BUSINESS LOSSES – AUSTRALIA

Metcash sinks auto sale proceeds into groceries

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 16-Jun-15

Australian-listed Burson Group will pay $A275m for Metcash’s automotive division, whose brands include Autobarn and Midas. The proceeds of the transaction will be used to bolster Metcash’s balance sheet and invest in its grocery business. Meanwhile, Metcash’s 2014-15 underlying net profit was down 17.4 per cent at $A193m, and it has posted a net loss of $A384.2m. EBIT was 16.7 per cent lower at $A325.1m.

CORPORATES
METCASH LIMITED – ASX MTS, BURSON GROUP LIMITED – ASX BAP, AUTOBARN PTY LTD, MIDAS MUFFLERS, AUTOPRO SERVICES PTY LTD, INDEPENDENT GROCERS OF AUSTRALIA, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, DEUTSCHE BANK AG

Masters fails to stem tide of red ink

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 22-May-15

The Masters Home Improvement chain is expected to post a loss of at least $A200m for 2014-15. Deutsche Bank’s figures suggest that the hardware joint venture made a loss of $A66m in the March 2015 quarter and is losing some $A5.1m each week. Woolworths and US-based Lowe’s have invested $A3.07m in Masters so far, and recently invested an additional $A45m in the business. Lowe’s has a 33 per cent stake in the joint venture.

CORPORATES
MASTERS HOME IMPROVEMENT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, LOWE’S COMPANIES INCORPORATED, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, HYDROX HOLDINGS PTY LTD, COLES GROUP LIMITED, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, HOME TIMBER AND HARDWARE

Netflix reveals Australian launch date and iiNet deal

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Original article by Jared Lynch
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 4-Mar-15

Netflix has secured a deal with iiNet for the Australian-listed ISP’s customers to have unmetered access to the video streaming service. US-based Netflix has confirmed that its service will commence in Australia and New Zealand on 24 March 2015, offering content such as films and popular TV shows. Established player Quickflix recently reported a 2014-15 interim net loss of $A8.6m and a five per cent decline in subscribers

CORPORATES
NETFLIX INCORPORATED, IINET LIMITED – ASX IIN, QUICKFLIX LIMITED – ASX QFX, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS LIMITED – ASX SGT, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, STAN

Besieged Vocation crashes to $273m loss

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Original article by Simon Evans
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 3-Mar-15

Australian-listed Vocation has posted a 2014-15 interim loss of $A273m, following a loss of $A4m for the first half of 2013-14. The latest result was marred by impairment charges totalling $A241m. The vocational education provider has also been affected by a downturn in enrolments, and is seeking to offload some of its assets. Revenue rose by 9.3 per cent to $A57.7m

CORPORATES
VOCATION LIMITED – ASX VET, LEARNING VERVE PTY LTD, CUSTOMER SERVICE INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA, BAWM GROUP PTY LTD, ENDEAVOUR COLLEGE OF NATURAL HEALTH, AUSTRALIAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, 333 CAPITAL PTY LTD, KORDA MENTHA AND COLLEAGUES PTY LTD, LAUREATE INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITIES

Australia Post hopes $1-a-letter strategy can avoid loss

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Original article by Patrick Durkin, Tony Boyd
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 24-Feb-15

Australia Post has reported a 2014-15 interim profit of $A98m, which is 56 per cent lower than previously. Its letters division made a loss of $A151m for the half-year, and Australia Post has forecast a group loss for the full year, which would be its first since 1982. CEO Ahmed Fahour has stressed the need for regulatory reform to ensure that its letters division is viable. Australia Post wants to adopt a two-tiered pricing structure for mail deliveries

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA POST, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS, JAPAN POST, TOLL HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TOL, SINGAPORE POST PTE LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, COURIERS PLEASE, DHL CORPORATION, DEUTSCHE POST AG, UNITED PARCEL SERVICE INCORPORATED, FEDERAL EXPRESS CORPORATION, TNT

Seven West ‘well placed’ to recover despite $1bn write-down

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Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 & 26 : 19-Feb-15

Seven West Media has posted a 2014-15 interim net loss of $A994m. The result was marred by writedowns totalling $A1bn, including goodwill associated with its TV and print media assets. The group’s underlying net profit fell by 8.4 per cent to $A137.5m, with revenue totalling $A943m. Seven West’s TV business posted revenue of $A677m, which is one per cent lower than previously. Seven West anticipates an upturn in TV advertising revenue in the second half of 2014-15

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, BLOOMBERG LP, SEVEN GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SVW, PACIFIC MAGAZINES PTY LTD, YAHOO!7 COMMUNICATIONS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Arrium chief slams inaction on dumping

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Original article by Tim Binsted
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 26 : 19-Feb-15

Australian-listed steelmaker and iron ore miner Arrium has posted a 2014-15 interim loss of $A1.5bn. The result was marred by $A1.3bn worth of impairment charges associated with its iron ore assets. The group’s mining division posted operating earnings of $A77m, compared with $A423m previously. CEO Andrew Roberts has urged the Anti-Dumping Authority to act more quickly to curb the importation of low-cost steel

CORPORATES
ARRIUM LIMITED – ASX ARI, AUSTRALIA. ANTI-DUMPING AUTHORITY, ALLAN GRAY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SOUTHERN IRON PTY LTD

Pacific Brands: hope after loss

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Original article by Simon Evans
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 18-Feb-15

Restructuring costs and impairment charges contributed to Pacific Brands’ $A108.7m for the first six months of 2014-15. Revenue was six per cent higher at $A391.8m, and its Bonds brand achieved sales of $A176.3m. CEO David Bortolussi warns that the recent fall in the Australian dollar will force all underwear manufacturers to increase their prices in 2016. Some market watchers have suggested that prices could rise by 10-15 per cent

CORPORATES
PACIFIC BRANDS LIMITED – ASX PBG, BONDS INDUSTRIES LIMITED, HARD YAKKA, KING GEE CLOTHING COMPANY, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, SHERIDAN AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TONTINE BEDDING, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TARGET AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, GROSBY FOOTWEAR, VOLLEY, BRAND COLLECTIVE

Cooper Energy loses $58m on write-down

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 17-Feb-15

Australian-listed Cooper Energy has posted a 2014-15 interim loss of $A58m. The result was marred by a write-down of its assets in Tunisia, which now have a carrying value of zero. Cooper Energy has been seeking to offload these assets for some time. The group’s underlying net profit for the half-year fell from $A13.6m previously to just $A900,000. It expects full-year oil production to be between 500,000 and 560,000 barrels

CORPORATES
COOPER ENERGY LIMITED – ASX COE, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, ORD MINNETT GROUP LIMITED

The price of stamps set to top $1.50

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Original article by Matthew Knott
The Age – Page: 2 : 11-Dec-14

The letters division of Australia Post booked a loss of $A328m in 2013-14, and CEO Ahmed Fahour says the losses will escalate unless action is taken. Australia Post wants the Federal Government to approve a new pricing regime for postage stamps. Priority mail deliveries would cost between $A1.25 and $A2 per letter, while the standard mail service would cost between $A0.70 and $A1

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA POST, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS