NEW PRODUCTS – AUSTRALIA

Chi-X issues new challenge to ASX

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Original article by Shaun Drummond, Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 1-Jun-15

Stock exchange operator Chi-X Australia will begin offering warrants trading later in 2015, entering a market that has been shunned in recent years. Chi-X CEO John Fildes notes that just one company currently issues warrants in Australia, and blames ASX Limited’s high fees. Chi-X also plans to allow equities to be traded for an additional eight minutes after the official close of trading, while it will begin offering exchange-traded funds in 2016.

CORPORATES
CHI-X AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, STOXX, DEUTSCHE BOERSE, SWISS STOCK EXCHANGE

Coke Life’s launch lacks fizz

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Original article by Patrick Commins, Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 27-May-15

Coca-Cola Australia’s Sarah Prestwood says consumers have responded positively to the new Coke Life softdrink, and sales to date have exceeded expectations. However, Credit Suisse believes that Coke Life’s sales during its first five weeks on the Australian market were well below those of Coke Zero and Coke Vanilla upon their initial launch. The firm has a 12-month share price target of $A10.60 on Coca-Cola Amatil.

CORPORATES
COCA-COLA AMATIL LIMITED – ASX CCL, COCA-COLA AUSTRALIA, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED

Retailers locked out of Apple Watch deals

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Original article by Madeleine Heffernan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 10-Apr-15

Telsyte MD Foad Fadaghi estimates that about 300,000 Apple Watches could be sold in just one week. The product will be available to pre-order in Australia from 10 April 2015, and it will be sold exclusively in Apple stores and via the Apple website from 24 April. However, it is uncertain as to when or if other retailers will stock the smartwatch

CORPORATES
APPLE INCORPORATED, TELSYTE PTY LTD, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, DAVID JONES LIMITED, DICK SMITH HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX DSH, JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW

Pioneer Credit to launch ‘no-frills’ card

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Original article by Sally Rose
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 23-Mar-15

Australian-listed Pioneer Credit will begin offering its own branded credit card later in 2015. The group will team up with an as-yet unnamed regional lender to launch the credit card, which will have a credit limit of between $A2,000 and $A3,000. CEO Keith John says the company eventually aims to offer personal and home loans. Its shares closed at $A1.96 on 20 March 2015

CORPORATES
PIONEER CREDIT LIMITED – ASX PNC

Tatts launches new lottery

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Original article by Jessica Gardner
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 20-Feb-15

Tatts Group has posted a 2014-15 interim profit of $A139.2m, which is 14.6 per cent higher than previously. The lotteries division’s EBITDA of $A161.1m was 2.4 per cent higher, and revenue grew by 1.3 per cent to $A1.01bn. The wagering division’s EBITDA and revenue increased by 6.4 per cent and 0.4 per cent respectively. Meanwhile, Tatts will launch a new lottery product called "Set for Life"

CORPORATES
TATTS GROUP LIMITED – ASX TTS, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

Stan rivals Netflix with Australia Day launch

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Original article by David Ramli
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 23-Jan-15

A streaming video on demand service called Stan will be launched on Australia Day, 26 January 2015. It is a $A100 million joint venture between Fairfax Media and Nine Entertainment Company. A rival offering was released by Foxtel and Seven West Media on 18 January 2015, while US major Netflix will enter the Australian market in March 2015. After completing a 30-day free trial, Stan customers will pay $A10 per month for unlimited films and TV programs

CORPORATES
NETFLIX INCORPORATED, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, HOME BOX OFFICE, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, QUICKFLIX LIMITED – ASX QFX, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD

That’s Life: jobs to go at CCA

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 27-Oct-14

Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA) will shortly unveil the results of its strategic review, which was undertaken in response to an earnings downgrade earlier in 2014. The review is expected to result in job cuts, the abolition of some products and brands, and a reduction in capital expenditure. CCA is also believed to be planning to launch the low-calorie Coke Life soft drink, and may consider selling a stake in its Indonesian business to the Coca-Cola Company

CORPORATES
COCA-COLA AMATIL LIMITED – ASX CCL, THE COCA-COLA COMPANY, GRAINCORP LIMITED – ASX GNC, MERRILL LYNCH (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, MORNINGSTAR PTY LTD, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, MOUNT FRANKLIN NATURAL, FRANTELLE, BEAM GLOBAL SPIRITS AND WINE INCORPORATED, GRUPO MODELO SA DE CV, HEINEKEN NV, SUNTORY LIMITED

Casella senses richer picking in premium

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Original article by Julie-Anne Sprague
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 30-Sep-14

Australian export success story Casella Family Brands plans to target US consumers with premium wines using the Casella label. The move is aimed at capitalising on growing US interest in more upmarket wines than the company’s highly popular but low-priced Yellow Tail label. John Casella says Australian wine producers need to more actively target on-premise trade in the US, which has tended to be neglected due to a focus on wine retailers

CORPORATES
CASELLA FAMILY BRANDS, CASELLA WINES PTY LTD, YELLOW TAIL WINES

Who’s afraid of the big bad Netflix?

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Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 8-Sep-14

Australian media groups are ramping up their presence in the video-on-demand sector in response to expectations that US-based Netflix will enter the local market. Pay-TV operator Foxtel has introduced a new channel that allows subscribers to watch whole seasons of TV shows, while it has also reduced the cost of its basic package. CEO Richard Freudenstein is hopeful that people who take up this package will upgrade to get additional channels

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

Foxtel reprices for growth effort

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Original article by Dominic White, Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 5-Sep-14

Pay-TV operator Foxtel will reduce the cost of its basic package by 50 per cent as part of a strategy to increase its subscriber base. Foxtel’s market penetration is currently around 30 per cent, but CEO Richard Freudenstein is confident of achieving strong growth by revising its prices. Foxtel will also launch a new channel which will offer on-demand viewing of entire seasons of popular TV shows

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, BRITISH SKY BROADCASTING LIMITED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, STREAMCO, AUSTRALIAN SUBSCRIPTION TELEVISION AND RADIO ASSOCIATION (ASTRA) INCORPORATED