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Woolies nets $1.5b as it exits from hardware

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Original article by James Thomson, Sarah Thompson, John Stensholt, Anthony Macdonald
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 22 : 25-Aug-16

Australian-listed retailer Woolworths has advised that its Masters Home Improvement stores will be closed by mid-December 2016. Woolworths will sell the Home Timber & Hardware business to Mitre 10 owner Metcash for $A165m. Meanwhile, the Home Consortium will pay $A725m for 61 Masters stores and 21 development sites, with plans to convert the stores into large-format retail centres with multiple tenants. In a separate deal, the Australian arm of US auction house Great American Group will pay about $A500m for the Masters hardware inventory.

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, MASTERS HOME IMPROVEMENT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, HOME TIMBER AND HARDWARE, METCASH LIMITED – ASX MTS, MITRE 10 LIMITED, HOME CONSORTIUM, GREAT AMERICAN GROUP, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, SPOTLIGHT STORES PTY LTD, CHEMIST WAREHOUSE, AURRUM PTY LTD, ANACONDA STORES PTY LTD, JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, THE GOOD GUYS, DAN MURPHY’S, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, BAKER AND McKENZIE, THE BLACKSTONE GROUP LP, STOCKLAND – ASX SGP, CHARTER HALL GROUP – ASX CHC, VICINITY CENTRES – ASX VCX, MACQUARIE CAPITAL PTY LTD

HWT appoints Zavecz

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 21 : 25-Aug-16

Pacific Magazines CEO Peter Zavecz will leave the Seven West Media-owned publisher on 30 September 2016, to take up the role of managing director, commercial at News Corp Australia’s Herald & Weekly Times subsidiary. Meanwhile, HWT’s executive general manager Peter Clark will join the newly-created News Digital Networks Australia division.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, HERALD AND WEEKLY TIMES LIMITED, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, PACIFIC MAGAZINES PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NEWS DIGITAL NETWORK AUSTRALIA, NEWS LIFE MEDIA PTY LTD

Caltex’s Segal eyes Woolies fuel retail chain

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 11 : 24-Aug-16

It is estimated that Woolworths’ petrol stations business could fetch between $A1.3bn and $A1.5bn. Dale Koenders of Citigroup believes that Caltex Australia is likely to be the only bidder for the fuel retailing business, and Caltex CEO Julian Segal says his company would be interested in the division if it is put on the market. Caltex also intends to trial revamped convenience stores at some of its petrol stations. The pilot stores will feature quick service restaurants, fresh food and barista-made coffee.

CORPORATES
CALTEX AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX CTX, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, INVESTORS MUTUAL LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, VIVA ENERGY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, VIVA ENERGY REIT – ASX VVR

Woolies’ Masters discounting dims Beacon’s stellar growth

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 19-Aug-16

Australian-listed Beacon Lighting Group has posted a 2015-16 statutory net profit of $A18.3m, which is eight 8 per cent higher than previously. However, Beacon recorded a 14.6 per cent decline in profits during the second half, which it attributes to large price discounts on lighting products by Masters Home Improvement. Beacon recorded overall sales growth of 7.7 per cent, while same-store sales grew by just 2.7 per cent.

CORPORATES
BEACON LIGHTING GROUP LIMITED – ASX BLX, MASTERS HOME IMPROVEMENT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, MORGANS FINANCIAL LIMITED

Print is here to stay, declares Thomson

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 23 : 18-Aug-16

News Corporation CEO Robert Thomson has assured Australian employees that the media group will continue to publish print newspapers. Thomson also noted the low quality of much online news content, and stressed the importance of premium content amid global economic and geopolitical uncertainty. Thomson was addressing employees at the offices of "The Daily Telegraph" in Sydney.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Millennials lead the way in social media news era

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 15-Aug-16

A survey by Deloitte has found that TV is the main source of news for 36 per cent of Australians, followed by social media (18 per cent). In contrast, 31 per cent of respondents aged 14-26 and 25 per cent of those aged 27-32 identified social media as their primary source of news, but just six per cent of baby-boomers use social media as their primary source of news. The 2016 Media Consumer Survey also shows that the number of respondents with access to Netflix, Stan and Presto has risen from 12 per cent in 2015 to 22 per cent.

CORPORATES
DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, TWITTER INCORPORATED, SNAPCHAT INCORPORATED

Digital disruption isn’t a death knell

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 18 & 20 : 15-Aug-16

New figures show that the number of people watching free-to-air TV fell by 100,752 between the start of the 2016 ratings year and the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. The disappointing ratings performance of the Nine Network is believed to have accounted for the bulk of the lost viewers. However, the Seven Network’s director of ­programming, Angus Ross, says FTA is very resilient and having successful shows is the key to lifting audience numbers. Ross is confident that Seven’s post-Olympics line-up will be popular with viewers.

CORPORATES
NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

Ownership reforms still up for debate

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 15-Aug-16

Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has indicated that proposed cross-media ownership reforms will be a priority for the Federal Government when Parliament resumes. However, media industry executives have criticised the Opposition’s push for the reforms to be subject to further review, while Ten Network CEO Paul Anderson and Nine Entertainment Company CEO Hugh Marks argue that broadcasting licence fees must be included in the reform process.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, AUSTRALIAN SUBSCRIPTION TELEVISION AND RADIO ASSOCIATION (ASTRA) INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, ONE NATION PARTY, NICK XENOPHON TEAM

Foxtel chief on mission to win over subscribers

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 24 : 12-Aug-16

Australian pay-TV provider Foxtel has reported that its subscriber base grew by 4.7 per cent in 2015-16 to 2.9 million, while its customer churn rate rose by 1.3 per cent to 12.2 per cent. Foxtel’s EBITDA was 2.2 per cent lower at $A880m, but revenue rose by 4.6 per cent to $A3.3bn. CEO Peter Tonagh says Foxtel’s marketing will emphasise that the company streams video on demand to any device rather than merely providing a linear TV service. He adds that it boasts more of the biggest box-office hits from 2015 than Netflix.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE

Fairfax ‘reviews’ its papers

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Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian – Page: 23 : 11-Aug-16

Fairfax Media has posted a 2015-16 net loss of $A893.5m, following a profit of $A83.2m in 2014-15. The latest result was marred by a $A1bn writedown in the value of its newspapers. The listed media group’s underlying net profit was 7.6 per cent lower at $A132.5m, and revenue fell by 0.6 per cent to $A1.83bn. CEO Greg Hywood says the company will consider all options for its publishing businesses, adding that the Australian Community Media regional newspapers business is under review.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA PTY LTD, DOMAIN.COM.AU, PLATINUM EQUITY HOLDINGS, SENSIS PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, GRESHAM PARTNERS LIMITED, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG