BUSINESS FORECASTING – AUSTRALIA

Funds predict tough times ahead for local shares

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Bianca Hartge-Hazelman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 19-Nov-14

Paradice Investment Management founder David Paradice is among the fund managers who forecast lower earnings growth in Australia during 2015. Geoff Wilson of Wilson Asset Management expects the Australian sharemarket to be lower at the end of 2015, while Damien Boey of Credit Suisse says factors such as the weaker Australian economy and the fall in commodity prices will prompt at least one more interest rate cut

CORPORATES
PARADICE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, WILSON ASSET MANAGEMENT, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, CALTEX AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX CTX, COCHLEAR LIMITED – ASX COH, TABCORP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TAH, SLATER AND GORDON LIMITED – ASX SGH, INFOMEDIA LIMITED – ASX IFM, ARISTOCRAT LEISURE LIMITED – ASX ALL, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

ROKT, eBay in digital ad deal

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Damon Kitney
The Australian – Page: 19 : 13-Nov-14

Bruce Buchanan, CEO of digital marketing company ROKT, has announced a new agreement with web auctions group eBay for the North American market. The Sydney-based firm forecasts revenue of up to $A200m by 2016 from the deal on targeted advertising for eBay users. In Australia, ROKT has Car­sales, Tigerair and Australia Post among its clients. The business has been provided with venture capital by the Square Peg Capital vehicle of Paul Bassat and James Packer, as well as by Lachlan Murdoch and Carsales CEO Greg Roebuck

CORPORATES
ROKT PTY LTD, EBAY INCORPORATED, CARSALES.COM LIMITED – ASX CRZ, AUSTRALIA POST, VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH, TIGER AIRWAYS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SQUARE PEG CAPITAL PTY LTD, JANCHOR PARTNERS LIMITED, PINCHME AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Gas sector buoys economy

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 13-Nov-14

PricewaterhouseCoopers forecasts that Australia’s oil and gas industry will be worth $A67bn to the national economy by 2029-30, compared with just $A32bn in the 2012-13 financial year. The firm’s report was prepared on behalf of the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA), and notes that the sector contributes more value to the economy than any other industry. APPEA CEO David Byers says the report demonstrates that gas supplies should not be reserved for domestic use

CORPORATES
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM PRODUCTION AND EXPLORATION ASSOCIATION LIMITED, ENERGY SUPPLY ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Outlook for deals healthy as vendors eye valuations

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 11-Nov-14

Data from Dealogic shows that Australian companies have been involved in $US77.3bn ($A89.1bn) worth of mergers and acquisitions so far in 2014, which is nine per cent higher than previously. Meanwhile, a new report from Grant Thornton forecasts further growth in mergers and acquisitions activity in the next 12 months, following 105 deals in the 18 months to 30 June 2014

CORPORATES
DEALOGIC (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, GRANT THORNTON AUSTRALIA, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, GRESHAM PRIVATE EQUITY LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

CCA soars as Coke takes stake in Indo

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 20 : 31-Oct-14

The Coca-Cola Company will pay $US500m ($A563m) for a 29.4 per cent stake in the Indonesian subsidiary of Australian-listed Coca-Cola Amatil. The deal prompted a rally in CCA shares, which peaked at $A9.25, although some analysts believe that the group should have sought a higher price for the stake. Meanwhile, CCA anticipates that it will achieve earnings growth in 2015

CORPORATES
COCA-COLA AMATIL LIMITED – ASX CCL, THE COCA-COLA COMPANY

NAB to step up UK asset sales

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Clancy Yeates, James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 30-Oct-14

Some analysts believe that National Australia Bank (NAB) will divest the UK’s Clydesdale Bank via an IPO within six months. NAB is likely to reveal its sale options for the Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank businesses when its 2013-14 financial results are released on 30 October 2014. NAB is tipped to post a full-year profit within the range of $A5.1bn to $A5.2bn, down from $A5.94bn previously

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, CLYDESDALE BANK PLC, YORKSHIRE BANK PLC, GREAT WESTERN BANK, MLC LIMITED, GREAT BRITAIN. FINANCIAL CONDUCT AUTHORITY

LNG exports to quadruple in five years

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Scott Parker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 22-Oct-14

The Commonwealth Bank’s Lachlan Shaw is upbeat about the outlook for Australia’s LNG industry, forecasting strong growth in exports over the next five years. However, he warns that high capital costs in Australia may jeopardise future LNG projects, while the price of LNG being linked to the crude oil price presents another headwind for the industry. The oil price recently reached a low of $US82.60 per barrel

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, FACTS GLOBAL ENERGY GROUP OF COMPANIES, ORGANISATION OF PETROLEUM EXPORTING COUNTRIES

PwC enlisted to count cost of metadata laws

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Mitchell Bingemann
The Australian – Page: 20 : 8-Oct-14

The Australian Government aims to soon pass new laws that will force telcos and ISPs to store metadata for 24 months, to boost national security. It has now emerged that a study has been commissioned from PricewaterhouseCoopers by the Attorney-General’s Department, of the projected cost burden for the sector that will be created by the implementation of the necessary IT solutions. Second-ranked telco Singtel Optus has put this at between $A30m and $A200m

CORPORATES
SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS LIMITED – ASX SGT, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, IINET LIMITED – ASX IIN, TWITTER AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, TWITTER INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED

Mining wages too high, says Mitsui

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Amanda Saunders
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 26-Sep-14

Mitsui Australia CEO Yasushi Takahashi has questioned whether the nation’s high wages in the mining sector are sustainable. He argues that productivity needs to improve in order to justify the high labour costs relative to other resources-rich countries. Meanwhile, Takahashi expects the price of coal and iron ore to begin to recover by the end of 2014, and he suggests that the oversupply of iron ore could potentially be over by 2017

CORPORATES
MITSUI AND COMPANY (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, MITSUI AND COMPANY LIMITED, SIMS METAL MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX SGM, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL

India burning brighter for LNG exporters

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 19-Sep-14

India may emerge as a significant importer of LNG from Australia. Woodside Petroleum forecasts that demand for LNG in in India will rise to as much as 50 million tonnes by 2024. Peter Cleary, the head of LNG at Santos, expects India to import early spot cargoes from the GLNG project in Queensland. Analysts from Tri-Zen International say that India has insufficient infrastructure for large LNG imports

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, ADANI ENTERPRISES LIMITED, GUJARAT STATE PETROLEUM CORPORATION, PETRONET INDIA LIMITED, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO