STRATEGIC PLANNING – AUSTRALIA

Aldi sees plenty of growth to come

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 19 & 20 : 2-Nov-16

The Australian market share of German supermarket chain Aldi is currently less than 10 per cent, although local CEO Tom Daunt believes that the group can lift this to 14-15 per cent within the next several years. He also concedes that growth in store numbers across the eastern states will slow in coming years. Daunt stresses that Aldi will maintain its policy of having the lowest grocery prices, while the group intends to refurbish all of its existing east coast stores in order to be competitive in the fresh food segment of the grocery market.

CORPORATES
ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW

ANZ’s Whelan will divest Asian bank stakes next

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Original article by Lisa Murray
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 17 : 2-Nov-16

The ANZ Bank will further scale back its presence in Asia after securing a deal to offload some of its retail banking and wealth management assets in the region. Mark Whelan, the head of institutional banking, says ANZ is making progress on selling some of its minority stakes in four Asian banks. He says these stakes are deemed to be non-core assets, but he stresses that ANZ is "reshaping" its Asian operations rather than withdrawing from the region. ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott has signalled that institutional banking will be the focus of its Asian operations.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, SHANGHAI RURAL COMMERCIAL BANK, BANK OF TIANJIN COMPANY LIMITED, PT BANK PAN INDONESIA TBK, AMMB HOLDINGS BHD, DBS BANK LIMITED

ANZ cuts back Asian footprint

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Original article by Michael Bennet
The Australian – Page: 21 & 24 : 1-Nov-16

CEO Shayne Elliot says the ANZ Bank will eventually offload more of its retail banking operations in Asia, after striking a deal to sell its retail and wealth assets in Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Taiwan and Indonesia. ANZ has not revealed the price of the transaction, although it says Singapore-based DBS Bank will pay $A110m more than the book value of the assets. ANZ will incur a $A265m net loss on the transaction, while it will also slightly affect its earnings per share and return on equity. ANZ expanded its presence in Asia under previous CEO Mike Smith.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, DBS BANK LIMITED, ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND GROUP PLC, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

Whitehaven ramps up coking coal output

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 25 : 18-Oct-16

The rise in the price of coking coal has prompted Whitehaven Coal to lift production in the December 2016 quarter and scale back output of thermal coal. The proportion of semi-soft coking coal produced at its Maules Creek mine will rise to 30 per cent during the period. The price of this coal has risen more strongly than thermal coal in 2016, although growth in the price of premium hard coking coal has significantly outpaced both. Peter O’Connor of Shaw & Partners says other miners could move to lift production, which could in turn put pressure on the coking coal price.

CORPORATES
WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC, SHAW AND PARTNERS LIMITED, PRUDENTIAL INVESTMENTS PTY LTD

Gold miners pounce on exploration sites

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Original article by Tess Ingram
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 18-Oct-16

Evolution Mining will pay $A3m for Newcrest Mining’s Marsden copper and gold project in New South Wales. The deal includes provision for an additional payment of $A7m should Evolution commence mining within the next 10 years. Evolution has also announced that its total gold output for the September 2016 quarter was 205,307 ounces. Meanwhile, Saracen Mineral Holdings has secured an exploration joint venture with AngloGold Ashanti at two of the former’s gold tenements in Western Australia.

CORPORATES
EVOLUTION MINING LIMITED – ASX EVN, NEWCREST MINING LIMITED – ASX NCM, SARACEN MINERAL HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SAR, ANGLOGOLD ASHANTI LIMITED – ASX AGG

Presto ditched as Foxtel returns to Play

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 5-Oct-16

Foxtel will discontinue the Presto subscription video-on-demand service by the end of January 2017, after agreeing to buy out joint venture partner Seven West Media. The pay-TV group will focus on its internet-based Foxtel Play service, which will be relaunched with a bigger range of packages and lower prices. Foxtel Play will be pitched at consumers who want access to premium content but are reluctant to take out a Foxtel broadcast TV subscription.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, FOXTEL PLAY, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, QUICKFLIX LIMITED – ASX QFX, TELSYTE PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, KARMA MEDIA HOLDINGS, AMAZON PRIME, HBO

Foxtel to add rival streaming services to keep customers

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 29-Sep-16

Foxtel CEO Peter Tonagh has confirmed that the pay-TV group’s next-generation set-top box will allow customers to access subscription video-on-demand services such as Netflix and Stan. Foxtel competitor Fetch TV also provides access to SVOD services via its set-top box. Tonagh has also indicated that the cost of Foxtel Play packages will be reduced, and subscribers will be able to access Foxtel’s premium sports and movie content via the streaming service.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, FOXTEL PLAY, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, FETCHTV PTY LTD, OZTAM PTY LTD, AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN AUSTRALIA

Woodside would welcome Scarborough’s fare

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 22 : 14-Sep-16

Woodside Petroleum recently secured a deal to acquire 50 per cent of BHP Billiton’s stake in the Scarborough gas fields off the coast of Western Australia. There has been speculation that gas from Scarborough could potentially be processed at Woodside’s LNG plants, rather than using floating LNG technology. Woodside COO Michael Utsler says it is up to project operator ExxonMobil to broach the subject of options for processing Scarborough gas.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

BHP eyes coal-fired station to ease shortage

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Original article by Rebecca Puddy
The Australian – Page: 6 : 13-Sep-16

BHP Billiton is the biggest user of electricity in South Australia, and a spokesman says it is considering a range of options for its electricity requirements in the near-term. This could potentially include resuming production at Alinta Energy’s mothballed coal-fired Northern Power Station in Port Augusta. BHP could also consider the construction of a combined-cycle gas turbine to meet the energy needs of its Olympic Dam mine.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, ALINTA ENERGY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, FLINDERS POWER PTY LTD, SOUTH AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, SOUTH AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF ENVIRONMENT, WATER AND NATURAL RESOURCES

ARM takeover spurs back-office cuts

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Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian – Page: 23 : 12-Sep-16

APN News & Media’s deal to sell its Aust­ralian Regional Media division to News Corp Australia will be put to shareholders on 16 September 2016. ARM publishes regional and community newspapers in New South Wales and Queensland, and employs about 1,200 people. News Corp is expected to retrench about 300 staff if the deal proceeds, although these are likely to include some staff in its own regional operations in order to reduce duplication.

CORPORATES
APN NEWS AND MEDIA LIMITED – ASX APN, AUSTRALIAN REGIONAL MEDIA, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS, PLATINUM EQUITY HOLDINGS, FETCH PLUS INCORPORATED PTE LTD, HERALD AND WEEKLY TIMES LIMITED