STRATEGIC PLANNING – AUSTRALIA

Boards ‘hungry for growth’

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Original article by Damon Kitney
The Australian – Page: 19 : 24-Jul-14

A Business Leaders Forum in Perth on 23 July 2014 heard from Michael Chaney, chair of National Australia Bank and Woodside Petroleum. He said company boards were once more interested in pursuing growth via acquisitions or capital investment in new developments, as stockholders were also ready to fund such initiatives. However there was often a lack of suitable takeover targets, Chaney added. Recent mergers and acquisitions moves have featured Goodman Fielder, Treasury Wine Estates, David Jones, SAI Global and Aquila Resources

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL|NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB|TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS|RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO|GOODMAN FIELDER LIMITED – ASX GFF|TREASURY WINE ESTATES LIMITED – ASX TWE|DAVID JONES LIMITED – ASX DJS|SAI GLOBAL LIMITED – ASX SAI|AQUILA RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX AQA|SEEK LIMITED – ASX SEK|DEUTSCHE BANK AG

PwC revenue soars after client overhaul

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Original article by Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 19 : 23-Jul-14

Luke Sayers, CEO of the Australian operations for global accounting group PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), has announced revenue growth of 7% to $A1.57bn for 2013-14. The healthy demand for its services among existing clients was supplemented by the strong contribution of the Booz & Company consulting firm, acquired during the year and now known as Strategy&. Sayers also noted that PwC is creating a new unit for digital change management advice, as part of a four-year restructuring push

CORPORATES
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS|BOOZ AND COMPANY (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED|MGI MELBOURNE PTY LTD

UGL looks for fresh start after DTZ sale

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Original article by Jenny Wiggins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15& 20 : 9-Jul-14

Engineering firm UGL is seeking a new direction after the sale of its DTZ property services business. Chairman Trevor Rowe confirmed his retirement and will be replaced by Kate Spargo at the AGM in October 2014. Ross Taylor will also replace CEO Richard Leupen in October. Spargo plans to renew the board. The completion of the sale of DTZ will leave UGL with about $A500 million in cash. It will reduce its debt and return cash to shareholders

CORPORATES
UGL LIMITED – ASX UGL, DTZ AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CALTEX AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX CTX, TRANSFIELD SERVICES LIMITED – ASX TSE, TABCORP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TAH, ARGO INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX ARG, SONIC HEALTHCARE LIMITED – ASX SHL, FLETCHER BUILDING LIMITED – ASX FBU, HANG SENG BANK LIMITED, MTR CORPORATION LIMITED, TENIX PTY LTD, TPG CAPITAL LP, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Woodside gas deal ramps up trading arm

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Original article by Brian Robins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 2-Jul-14

A LNG marketing and trading division was established by Australian-listed Woodside Petroleum in 2011. After recently abandoning a planned major investment in a gas field offshore Israel, Woodside has now boosted the trading arm by signing a deal with US group Cheniere Energy. The latter will supply 850,000 tonnes of LNG annually for two decades and possibly a third, from its Corpus Christi facility in Texas. Woodside will buy the gas for 15% above the domestic US spot price and an additional $US3.50 per million British thermal units

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, CHENIERE ENERGY INCORPORATED, BG GROUP PLC, BP PLC, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED

Hywood defends strategy amid online disruption

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Original article by Stefanie Balogh
The Australian – Page: 23 : 2-Jul-14

The audience at an event staged at the Australian National University by Fairfax Media’s "The Australian Financial Review" on 1 July 2014 heard from Greg Hywood. The Fairfax CEO argued that the recent closing of newspaper printing plants in Melbourne and Sydney was an example of positive digital disruption, as more readers can now be reached via smartphone apps and web pages with the same content at a fraction of the capital cost. Hywood says the move had effectively saved Fairfax $A599.2m. The outlook for its long-term debt rating of "BB+" has also been lifted by credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s, from "negative" to "stable"

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, STANDARD AND POOR’S (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

New release on Penfolds unveiled

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Original article by Simon Evans
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17/22 : 26-Jun-14

Treasury Wine Estates CEO Mike Clarke has announced changes in the company’s strategy, including moving the release date of Penfolds wines from March and May to October. Clarke told investors on 25 June 2014 that the group’s full-year profit guidance of between $A190 million to $A210 million remains unchanged. Investors welcomed Clarke’s statement, pushing the share price of Treasury up $A0.24 to $A5.07

CORPORATES
TREASURY WINE ESTATES LIMITED – ASX TWE, PENFOLDS WINES PTY LTD, ROSEMOUNT ESTATES PTY LTD, LINDEMANS WINES PTY LTD, WYNNS COONAWARRA ESTATE PTY LTD, WOLF BLASS WINES PTY LTD, KOHLBERG KRAVIS ROBERTS AND COMPANY, EAST END CELLARS PTY LTD

Smart clothesline on the way as Hills chases innovation

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Original article by Vanessa Desloires
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 24-Jun-14

Hills is continuing its strategy of growth through acquisitions in the health, security and audio sectors. It acquired Audio Products Group in late June 2014. CEO Ted Pretty said that the company was seeking one or two larger acquisitions as well. Hills is also developing innovative products, including a smart clothesline that releases a rain cover if bad weather is predicted

CORPORATES
HILLS LIMITED – ASX HIL, AUDIO PRODUCTS GROUP PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. BUREAU OF METEOROLOGY

Shell deal may hurt Woodside growth plans

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 20 : 6/19/2014

The stock of Australian-listed energy group Woodside Petroleum on 18 June 2014 closed $A1.95 lower at $A40.90. This compares with a price of $A41.35 for the institutional investors acquiring scrip in the partial divestment of its Woodside stake by Royal Dutch Shell. As part of the reduction from 23.1% to less than 4.5%, Shell is also selling $US2.68bn ($A2.86bn) worth of stock back to Woodside. Experts warn this may hamper the latter’s acquisitions strategy. Woodside needs to secure a major new project to fill a gap once current LNG developments mature

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Leighton slims down in $1.5b sell-off

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Original article by Jenny Wiggins, Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 13-Jun-14

Australian-listed construction group Leighton Holdings will undertake a restructuring that is expected to include asset sales. The John Holland construction business is one of the assets that could be sold, with expectations that it could fetch around $A1bn. Leighton’s services businesses could also be offloaded, while the future of its property assets are also believed to be under scrutiny. Leighton currently has five operating businesses, but these will be reduced to four as part of the restructure

CORPORATES
LEIGHTON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX LEI, JOHN HOLLAND PTY LTD, HOCHTIEF AG, DEVINE LIMITED – ASX DVN, BANK OF AMERICA AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MERRILL LYNCH (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, MACQUARIE CAPITAL PTY LTD, CHEVRON CORPORATION, LEIGHTON CONTRACTORS PTY LTD, THIESS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION