COMPANY RESULTS – AUSTRALIA

Iron ore shipments drop 8.6pc as Fortescue Metals Group starts $500m buyback

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Original article by Rushil Dutta
The West Australian – Page: Online : 26-Oct-18

Pure-play iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group still expects its 2018-19 production to be within the range of 165 million to 173 million tonnes. This is despite its shipments for the first quarter falling by 8.6 per cent year-on-year to 40.2 million tonnes. Fortescue has also advised that its cash production costs rose by nine per cent in the September quarter, to an average of $US13.19 per wet metric tonne. Costs for the full year are expected to be within its previous guidance of $US12 to $US13 per wet metric tonne.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

Woodside offers fix on Sunrise deadlock

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 19-Oct-18

ConocoPhillips advised in late September that it had entered into an agreement to sell its stake in the Greater Sunrise venture to the Timor-Leste government for $US350 million. Woodside Petroleum and the other members of the venture have pre-emption rights over the stake, and Woodside CFO Sherry Duhe says a decision on whether to do so will be made soon. Timor-Leste is insisting that gas from Greater Sunrise is processed onshore, but Woodside CEO Peter Coleman has reaffirmed that an onshore plant would not meet its investment hurdles. He said a way around this dilemma would be for Woodside to only invest in the offshore part of the project. Woodside has reported a 25.4 per cent increase in sales for the September quarter.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, CONOCOPHILLIPS, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, OSAKA GAS COMPANY, TOKYO GAS COMPANY LIMITED, KANSAI ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY INCORPORATED

Roy Morgan releases 2018 pre-tax profit of $1.8 million (EBITDA $3.2m)

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Original article by Michele Levine, CEO, Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 19-Oct-18

Financial Year 2018 for Roy Morgan was one of transformation and new opportunities for Roy Morgan’s staff, clients and partners. The full year pre-tax profit of $1.8m (EDITDA $3.2m) was below the previous pre-tax profit of $5.1m (EBITDA $6.1m), reflecting the ongoing world-wide structural changes in the information and market research industry. The above results include Roy Morgan’s small profits in the UK & USA, and small losses in New Zealand & Indonesia. In Indonesia Roy Morgan invested in new products including "Helix Personas for Indonesia" which should grow revenue streams in the coming years. Roy Morgan is well placed for the Financial Year 2019 with a first Quarter unaudited pre-tax profit of $988,000 (EBITDA $1.45m). Roy Morgan’s latest pre-tax profits are after continued investment in the critical R&D and innovation that is the future. In the year ahead Roy Morgan will continue to focus on providing accurate information to those people in businesses, companies or institutions who believe this is essential for a democracy to survive. Click here to view the full report

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Coles shifts focus from price to convenience

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 16-Oct-18

Coles’ Little Shop plastic groceries promotion helped it to achieve a 5.1 per cent increase in same-store food sales in the September quarter, as did its free plastic bags offer. However, new MD Steven Cain said it is unlikely to achieve the same sort of growth in the December quarter. With Coles in the process of becoming a stand-alone company as it demerges from Wesfarmers, Cain says his priorities include making life easier for customers by adopting new convenience store formats and improving its online business.

CORPORATES
COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

How a $US1 move is making millions for Australian miners

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Original article by Stephen Bartholomeusz
The Age – Page: 21 : 11-Oct-18

A rally in the price of iron ore, crude oil and metallurgical coal in the last month has in turn sparked a rise in the share prices of BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto. It is estimated that BHP’s EBITDA rises or falls by about $US227m for every $US1 movement in the iron ore price. The steel input is currently trading above $US70 per tonne, compared with BHP’s average realised price of $US56.71/tonne in 2017-18. Likewise, every $US1 per barrel change in the price of crude oil has a $US43m impact on BHP’s EBITDA.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, VALE SA, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Wesfarmers to outline Coles move

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 19 : 4-Oct-18

There is speculation that Wesfarmers could release the scheme booklet for its proposed demerger of Coles before 15 October, when the supermarket chain will announce its sales figures for the first quarter of 2018-19. JPMorgan has upgraded its forecast for same-store sales growth from 2.5 per cent to four per cent. In contrast, the firm has scaled back Woolworths’ same-store sales growth expectations from 1.8 per cent to 1.3 per cent. However, Shaun Cousins of JPMorgan expects Woolworths to outperform Coles in the medium-term.

CORPORATES
WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS SUPERMARKETS, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Officeworks tipped for more growth

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 18-Sep-18

Wesfarmers’ Officeworks division posted earnings growth of 8.3 per cent in fiscal 2018, with sales rising by 9.1 per cent and return on capital up 13 per cent. MD Mark Ward is upbeat about the outlook for Officeworks, expressing confidence that it can maintain the recent growth momentum. Although Ward will retire in late 2018, Wesfarmers has yet to appoint a successor as it is focused on the upcoming demerger of Coles.

CORPORATES
OFFICEWORKS SUPERSTORES PTY LTD, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, ONTHEGO PTY LTD

Myer plunges to $486m loss but debt refinanced and covenants eased

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 13-Sep-18

Shares in retailer Myer fell by 4.6 per cent on 12 September after it announced a full-year net loss of $486 million. Underlying net profit fell 52.2 per cent to $32.5 million, while EBIT declined by 48 per cent to $55.4 million. Sales fell by 3.2 per cent to $3.1 billion, although online sales increased by 34 per cent to $192.5 million. Solomon Lew, whose Premier Investments is Myer’s biggest shareholder with 10.9 per cent, savaged the result. He said the Myer board was "a disgrace", and that chairman Gary Hounsell should stand down immediately.

CORPORATES
MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, PREMIER INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX PMV, HOUSE OF FRASER HOLDINGS PLC, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

Prime blames loss on ad decline

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Original article by Stephen Brook
The Australian – Page: 21 : 29-Aug-18

The Seven Network’s regional affiliate Prime Media Group has posted a 2017-18 net loss of $12.28m, compared with a loss of $48m previously. Prime’s revenue of $219.16m was 8.7 per cent lower than the previous financial year, while EBITDA fell 29.5 per cent to $45.16m and operating expenses rose 10.2 per cent to $55.02m.

CORPORATES
PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM

Department stores aren’t dying, says DJ’s owner

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 24-Aug-18

David Jones’s operating profit fell by 49.6 per cent to $64 million in the year to June 2018, as advised by parent company Woolworths Holdings. This compared to an operating profit of $127 million for the previous corresponding period. Department store earnings were down 58 per cent to $5 million. Sales for the second half of the reporting period increased by 2.2 per cent, while sales for the first seven weeks of 2018-19 have risen by 3.7 per cent.

CORPORATES
DAVID JONES LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS HOLDINGS LIMITED, COUNTRY ROAD LIMITED, ZARA, HENNES OCH MAURITZ AB, LOUIS VUITTON, CHANEL INCORPORATED, WALT DISNEY COMPANY