PRESS DIGEST-Australian Business News - June 23 07:23, Thursday, 23 June 2005
(Compiled for Reuters by Media Monitors) THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW (www.afr.com)
Ten Network Holdings executive chairman, Nick Falloon, on Wednesday predicted the broadcaster would post a record profit result and would make more money than its key rivals, Nine Network and Seven Network . Chief executive, John McAlpine, said the success of Big Brother 5 and the Australian Football League, plus upcoming programs such as Australian Idol 3, Australian Princess and The 4400, would ensure Ten ranked No. 1 among viewers aged 16 to 39 for the fifth consecutive year. Page 15.
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Brambles Industries yesterday said its restructuring program was starting to show benefits and predicted a very strong full-year profit from its CHEP Americas pallet business. Brambles said it was expecting "good progress in both profit and cash generation for the full year". Macquarie Research Equities analyst, Paul Huxford, said the "absence of surprises" during the first 18 months of Brambles' restructuring program was very positive. Page 16.
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Coffey International yesterday announced plans to buy all the shares and options of Farsands Solutions , which owns specialist businesses operating in project management and environmental and risk management in New Zealand, Dubai and Vietnam. Coffey managing director, Roger Olds, said the offer for Farsands would provide a premium for the target company's shareholders and would be earnings-per-share positive for Coffey shareholders. Page 16.
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Telstra Corp has raised A$1.6 billion in debt through a eurobond issue but has said the deal, which was four times oversubscribed, should not be used as a guide for potential foreign demand for the A$32 billion sale of the government's controlling stake in the telecommunications provider. However, Telstra chief financial officer, John Stanhope, said the strong response to the eurobond issue was "a tribute to the depth, maturing and longstanding support" for the company in the euro markets. Page 16.
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Emirates Airlines president, Tim Clark, yesterday criticised Qantas Airways , claiming the Australian airline spent too much time focusing on its established routes instead of exploiting growth opportunities in India and the Middle East. Clark said west Asian markets were "as potent for us" as the trans-Pacific route is to Qantas, but Qantas had failed to take the opportunity to expand there. "Why does it always have to be the kangaroo route?" he asked. Page 18.
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THE AUSTRALIAN (www.theaustralian.news.com.au)
Proxy Australia, one of the nation's leading providers of proxy voting research, has been bought out by United States-based Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS). Proxy said it had agreed to be bought by ISS, whose 1300 clients manage approximately A$23 trillion in equity. Analysts said the move reflected the growing importance of corporate governance to the superannuation and funds management fields. Page 25.
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Electricity providers including Australian Gas Light , Alinta and Diversified Utility and Energy Trusts have announced their intention to oppose large price cuts in Victoria. The Victorian Essential Services Commission yesterday ordered power distributors to reduce prices by between 14 per cent and 26 per cent in 2006, with further cuts through to 2010. Under the draft decision, Victorian households stand to save up to A$82-a-year for the next five years. Page 25.
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Rattoon Holdings has finished talks with former Tattersall's beneficiaries after lifting its stake in the gaming group to just one per cent. Rattoon had sought to entice owners of the company to sell shares prior to Tattersall's listing on the Australian Stock Exchange on July 7, but failed to gain support for its offer of a 19 per cent premium to the retail offer price of A$2.90. However, Rattoon chairman, Hugh Henderson, said he was still pleased with the result, noting that the 6.7 million shares the company had secured still exceeded the 4.8 million shares offered into the public float. Page 25.
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Caltex Australia shareprice fell A$1.19 to close at A$14.94 after the company announced it would not be able to match last year's first-half after-tax profit of A$180 million. Caltex, Australia's largest petroleum refiner, said its profit for the six months to June would be around A$135 million, 25 per cent below last year's corresponding figure. Corporate affairs general manager, Richard Beattie, attributed the poor result to a seven-week maintenance shutdown at the Lytton refinery in Brisbane and margin pressure stemming from a higher Australian dollar. Page 25.
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UBS and Caliburn will deliver their scoping study into the Federal Government's proposed A$33 billion sale of its remaining stake in Telstra next Thursday, just one day prior to the arrival of the telecommunications company's new chief executive, Sol Trujillo. The study prepared by the two investment banks will be used to provide advice to the Finance Department on the optimal sale structure to maximise the Government's return on its 51.8 per cents stake in Telstra. Page 26.
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THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (www.smh.com.au)
The Ten Network's shareprice fell more than five per cent, or A22 cents, to A$3.98 yesterday after the television network reported a smaller-than-expected 3.5 per cent increase in quarterly earnings to A$61.3 million for the three months to May 31. However, Ten executive chairman, Nick Falloon, said the result was a "fantastic achievement" achieved amid intense competition and a weak advertising market. Page 23.
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Emirates Airlines will today present a report to the federal government showing the economic and tourism benefits of Australia opening its air routes to foreign carriers. Emirates president, Tim Clark, and chairman, Sheik Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, will also deliver a presentation to senior government figures in an attempt to dispel "myths" about the benefits Emirates enjoys as a government-owned carrier. Page 23.
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Qantas Airways yesterday moved to counter speculation it was preparing to issue a profit downgrade and cut staff, releasing a statement saying the airline would meet profit forecasts for this financial year. Page 25.
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Wealth creation promoter, 21st Century Pty Ltd, and its founder and head facilitator, Jamie McIntyre, have been banned from arranging or holding live seminars in Australia that give investment advice. The ban follows injunctions granted by the Federal Court following an application by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Page 25.
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THE AGE (www.theage.com.au)
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has announced it will take no further legal action against former HIH Insurance Group director, Rodney Adler, despite his being caught conveying instructions about his business ventures while serving a two-and-a-half-year jail sentence at Kirconnell, a minimum security prison. ASIC said it did not believe Adler had breached the Corporations Act. Page B1.
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Billionaire, Solomon Lew, yesterday made a share raid on The Just Group , emerging with a stake of almost 9 per cent of the retailer following three weeks of clandestine buying. The secret share buying is believed to have been carried out by Sydney broker, Southern Cross Equities. Page B1.
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The federal government says it had not ruled out allowing Singapore Airlines some level of access to the trans-Pacific route between Australia and the United States. Transport Minister, John Anderson, told Sinapore Deputy Prime Minister, Tony Tan, last week that the time was not right to open access for the Asian carrier. However, Prime Minister, John Howard, yesterday said the Government had "never at any stage said finally and definitely" that it would not allow access to the Qantas Airways-dominated route. Page B2.
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Westfield has announced plans to spend A$200 million making Geelong's Bay City Plaza its largest Victorian retail centre outside Melbourne. Westfield said it wanted to make the Plaza, which it bought into two years ago, a world-class shopping precinct by adding 15,000 square metres of retail space, 600 new car parking spaces and new cafe and dining areas. Page B2.
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ANZ Banking Group chief financial officer, Peter Marriott, yesterday ruled out any plans to acquire a local bank or insurance group, asserting it was difficult to make a plausible business case for ANZ acquiring any domestic bank at current prices and that insurance companies were outside ANZ's area of expertise. Marriott said ANZ would continue to look for acquisition opportunities in Asia and the Pacific. Page B2. --
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