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The Murdochs are stuck in a multibillion-dollar family feud. The empire they’re fighting over is flourishing

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Original article by
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 4-Jun-25

Media magnate Rupert Murdoch will pursue an appeal against a Nevada court’s ruling in late 2024 which blocked his bid to change the terms of a family trust. However, the Murdoch family’s in-fighting over the future control of their media empire appears to have had little impact on News Corp and Fox Corp. Fox’s market capitalisation has risen to around $US24bn ($37bn), despite the growing shift from both cable and broadcast TV to streaming services; the 2019 decision to sell its general entertainment assets and focus on news and sport has paid off. Likewise, News Corp’s share price has risen by nearly 50 per cent in the last two years, although Jason Bazinet of Citigroup contends that this is due largely to assets such as its stake in REA Group rather than its newspaper and book publishing assets.

CORPORATES
FOX CORPORATION, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, CITIGROUP INCORPORATED, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA

New Australian free-to-air TV rules could allow alcohol ads from 10am, even on weekends and school holidays

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Original article by Amanda Meade
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 21-May-25

Free TV Australia has proposed a revised code of practice for the nation’s commercial broadcasters. Amongst other things, the industry lobby group is pushing for M-rated TV programs to be broadcast for five hours during the daytime, rather than three at present; alcohol advertisements are permitted during M-rated blocks of programming, and Free TV Australia wants there to be no restrictions on such ads during weekends and school holidays, when children are most likely to be watching TV. It also proposes retaining the current loophole that allows alcohol ads to be shown during live sports broadcasts. The Australian Communications & Media Authority is currently reviewing the proposed changes to the code, which has not been updated for about a decade.

CORPORATES
FREE TV AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY

Piastri factor puts heat on Formula 1 TV rights race

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Original article by Calum Jaspan
The Age – Page: Online : 8-May-25

Nine Entertainment’s CEO Matt Stanton says the media group is interested in securing the broadcasting rights for Formula 1 racing. Foxtel currently holds exclusive rights to all F1 races except the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, which is also televised by the Ten Network under the nation’s anti-siphoning laws for major sports events. Foxtel is believed to be in the final year of its current three-year rights deal, and F1 would be a good fit for Nine’s Stan Sport streaming platform. The success of Australian driver Oscar Piastri so far in the current F1 is likely to have boosted local interest in the sport.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, STAN SPORT

Mother’s Day love: fewer Aussies spending more

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Original article by
Australian Retailers Association – Page: Online : 7-May-25

A survey by the Australian Retailers Association and Roy Morgan has found that 30 per cent of Australians are set to celebrate Mother’s Day in 2025, which equates to seven million people. This is 2.7 million fewer people than in 2024, although the projected average spend is up from $102 last year to $141. In total, Australians are expected to spend $1 billion on Mother’s Day this year, which is virtually unchanged from a year ago despite tighter household budgets. Some 37% of respondents say flowers will be their gift of choice, while 20 per cent will opt for food and beverages. Other popular gifts include gift vouchers (10%), personal care items (10%), clothing and shoes (9%) and house-related gifts such as homewares and gardening hardware (7%). The ARA’s Fleur Brown says that special spending events like Mother’s Day help to keep the retail sector resilient.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION, ROY MORGAN LIMITED

PM’s $1.65b refinery in offshore JV

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian – Page: 17 : 23-Apr-25

RareX and Iluka Resources have teamed up to make a joint bid for the right to develop the Mrima Hill rare earths project in Kenya. The two companies propose to ship ore from Mrima Hill to Western Australia, and process it at Iluka’s Eneabba rare earths refinery which is under construction. RareX’s MD James Durrant says the company has spent several years building trust and relationships in Kenya amid growing interest in the Mrima Hill deposit among countries such as the US and China. Iluka has received more than $1.6bn in taxpayer support for the Eneabba refinery.

CORPORATES
RAREX LIMITED – ASX REE, ILUKA RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX ILU

Women’s boot brand Wittner collapses

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Original article by Sarah Perillo
The Australian – Page: 17 : 17-Apr-25

Women’s footwear brand Wittner has become the latest casualty of challenging market conditions in Australia’s retail sector. Sal Algeri and David Orr from Deloitte have been appointed as the administrators of Wittner, which has a network of more than 20 stand-alone stores and about 25 concession stores within David Jones and Myer outlets. Wittner was founded in 1912, and the administrators have emphasised that it will continue to trade as they seek a deal to sell or recapitalise the business.

CORPORATES
WITTNER SHOES, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED

Time to buy, says James Hardie

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Original article by Cameron England
The Australian – Page: 15 & 23 : 25-Mar-25

Australian-listed building materials group James Hardie Industries has defended its move to acquire US-based Azec, which makes outdoor living products such as decking and siding. James Hardie CEO Aaron Erter says the two companies’ products are complementary, and the $US8.75bn ($13.93bn) deal is expected to generate annual synergies of around $US350m. Erter has also downplayed concerns about pursuing the deal amid the current political and macroeconomic uncertainty, contending that they will be well-placed to benefit when the market recovers.

CORPORATES
JAMES HARDIE INDUSTRIES PLC – ASX JHX, THE AZEC COMPANY INCORPORATED

Nine formally appoints Matt Stanton as chief executive

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Original article by Calum Jaspan
The Age – Page: Online : 14-Mar-25

Media company Nine Entertainment has announced that it has formally appointed Matt Stanton as its CEO, with chair Catherine West said the board was delighted to do so after an extensive search for Mike Sneesby’s successor. Sneesby had stepped down in September after an ongoing period of share price decline and a rocky few months for Nine, and Stanton had been acting as interim CEO since then. He had previously been Nine’s chief strategy and financial officer, while companies that he worked for before joining Nine include Woolworths and Bauer Media, where he had been CEO.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC,(SPACE)WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW,(SPACE)BAUER MEDIA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Coles laments $500m in sales lost to rivals

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 4-Mar-25

Coles’ internal analysis suggests that competition from non-grocery retailers has cost it about $400m worth of sales in categories such as personal care and household products over the last four years. It is estimated that Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and independent grocery stores have lost about $500m in sales to pharmacies, hardware stores and online-only retailers such as Temu and Amazon. Coles aims to counter this by ramping up its investment in the ‘health and home’ product category. Woolworths CEO Amanda Bardwell also recently noted that the group’s growth in sales of non-food products has been below that of previous years.

CORPORATES
COLES GROUP LIMITED – ASX COL, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, TEMU, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED

Nine flags cuts amid advertising downturn

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Original article by James Madden
The Australian – Page: 15 & 23 : 26-Feb-25

Nine Entertainment Company has posted a 2024-25 interim net profit of $95.1m, which is 29 per cent lower than previously. EBITDA fell by 15 per cent to $268m, and revenue was steady at $1.39bn. The media group has advised that it will seek to generate cost savings of $100m across its operations over the next two years, and interim CEO Matt Stanton has indicated that the restructuring will involve some job cuts. Stanton also stated that the Domain property listings business is a key part of Nine’s growth strategy, in the wake of a $2.6bn bid for Domain from US-based CoStar Group.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, DOMAIN HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX DHA, COSTAR GROUP INCORPORATED