HLO, STA TRAVEL PTY LTD, PRICELINE.COM, EUROMONITOR, JETSET TRAVELWORLD LIMITED, STELLA TRAVEL SERVICES LIMITED, DRANSFIELD HOTELS AND RESORTS PTY LTD, ACCOMMODATION ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Epic $70b dividend haul

Original article by Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 & 27 : 4-Sep-14

Credit Suisse estimates that companies in the S&P/ASX 200 announced $A67.8bn worth of dividends in 2013-14, compared with $A61.3bn in the previous financial year. Hasan Tevfik of Credit Suisse notes that some companies are allowing shareholders to receive shares via dividend reinvestment plans rather than be paid in cash. He adds that capital expenditure is also being adversely affected by increased dividend payouts

CORPORATES
CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, GOLDMAN SACHS AND PARTNERS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BANK OF AMERICA AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MERRILL LYNCH (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD

FSI should focus on transparency, says fundie

Original article by Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 2-Sep-14

The Australian Government’s financial system inquiry should focus on transparency and conflicts of interests. David Booth, co-founder of Dimensional Fund Advisors, says governments tend to over-react when the banking system is under strain. Over-regulation will not prevent future problems if the potential for conflicts of interests is not eliminated. Dimensional Fund Advisors does not pay commissions to financial advisers

CORPORATES
DIMENSIONAL FUND ADVISORS INCORPORATED, THE VANGUARD GROUP INCORPORATED

Hope for September

Original article by Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 2-Sep-14

The Australian sharemarket rose by 0.02 per cent in the June 2014 quarter, which may bode well for the market’s outlook in September. Perpetual notes that while it was the first time since 2009 that the market has finished in the red in the June quarter, it has posted gains eight times in the last decade during the September quarter. Meanwhile, the month of September is traditionally seen as a bearish one for sharemarkets, although the Australian bourse rose in both September 2012 and 2013

CORPORATES
PERPETUAL LIMITED – ASX PPT, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE INDEX, CITIBANK PTY LTD, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD

Local shares tipped to fall as spring begins

Original article by Sally Rose
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 1-Sep-14

Futures traders expect the Australian sharemarket to fall by 0.2 per cent when trading resumes on 1 September 2014. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index shed 0.1 per cent during August, and the downward trend is tipped to continue at the start of September. Factors such as the upcoming release of Australian and Chinese economic data are likely to weigh on investor sentiment, while a number of blue-chip stocks will commence trading without a dividend in the coming week

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, LEND LEASE GROUP LIMITED – ASX LLC, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGK, COCHLEAR LIMITED – ASX COH, ALPHINITY INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, BANK OF ENGLAND, BANK OF JAPAN, BANK OF CANADA

Business as usual at Medibank: MD

Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 1-Sep-14

The Australian Government’s Medibank Private IPO will proceed in December 2014 and is expected to be worth up to $A4bn. Finance Minister Mathias Cormann notes that an independent scoping study concluded that premiums are unlikely to increase when Medibank is privatised. Medibank CEO George Savvides has assured members that the quality of service will not be affected by the privatisation

CORPORATES
MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN DENTAL ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED