STRATEGIC PLANNING – AUSTRALIA

APLNG to sell gas on local market

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 24 : 7-Sep-16

Surplus gas from the Origin Energy and ConocoPhillips-led Australia Pacific LNG project will be made available to domestic users rather than exported. APA Group will operate a 50km pipeline on behalf of APLNG that will be used to supply the eastern states with coal-seam gas that is surplus to export requirements. The Shell-owned Queensland Curtis LNG project also supplies surplus gas to the domestic market, as prices are higher than in the spot market.

CORPORATES
ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, CONOCO (UK) LIMITED, AUSTRALIA PACIFIC LNG LIMITED, APA GROUP – ASX APA, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, QUEENSLAND CURTIS LNG PTY LTD, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, GLADSTONE LNG PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

Bullish Toro plans $250m IPO

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 19 & 24 : 7-Sep-16

Resource Capital Funds, Taurus Funds Management and Tembo Capital are among the groups that have provided funding for Toro Gold, which is slated to commence production at its Mako mine in Senegal in 2018. Toro’s Mark Connelly says a decision will be made shortly on a potential sharemarket float for the gold hopeful. He estimates that Toro would boast a market capitalisation of more than $A250m, based on the valuations of listed gold producers.

CORPORATES
TORO GOLD PTY LTD, RESOURCE CAPITAL FUNDS, TAURUS FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, TEMBO CAPITAL LLP, PAPILLON RESOURCES LIMITED, ADAMUS RESOURCES LIMITED, DACIAN GOLD LIMITED – ASX DCN, ROXGOLD INCORPORATED, MINERAL DEPOSITS LIMITED – ASX MDL, B2GOLD CORPORATION, ENDEAVOUR MINING CORPORATION

Capex takes back seat as optimism stalls

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 2-Sep-16

Businesses are still reluctant to increase their capital investments. Figures released on 1 September 2016 suggest that $A105.2 billion will be spent on capital investments in 2016-17 which is unchanged in non-mining terms. Investors who rely on dividends are likely to benefit from this trend as companies will return some of their capital to them as dividends.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX HVN, NICK SCALI LIMITED – ASX NCK, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP

Woolies chief sees green shoots

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 19 & 23 : 26-Aug-16

Australian-listed retailer Woolworths has posted a 2015-16 net loss of $A1.23bn, while revenue was down 1.2 per cent at $A58.08bn. The result was marred by write-downs and impairment charges exceeding $A4bn. CEO Brad Banducci says further reducing grocery prices will continue to be a priority in 2016-17. He adds that there was 0.3 per cent growth in like-for-like store sales during the first eight weeks of the financial year. Shareholders will receive a final dividend of $A0.33 per share.

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, MASTERS HOME IMPROVEMENT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BIG W DISCOUNT STORES, ENDEAVOUR DRINKS GROUP, DAN MURPHY’S, AUSTRALIAN LEISURE AND HOSPITALITY GROUP LIMITED

Cashed-up South32 on the hunt

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 19 & 26 : 26-Aug-16

Australian-listed South32 has exceeded market forecasts by posting 2015-16 underlying EBITA of $US356m. However, impairment charges resulted in the BHP Billiton spin-off posting a net loss of $US1.6bn (A$2.1bn). South32 boasted net cash of $US312m at the end of the financial year, and CEO Graham Kerr says it will consider a capital return to shareholders if there are no suitable acquisitions. He adds that South32 has pre-emptive rights over Anglo American’s stake in their manganese joint venture.

CORPORATES
SOUTH32 LIMITED – ASX S32, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, ANGLO AMERICAN PLC, SHAW AND PARTNERS LIMITED

Qantas breaks dividend drought with record profit

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Michael Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 22 : 25-Aug-16

Qantas has reported a 2015-16 net profit of $A1.029bn, compared with $A557m for the previous financial year. The airline’s pre-tax underlying profit rose from $A975m to a record $A1.53bn. Shareholders will receive a final dividend of $A0.07 per share, which is the carrier’s first payout since 2009, while Qantas will repurchase up to $A366m worth of its shares. Meanwhile, employees will receive a cash bonus ranging from $A2,500 to $A3,000.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, JETSTAR AIRLINES PTY LTD, VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

Caltex’s Segal eyes Woolies fuel retail chain

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 11 : 24-Aug-16

It is estimated that Woolworths’ petrol stations business could fetch between $A1.3bn and $A1.5bn. Dale Koenders of Citigroup believes that Caltex Australia is likely to be the only bidder for the fuel retailing business, and Caltex CEO Julian Segal says his company would be interested in the division if it is put on the market. Caltex also intends to trial revamped convenience stores at some of its petrol stations. The pilot stores will feature quick service restaurants, fresh food and barista-made coffee.

CORPORATES
CALTEX AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX CTX, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, INVESTORS MUTUAL LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, VIVA ENERGY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, VIVA ENERGY REIT – ASX VVR

CBA cuts discounts to boost margins

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 19 & 22 : 23-Aug-16

The Commonwealth Bank has advised mortgage brokers that the discount on some of its mortgage loan applications for owner-occupiers and investors will be reduced by 15 basis points. It has also cut the discount on several other mortgage products by eight basis points. The move has been attributed to factors such as the rising cost of funding and new capital requirements. Australia’s major banks recently attracted criticism for withholding most of the 25 basis point reduction in the cash rate.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Woolworths tries third rejig of loyalty scheme

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 23-Aug-16

Australian-listed retailer Woolworths has again changed its customer loyalty scheme. This is the third modification of the scheme in 10 months. The company decided to reintroduce Qantas Frequent Flyer points in order to make the system more attractive to AB-demographic shoppers, who switched to other supermarkets when these points were removed from the scheme in 2015. Analysts have welcomed the changes to the scheme.

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, BWS – BEER WINE SPIRITS, CALTEX AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX CTX, AUSTRALIAN CENTRE FOR RETAIL STUDIES, BIG W DISCOUNT STORES, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN

Print is here to stay, declares Thomson

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 23 : 18-Aug-16

News Corporation CEO Robert Thomson has assured Australian employees that the media group will continue to publish print newspapers. Thomson also noted the low quality of much online news content, and stressed the importance of premium content amid global economic and geopolitical uncertainty. Thomson was addressing employees at the offices of "The Daily Telegraph" in Sydney.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD