K: Financial and Insurance Services

Boards ‘hungry for growth’

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Original article by Damon Kitney
The Australian – Page: 19 : 24-Jul-14

A Business Leaders Forum in Perth on 23 July 2014 heard from Michael Chaney, chair of National Australia Bank and Woodside Petroleum. He said company boards were once more interested in pursuing growth via acquisitions or capital investment in new developments, as stockholders were also ready to fund such initiatives. However there was often a lack of suitable takeover targets, Chaney added. Recent mergers and acquisitions moves have featured Goodman Fielder, Treasury Wine Estates, David Jones, SAI Global and Aquila Resources

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL|NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB|TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS|RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO|GOODMAN FIELDER LIMITED – ASX GFF|TREASURY WINE ESTATES LIMITED – ASX TWE|DAVID JONES LIMITED – ASX DJS|SAI GLOBAL LIMITED – ASX SAI|AQUILA RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX AQA|SEEK LIMITED – ASX SEK|DEUTSCHE BANK AG

Mortgage rates hit record lows

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Original article by Jonathan Shapiro|Clancy Yeates|Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 24-Jul-14

Three of Australia’s four major banks reduced their fixed mortgage interest rates on 23 July 2014, after the five-year swap rate fell to just 3.11 per cent in the previous week. The Commonwealth Bank’s five-year fixed rate has fallen to a record low of just 4.99 per cent, with Westpac and National Australia Bank reducing their rates for new customers to the same level. Meanwhile, market watchers expect the Reserve Bank to leave the cash rate on hold after inflation rose to three per cent in the second quarter

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA|WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC|NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB|RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA|AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ|BELL POTTER SECURITIES LIMITED|BELL FINANCIAL GROUP LIMITED – ASX BFG|UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD|MALAYSIAN AIRLINE SYSTEMS|AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS|RATECITY PTY LTD|MOZO PTY LTD|MEMBERS EQUITY BANK PTY LTD|UBANK

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Returns

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 22-Jul-14

The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rating for Australia rose by 4.4 per cent to 113.5 in the week ended 20 July 2014. Consumer confidence has almost completely retraced the sharp deterioration seen in the weeks around the Federal Government’s May 2013 Budget and is returning to long-run average levels. The improvement in confidence has been driven by large increases in households’ perceptions regarding economic conditions over the next year and their financial situation in both a year’s time and compared with a year ago

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED|AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

The future of mega-cap stocks

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Original article by James Frost|Matthew Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 23-Jul-14

The S&P/ASX 20 Index has outperformed the S&P/ASX 200 in the last 12 months, as well as the last three and five years. The composition of the ASX 20 has changed significantly over the last five and 10 years, and astute investors can potentially enjoy big returns by backing the right stocks. Johan Carlberg of Alphinity Investment Management says companies whose focus is the domestic market could be displaced by peers that pursue growth offshore. Paul Taylor of Fidelity says healthcare and technology stocks could potentially be elevated to the top 20 index in coming years

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 20 INDEX|STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX|ALPHINITY INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT PTY LTD|FIDELITY INTERNATIONAL PTY LTD|PERENNIAL GROWTH MANAGEMENT|AUSTRALIAN ETHICAL INVESTMENT LIMITED – ASX AEF|NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS|FOSTER’S GROUP LIMITED|ST GEORGE BANK LIMITED|SEEK LIMITED – ASX SEK|WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES|WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW|APPLE INCORPORATED|EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION|FIDELITY AUSTRALIAN EQUITIES FUND|FACEBOOK INCORPORATED|GOOGLE INCORPORATED|HEALTHSCOPE LIMITED – ASX HSO|MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED|NEWCREST MINING LIMITED – ASX NCM|FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG|WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL|ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG|SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO|OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH|BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP|RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO|TRANSURBAN GROUP LIMITED – ASX TCL|S&P DOW JONES INDICES LLP|WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD|SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG|SYDNEY AIRPORT – ASX SYD|MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

Soul Patts chief blasts attacks on company’s board

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Original article by Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 21 : 22-Jul-14

The Australian Taxation Office has issued a private ruling that states a capital gains tax charge of $A311m would be created by an unwinding of the cross-shareholdings of Brickworks and Washington H Soul Pattinson. Brickworks has 42.7% of Soul Patts and the listed investment company 44.3% of the building materials group. Soul Patts chair Robert Millner has criticised fund management firm Perpetual and activist shareholder Mark Carnegie for pursuing the split plan, noting that it has caused costs of several millions of dollars

CORPORATES
WASHINGTON H SOUL PATTINSON AND COMPANY LIMITED – ASX SOL, BRICKWORKS LIMITED – ASX BKW, PERPETUAL LIMITED – ASX PPT, TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM, NEW HOPE CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX NHC, BKI INVESTMENT COMPANY LIMITED – ASX BKI, MILTON CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX MLT, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, QBE INSURANCE GROUP LIMITED – ASX QBE, BRAMBLES LIMITED – ASX BXB, TRANSURBAN GROUP LIMITED – ASX TCL, MH CARNEGIE AND COMPANY PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE

M&A ‘explosion’ may not rattle Australia

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Original article by Jared Lynch
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 22-Jul-14

GMO co-founder Jeremy Grantham is expecting a "veritable explosion" in mergers and acquisitions activity in Australia. He says that three factors will lead to a record number of mergers and acquisitions deals, namely cheap capital, the economic recovery and high profit margins. JPMorgan is not convinced. The firm believes that foreign investors will be deterred by the high value of the Australian dollar

CORPORATES
GRANTHAM MAYO VAN OTTERLOO AND COMPANY LLC, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS HOLDINGS LIMITED, DAVID JONES LIMITED – ASX DJS, TREASURY WINE ESTATES LIMITED – ASX TWE, KOHLBERG KRAVIS ROBERTS AND COMPANY, STANDARD AND POOR’S 500 INDEX, TIME WARNER INCORPORATED, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED

Sunshine brings winter of discontent to stocks

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Original article by Philip Baker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 22-Jul-14

Climate modelling suggests that there is a strong chance of Australia experiencing another El Nino phenomenon late in 2014. The unseasonably warm weather during the winter has already adversely affected the sales of some retailers. Tim Rocks of the Commonwealth Bank says stocks in a range of sectors could be hurt by a protracted period of warm weather. These include GrainCorp, Nufarm, AGL Energy and Suncorp Group

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, GRAINCORP LIMITED – ASX GNC, NUFARM LIMITED – ASX NUF, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGK, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, INCITEC PIVOT LIMITED – ASX IPL, INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG, QBE INSURANCE GROUP LIMITED – ASX QBE, DAVID JONES LIMITED – ASX DJS, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, PREMIER INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX PMV, KATHMANDU HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX KMD, PACIFIC BRANDS LIMITED – ASX PBG, THE REJECT SHOP LIMITED – ASX TRS, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, SUPER RETAIL GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUL, SUPER CHEAP AUTO, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF AGRICULTURE, LEND LEASE GROUP LIMITED – ASX LLC, LEIGHTON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX LEI, BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, CSR LIMITED – ASX CSR, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, CARNEGIE WAVE ENERGY LIMITED – ASX CWE, DYESOL LIMITED – ASX DYE, SILEX SYSTEMS LIMITED – ASX SLX, ENERGY DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED – ASX ENE, BLUGLASS LIMITED – ASX BLG, INFIGEN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX IFN

Treasury says lower $A to avoid income crunch

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1-Feb : 22-Jul-14

The Melbourne Economic Forum has warned of the need for a reduction in real wages and higher productivity to avert a decline in Australians’ standard of living. However, Professor Ian McDonald of Melbourne University believes that the economic modelling has too much emphasis on productivity. Meanwhile, federal Treasury economist David Gruen told the forum that the Australian dollar is likely to fall in coming years, which will assist the transition from the mining boom

CORPORATES
MELBOURNE ECONOMIC FORUM, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, VICTORIA UNIVERSITY. CENTRE OF POLICY STUDIES, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Buyback may go on hold as iron ore earnings fall

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Original article by Amanda Saunders
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 21-Jul-14

Analyst Paul Taggart says Credit Suisse expects any capital management initiatives at BHP Billiton to be deferred until August 2015 at the earliest. There has been ongoing anticipation of a stock buyback by the Australian-listed mining company. However, the iron ore price has contracted by nearly 25 per cent in 2014. The resources group’s 2014-15 earnings may fall by up to 14 per cent. BHP will issue its quarterly production results on 23 July 2014

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Healthscope price splits fund managers

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Original article by Jemima Whyte
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 21-Jul-14

Shares in Healthscope will be priced within the range of $A1.76 and $A2.29 apiece in an IPO that will be worth around $A2.5bn. The company is being floated by TPG Capital and The Carlyle Group, but Anton Tagliaferro of Investors Mutual says investors should be cautious about IPOs that are backed by private equity firms. He believes that Healthscope’s shares are overvalued and says Investors Mutual will not be buying stock in the float

CORPORATES
HEALTHSCOPE LIMITED – ASX HSO, INVESTORS MUTUAL LIMITED, TPG CAPITAL LP, THE CARLYLE GROUP, EQUITY TRUSTEES LIMITED – ASX EQT, PENGANA CAPITAL LIMITED, RAMSAY HEALTH CARE LIMITED – ASX RHC