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Rio Tinto takes over uranium mine clean-up amid spiralling costs

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Original article by Nick Toscano
The Age – Page: Online : 4-Apr-24

Energy Resources of Australia had initially estimated that rehabilitation work at its defunct Ranger uranium mine in the Northern Territory would cost $500m and be completed by 2026. ERA subsequently advised in September 2023 that cleaning up the site will cost at least $2.2bn and is unlikely to be finished before 2028. Rio Tinto has announced that it has reached agreement with ERA to take over management of the rehabilitation program; the mining giant has an 86.3 per cent stake in ERA.

CORPORATES
ENERGY RESOURCES OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX ERA, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Lew unveils ambitous Premier overhaul

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 27-Mar-24

Premier Investments has posted a 2023-24 interim net profit of $177.2m, which is 1.7 per cent higher than previously. Sales rose by 2.9 per cent to $890m, while shareholders will receive a record half-year dividend of $0.63 per share. Meanwhile, chairman Solomon Lew has revealed plans to spin off the Smiggle stationery brand and the Peter Alexander sleepwear business into separately-listed companies in 2025. The proposed demerger of the two flagship plans follows a review of Premier Investments’ assets that was commissioned last year.

CORPORATES
PREMIER INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX PMV, SMIGGLE PTY LTD, PETER ALEXANDER SLEEPWEAR PTY LTD

Musk joins Dick Smith in stoush over ABC fact-check

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Original article by Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: 3 : 26-Mar-24

Dick Smith has threatened to sue the ABC for defamation if a report issued by the RMIT ABC Fact Check unit is not corrected. The report was issued in response to an interview between Smith and 2GB host Ben Fordham, in which he stated that "no country has ever been able to run entirely on renewables – that’s impossible". Smith claims that the report basically made him out to be a liar, and that "fact checkers are traitors to Australia". Billionaire Elon Musk has weighed in on the issue, claiming in a tweet on his X social media platform that "having government ‘fact-checkers’ is a giant leap in the direction of tyranny"

CORPORATES
RMIT UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

China’s Shein set to smash $1b sales in challenge to locals

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Original article by Nick Bonyhady, Carrie LaFrenz
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 13-Mar-24

Jarden’s head of research Ben Gilbert says Wesfarmers will need to invest in its Kmart and Target brands in order to compete with new online rivals such as Shein and Temu. Gilbert forecasts that Temu, Shein and Amazon will achieve combined sales of more than $7bn in 2024. Meanwhile, corporate filings show that Shein’s Australian arm posted a gross profit of $26m in 2023, while revenue totalled $812m; Roy Morgan estimates that Shein is on track to post annual sales of $1bn. Shein was founded in China but is now based in Singapore, while it is planning a US sharemarket listing.

CORPORATES
SHEIN, TEMU, JARDEN AND COMPANY, ROY MORGAN LIMITED, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TARGET AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED

Southern Cross rejects ARN Media takeover

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Original article by Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: 17 : 8-Mar-24

Southern Cross Media Group has formally rejected a takeover offer from ARN Media and Anchorage Capital Partners, contending that it undervalues the TV and radio stations group. However, chairman Rob Murray has indicated that Southern Cross would be open to a revised offer. He adds that the group’s radio stations and digital audio platforms are its key focus; it owns 99 radio stations across Australia, while ARN Media owns 58 radio stations.

CORPORATES
SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, ARN MEDIA LIMITED – ASX A1N, ANCHORAGE CAPITAL PARTNERS PTY LTD

Job losses and potentially dire impact on regional media from Meta’s news exit

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Original article by Calum Jaspan
The Age – Page: Online : 8-Mar-24

Australian Community Media executive chair Antony Catalano contends the decision by Meta to refuse to pay for Australian news content could have a "dire impact" on what is Australia’s largest regional newspaper publisher. Catalano said there would certainly be job losses at ACM if an alternative source of funds cannot be found, while he says he always felt as if Meta was not committed to the media content funding deals. Public Interest Journalism Initiative CEO Anna Draffin has suggested that tax reform could help make up the revenue gap resulting from Meta’s decision, suggesting it could take the form of a research and development-style rebate.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA PTY LTD, META AUSTRALIA LIMITED, PUBLIC INTEREST JOURNALISM INITIATIVE

Roy Morgan Retail Sales outlook for 2024

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Original article by By Roy Morgan’s Retail & Consumer Trends Expert Laura Demasi
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 6-Mar-24

Despite the intense cost-of-living pressures on households over 2023 the much-feared consumer spending ‘cliff’ did not come to pass, with retail sales steadied by record population growth, continued strong employment, and the dwindling remains of record household savings. With 2024 set to be another uncertain year, Roy Morgan unveils its retail sales forecast and steps through some of the factors that will shape how the year might unfold. Roy Morgan’s preliminary retail forecast for 2024 sees the year ending with retail sales still about 8.4% higher than the pre-pandemic trend; based on retail sales growing at the normal rate of 3.4% each year, which is the annual average growth rate from 2010-2023, excluding the much higher pandemic years (2020-22).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Lake Resources cutting jobs as lithium stabilises

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Original article by Matt Bell
The Australian – Page: 16 : 5-Mar-24

Australian-listed Lake Resources has advised that it is seeking a partner for its Kachi lithium project in Argentina, which will continue to be the company’s priority. CEO David Dickson says Lake Resources will seek expressions of interest from prospective partners, with a view to making a final investment decision on Kachi in 2025. Dickson has also indicated that Lake Resources will review its non-core assets and lithium tenements, while it will retrench about 50 per cent of its global workforce; the job cuts will be focused on non-core operational and administrative roles.

CORPORATES
LAKE RESOURCES NL – ASX LKE

Tabcorp to pull form guide from three News Corp papers

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 28-Feb-24

News Corp Australia may cease publishing racing form guides in the print editions of its metropolitan mastheads in Adelaide, Hobart and Darwin. Tabcorp currently sponsors the form guides, and the wagering group has indicated that it wants to redirect this expenditure elsewhere; however, sources have indicated that it is likely to keep spending the same amount at News Corp. Tabcorp will also continue to sponsor the form guides in News Corp’s newspapers in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Meanwhile, News Corp may be open to deals for non-wagering companies to sponsor its form guides in Adelaide, Hobart and Darwin.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TABCORP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TAH

Saint-Gobain wins over CSR board in $4.3b takeover

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Original article by Simon Evans
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 27-Feb-24

French firm Saint-Gobain has said in a statement that the board of CSR has unanimously recommended that shareholders of the building products firm accept its $4.3 billion takeover bid, with the two firms having signed a scheme implementation deed. CSR chairman John Gillam said that the two companies had been in discussions since early January, when CSR had rejected a lower bid by Saint-Gobain. Saint-Gobain stated that it expected to achieve $60 million in synergies by the third year of its ownership of CSR, of which $50 million would come from the cost side.

CORPORATES
CSR LIMITED – ASX CSR, SAINT-GOBAIN