STRATEGIC PLANNING – AUSTRALIA

Fortescue conveyor belts to lower costs

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Original article by Tess Ingram
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 28-Jun-17

The introduction of self-driving haulage trucks has increased productivity at Fortescue Metals Group’s Solomon mining hub by about 20 per cent since 2012. The pure-pure iron ore miner has 56 autonomous trucks at Solomon, with plans to convert another 12. Fortescue will also begin converting 100 trucks at its Chichester hub in fiscal 2018. It also intends to undertake a trial of relocatable overland conveyor belt technology at the Cloudbreak mine, which could allow its fleet of haulage trucks to be reduced.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, VALE SA, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, SHAW AND PARTNERS LIMITED

BHP puts pedal to metal for South Flank mine plan

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Original article by Tess Ingram
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 31 : 27-Jun-17

BHP Billiton has signalled that it is likely to make a final investment decision on its South Flank iron ore project in Western Australia by mid-2018. BHP has allocated $US184m in initial funding for the project, which is forecast to cost between $US2.4bn and $US3.2bn to develop. South Flank is BHP’s preferred option to replace the Yandi iron ore mine, which produces 80 million tonnes a year but is approaching the end of its mine life.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

David Jones’ future lies in food, fashion

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 & 22 : 23-Jun-17

David Jones CEO John Dixon says the department store chain will spend at least $A100 million over the next three years on improving its food offering. Dixon says that the availability of food helps to encourage customers to stay longer, and it is something that helps to differentiate it from online retailers. Stephen Carrott of JP Morgan suggests that David Jones’s new strategy will help it to generate $A700 million a year from food sales by 2022.

CORPORATES
DAVID JONES LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS HOLDINGS LIMITED, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MARKS AND SPENCER PLC, CAPE GRIM BEEF, SONOMA WOODFIRED BAKING COMPANY PTY LTD, SERENDIPITY ICECREAM, IN2FOODS, YARRA VALLEY FARMS, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR

Telstra to maintain Foxtel content

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Original article by Damon Kitney
The Australian – Page: 23 & 25 : 19-Jun-17

Some 748,000 Telstra customers now subscribe to Foxtel via the telco, and 75 per cent of its media revenue is generated by reselling the pay-TV service. Telstra chairman John Mullen says the telco is "very committed" to Foxtel, in which it has a 50 per cent stake, and he has stressed the importance of having access to Foxtel content. Meanwhile, Foxtel is set to directly compete with Telstra TV with the looming launch of a rival "puck" video streaming device.

CORPORATES
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, ROKU INCORPORATED

Paradice mulls responsible investor fund

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Original article by John Stensholt
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 26 : 13-Jun-17

Paradice Investment Management’s David Paradice says his company is considering setting up a number of new funds over the next year. He says they could include an emerging markets fund and an environmental, social and governance fund. Paradice, who is currently based in the US, was the recipient of an Order of Australia award as part of the 2017 Queen’s Birthday honours. He says he would like to see companies focus more on making communities better, as well as treating their staff better and reducing waste.

CORPORATES
PARADICE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, ALPHABET INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, CLIMATE COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, SOCIAL VENTURES AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TARONGA CONSERVATION SOCIETY AUSTRALIA

Quarterly coal contract system to ‘fall over’

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Original article by Julie-anne Sprague
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 25 : 8-Jun-17

There is growing expectation that Japanese coal buyers will abandon the traditional quarterly contract price system in favour of one based on the spot price. Wesfarmers’ incoming CEO Rob Scott believes that Japan’s steel mills could opt for a new pricing system within weeks. BHP Billiton’s chief commercial officer, Arnoud Balhuizen, also recently flagged a shift away from contract pricing. Meanwhile, Scott has indicated that the sale of Wesfarmers’ coal assets is still on the agenda.

CORPORATES
WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, THE MELBOURNE MINING CLUB, STANWELL CORPORATION LIMITED

Foxtel’s rebranding to help boost subscribers

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 7-Jun-17

Foxtel has confirmed that its Foxtel Play subscription video on-demand service will be relaunched as Foxtel Now, as part of a major overhaul of the pay-TV group’s branding. Foxtel will also launch a "puck" streaming device in the second half of 2017, which may provide access to rival services such as Netflix and Stan. Foxtel CEO Peter Tonagh says Foxtel Now is unlikely to gain customers at the expense of its traditional pay-TV service, as they target different segments of the market. Foxtel’s rebranding includes a new logo.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, FOXTEL NOW, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS

Giant $8 billion offshore Victoria wind farm studied

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Original article by Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 2-Jun-17

Offshore Energy has been formed to examine the feasiblity of constructing a large wind farm off the Gippsland coast in Victoria. Andy Evans and Terry Kallis, the men behind Offshore Energy, believe that wind conditions off Gippsland are similar to those off Denmark, which is regarded as the world leader in offshore wind farms. The $A8 billion wind farm they are contemplating would take around 10 years to build, and would have the capacity to generate enough power for 1.2 million homes.

CORPORATES
OFFSHORE ENERGY PTY LTD, ACCIONA SA, ELECTRANET SA, PETRATHERM LIMITED – ASX PTR, WSP ENVIRONMENTAL PTY LTD, PARSONS BRINCKERHOFF AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. CLEAN ENERGY FINANCE CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION

Unlockd raises $30.7m, eyes key Asian markets

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Original article by Paul Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 24 : 25-May-17

Unlockd CEO Matt Berriman says the mobile telephone advertising technology company will use the proceeds of its latest round of fund raising to expand its presence in the Asia-Pacific region. Venture capital firm Alium Capital and Malaysian telco Axiata are among the contributors to Unlockd’s series B funding round, which has raised $US23m (A$30.7m). Berriman has also indicated that Unlockd’s mobile advertising platform will be launched in several new markets in coming months.

CORPORATES
UNLOCKD PTY LTD, ALIUM CAPITAL, AXIATA, CITIBANK PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, CATCH-OF-THE-DAY.COM.AU

Ten review to cut costs in ‘every dark corner’

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Original article by Mitchell Bingemann
The Australian – Page: 21 : 28-Apr-17

Ten Network has posted a 2016-17 interim loss of $A232.2m and advised that it expects to book a full-year underlying EBITDA loss of between $A25m and $A30m. CEO Paul Anderson has revealed plans for an 18-month "transformation program" that will seek to increase revenue and aggressively reduce costs. Ten’s directors have conceded that there is significant doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern, with a $A200m debt facility due to expire at the end of 2017.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA