STRATEGIC PLANNING – AUSTRALIA

Jobs to go at NAB as banks face cost squeeze

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 19 : 20-Apr-17

Australian banks are continuing to downsize their workforces amid rising costs, falling net interest margins and new capital requirements. The ANZ Bank has advised that it shed 35 IT jobs in early 2017, while National Australia Bank recently told staff that it intends to cut about 500 jobs. However, NAB will create 400 new jobs, with some displaced staff likely to be redeployed. There was a 2.4 per cent reduction in full-time staff in Australia’s banking industry in 2015-16.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

Why Teoh paid up to snare a spot in mobile

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 50 : 13-Apr-17

TPG Telecom will raise $A400m from investors to partially finance its $A1.26bn deal to acquire an 11-year licence for mobile spectrum in the 700MHz band. TPG will establish Australia’s fourth mobile phone network, which is expected to cover about 80 per cent of the nation and is likely to spark a price war in the highly competitive market. TPG estimates that it will need to gain at least 500,000 mobile customers in order to achieve break-even status on an EBITDA basis. The company already boasts 1.9 million broadband customers, who can be offered bundled services.

CORPORATES
TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, VODAFONE HUTCHISON AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, WASHINGTON H SOUL PATTINSON AND COMPANY LIMITED – ASX SOL, INVESTORS MUTUAL LIMITED, ARMYTAGE PRIVATE LIMITED, WATERMARK FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

News to cut jobs in $40m cost saving

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 : 12-Apr-17

News Corp Australia has revealed plans for its third round of redundancies in less than two years. The staff cuts are expected to result in a significant reduction in the number of photographers at some metropolitan mastheads, while some journalists are also likely to be retrenched. News Corp is expected to rely more on the use of freelance photographers and wire agencies as it seeks to reduce costs by $A40m. Fairfax Media recently announced plans to reduce costs by $A30m.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS PTY LTD, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN

Shell first into crisis breach to shore up local gas supply

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith, Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 : 22-Mar-17

Shell Australia will undertake a $A500m gas well drilling program in south-east Queensland. Dubbed Project Ruby, it could comprise up to 161 new wells, which will supply gas to both the domestic and export markets. Shell has also advised that the amount of gas it supplies to the domestic market will increase by 10 per cent in 2017, to more than 75 petajoules. Meanwhile, Shell Australia chairman Andrew Smith notes that it is cheaper to ship gas from the US to Victoria than from Queensland.

CORPORATES
SHELL COMPANY OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, ARROW ENERGY LIMITED, PETROCHINA COMPANY LIMITED, QUEENSLAND CURTIS LNG PTY LTD, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, GLADSTONE LNG PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Guthrie wields the axe at ABC

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Original article by Darren Davidson, Stephen Brook
The Australian – Page: 1 & 8 : 8-Mar-17

The ABC will streamline its management structure and retrench up to 200 employees in plans that were unveiled by MD Michelle Guthrie on 7 March 2017. The number of divisions within the public broadcaster will be reduced from 14 to just eight, while the ABC intends to hire up to 80 employees in rural areas in a push to increase its national reach. Guthrie has also signalled that staff will be more accountable, while the costs savings will be invested in content.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Fairfax investors back Domain spin-off, but want more of it

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Original article by James Thomson, John Stensholt
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 & 16 : 22-Feb-17

Shares in Fairfax Media were placed in a trading halt on 21 February 2017, pending an announcement by the group. It follows media reports which suggested that Fairfax may demerge its Domain property listings business but retain a stake of 60-70 per cent. Allan Gray Australia’s Simon Mawhinney and Fairfax shareholder Alex Waislitz support the demerger, although the latter says Fairfax should have acted much sooner. Fraser McLeish of Credit Suisse recently valued Domain at about $A2.2bn, based on its earnings forecast for 2018.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, DOMAIN.COM.AU, ALLAN GRAY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN PROPERTY MONITORS PTY LTD, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN, RSVP, WEATHERZONE, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, TRADE ME GROUP LIMITED – ASX TME

Rio chief spruiks value over volume

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 19 & 28 : 15-Feb-17

Rio Tinto expects its iron ore production in the Pilbara to be within the range of 330 to 340 million tonnes in 2017, compared with 330 million tonnes in 2016. The group has invested some $US16bn on expanding its Western Australian infrastructure over the last 10 years. However, CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques says Rio Tinto’s focus is on value rather than volume, and it will consider the impact on the iron ore price before lifting production to take advantage of its increased capacity.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, VALE SA, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

BHP’s growth prospects still linked to oil

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 22 : 6-Feb-17

BHP Billiton’s announcement in 2016 that it would seek to increase annual coking coal production in Queensland by four million tonnes has proven to be an astute move, given the rebound in the price of coal. The Peak Downs mine achieved record output in the December quarter. BHP also advised that maintenance work on railway lines serving its Pilbara iron ore operations will be completed nine months ahead of schedule. Meanwhile, BHP is ramping up investment in its petroleum division in order to arrest a decline in production.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, MITSUBISHI CORPORATION

Forrest cautious on iron outlook

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Original article by Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 15 & 16 : 13-Jan-17

Iron ore is trading at around $US80 a tonne, although it is tipped to fall to $US51.60 by mid-2017 and $US46.70 in 2018. The price of the steel input bottomed at $US36 per tonne in 2015, prompting Fortescue Metals Group to slash its debt and reduce its workforce. Fortescue also reduced its costs to just $US14.31 per tonne, but chairman Andrew Forrest says the group aims to achieve further cost reductions given the outlook for the iron ore price. Forrest also continues to advocate action to end slavery, and he has urged all Australian companies to take a similar stance.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, WALK FREE FOUNDATION, MINDEROO FOUNDATION, ROY HILL IRON ORE PTY LTD, VALE SA, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Paladin flags critical debt restructure

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Original article by Tess Ingram
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 11-Jan-17

Australian-listed uranium producer Paladin Energy has revealed plans to restructure its debt. Some $US212m worth of convertible bonds are set to mature in April 2017, while an additional $US150m worth of convertible notes will mature in 2020. Paladin proposes to replace them with $US115m worth of secured bonds and $US102 million of convertible bonds, which would mature in 2022 and 2024. Bondholders would also be issued with shares in Paladin if they endorse the proposal.

CORPORATES
PALADIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX PDN, ATLAS IRON LIMITED – ASX AGO, EMECO HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX EHL, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, SHAW AND PARTNERS LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, ELECTRICITE DE FRANCE, CHINA NATIONAL NUCLEAR CORPORATION