Wesfarmers eyes $2bn pubs sale
Wesfarmers eyes $2bn pubs sale
Fresh from striking a deal to offload British-based Homebase hardware chains to Hilco Capital on Friday, Wesfarmers is believed to be turning its attention to its pubs and liquor portfolio, with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts said to be in exclusive talks to buy the assets, which could fetch up to $2 billion. The Aus
Newspoll: 63pc back lower company rates
Bill Shorten’s class-war attack on the big end of town has been blunted, with an overwhelming majority of voters supporting company tax cuts and more than one-third believing they should be implemented immediately rather than phased in over 10 years. The Aus
Australia’s iron ore age nears its peak
Iron ore’s extraordinary contribution to Australia’s prosperity has nearly peaked, with experts predicting weak growth in export volumes and market share, amid declining iron ore prices and royalty flows. The Fin
Holden in the mix as recall grows
The number of cars recalled over potentially deadly Takata airbags has grown by more than a million, with Holden vehicles being implicated for the first time. The Fin
Morrison’s Google tax may raise $200m
The federal government’s proposed tax on digital advertising may raise up to $200 million a year and has wide-reaching ramifications for corporate Australia. The Fin
State sits on $100m car parking levy
MinRes has appointed Perth boutique PCF Capital to find a buyer for the Coobina mine in the Pilbara. The Aus
Clearance rates in doldrums
The national auction market has not recorded a combined clearance rate of above 70 per cent in 12 months, a trend experts say is indicative of progressively weakening selling conditions across the country. The Aus
ASIC bid to put agents in banks
The nation’s scandal-plagued banks are bracing for a new, more intrusive style of regulation, with Australian Securities & Investments Commission chairman James Shipton seeking extra funding for a plan to embed specialists in the major banks to help drive cultural change and rebuild trust. The Aus
Beef over old live ships plan
Older ships using a two-tier system for carrying livestock will soon be phased out, but the Federal Department of Agriculture and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority are at odds over a time frame. The West
NAB counting compensation cost
National Australia Bank faces paying a hefty compensation bill to up to 200,000 merchant customers, after an embarrassing and costly technology outage that crippled its payments systems for six-and-a-half hours on Saturday. The Fin
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: Industry superannuation funds, including one that may make $30 million a year from accounts with almost no savings, have launched a below-the-radar fight to undermine a plan they say they support in principle to reduce fees and insurance premiums.
Australia could ask European and American allies to help with a mass diplomatic retaliation against Russia, if Moscow refused to accept responsibility for shooting down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, an atrocity that killed 298 innocents, including 38 Australian citizens and residents.
Page 3: Mike Cannon-Brookes, the software billionaire, who ‘‘accidentally’’ brokered the building of a big Tesla battery in South Australia after a Twitter bet with Elon Musk, said it has saved energy users more than $30 million in its first quarter alone.
Page 4: Labor will struggle to repeal company tax cuts that have already been legislated should it win the election, because it is unlikely to have the numbers in the Senate, new research indicates.
Page 5: Labor leader Bill Shorten has shifted up a gear in his fight against company tax cuts by arguing that even if the Turnbull government dumped them before the election, it would bring them back if it won.
Page 8: The federal government’s proposed tax on digital advertising may raise up to $200 million a year and has wide-reaching ramifications for corporate Australia.
Page 10: Iron ore’s extraordinary contribution to Australia’s prosperity has nearly peaked, with experts predicting weak growth in export volumes and market share, amid declining iron ore prices and royalty flows.
Page 14: TAFE students are being slugged with a 20 per cent ‘‘tax’’ on their classes and vocational education directors say it’s one of the factors causing a dramatic slide in enrolments.
Page 15: A subsidiary of Sonic Healthcare has emerged as one of the laboratories at the centre of a ‘‘false negative’’ scandal for cervical cancer testing that is gripping Ireland.
Page 17: The managing director of Australia’s largest brick maker has predicted a soft landing for the nation’s housing market even if it has finished ‘‘running along the top’’, with low interest rates and robust migration levels providing a solid buffer.
Mineral Resources managing director Chris Ellison has smacked down Atlas Iron shareholders grumbling about a $280 million all-scrip takeover linked to his ambitions in lithium.
Page 18: The banking royal commission will delve this week into ‘‘loan-to-value ratio’’ (LVR) clauses, which have allowed banks to call in business loans when the value of the property backing them falls below set levels even though the customer has not missed a repayment.
Page 19: National Australia Bank faces paying a hefty compensation bill to up to 200,000 merchant customers, after an embarrassing and costly technology outage that crippled its payments systems for six-and-a-half hours on Saturday.
Page 20: Food and grocery suppliers are stepping up engagement with new players Amazon and Kaufland as Aldi’s impact on the $90 billion supermarket sector wanes.
Page 34: One of Australia’s top five largest landholders – the private equity-owned Consolidated Pastoral Company – has reported a $15 million profit for the year and a significant lift in the value of its properties.
The Australian
Page 1: Bill Shorten’s class-war attack on the big end of town has been blunted, with an overwhelming majority of voters supporting company tax cuts and more than one-third believing they should be implemented immediately rather than phased in over 10 years.
Liberal MP Craig Kelly has threatened to quit the government and be an outspoken crossbencher if he is rolled as the party’s candidate for the federal electorate of Hughes in NSW in an upcoming preselection battle.
Kevin Rudd faces a potential courtroom showdown against former ALP minister Lindsay Tanner and former Treasury secretary Ken Henry as the federal government defends a $150 million class action stemming from Labor’s bungled home insulation program.
Page 2: The number of cars recalled over potentially deadly Takata airbags has grown by more than a million, with Holden vehicles being implicated for the first time.
Page 3: The agency in charge of the National Disability Insurance Scheme will spend close to half-a billion dollars this financial year on consultants and contractors, having already paid $235 million to external companies in the six months to December 2017.
Page 5: The national auction market has not recorded a combined clearance rate of above 70 per cent in 12 months, a trend experts say is indicative of progressively weakening selling conditions across the country.
Page 7: Plans for a landmark summit with Kim Jong-un are moving “very nicely”, Donald Trump says, as the South Korean President said the North’s leader told him the talks would be a historic opportunity to end decades of confrontation.
Page 17: The nation’s scandal-plagued banks are bracing for a new, more intrusive style of regulation, with Australian Securities & Investments Commission chairman James Shipton seeking extra funding for a plan to embed specialists in the major banks to help drive cultural change and rebuild trust.
Wesfarmers chief executive Rob Scott has pledged that the Perth-based conglomerate won’t saddle Coles with too much debt when it demerges the supermarket chain later this year, with more details of the spin-off likely to be revealed at Wesfarmers’ strategy day next week.
Page 18: Fresh from striking a deal to offload British-based Homebase hardware chains to Hilco Capital on Friday, Wesfarmers is believed to be turning its attention to its pubs and liquor portfolio, with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts said to be in exclusive talks to buy the assets, which could fetch up to $2 billion.
Page 19: The continued popularity of shopping online combined with the latest trend to “buy now, pay later” using apps such as Afterpay, is fuelling a bonanza for online retailers in the midst of flatlining sales for the nation’s bricks-and-mortar stores.
Page 20: Famed prospector Mark Creasy and Chinese-owned Broken Hill miner Perilya have agreed to pump more than $19 million into Myanmar Metals as part of a plan to restore the old Bawdwin base metals mine to its former glory.
The West Australian
Page 3: Almost $100 million of cash skimmed off charges for parking in Perth’s CBD is set to be amassed and left unspent in State Government coffers over the next year.
Page 9: The State Government wants a big video screen to be installed above a lake outside Optus Stadium to help attract people to the area even on days when there are no events on.
Page 10: WA taxpayers have footed an almost $150,000 bill to replace hundreds of car keys lost by hapless public servants over the past five years.
Page 13: Opposition Leader Bill Shorten faces a fresh battle at his party’s national conference with unions set to demand each State introduce “industrial manslaughter” laws that could see employers jailed for up to 20 years if a worker dies on their site.
Page 17: GPs would get paid for phone consultations with patients under a major revamp of Medicare proposed by new Australian Medical Association president Tony Bartone.
The Federal Government is drafting a plan to get degree-qualified refugees off the dole queue and working in their area of specialty.
Business: Older ships using a two-tier system for carrying livestock will soon be phased out, but the Federal Department of Agriculture and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority are at odds over a time frame.
Three of the world biggest food companies, McDonald’s, Nestle and Cadbury chocolate owner Mondelez, eked out higher sales in Australia last year, but only one of the trio pocketed a bigger profit.
