Woodside on M&A chase
Woodside Petroleum has sharpened its appetite for acquisitions, with chief executive Peter Coleman hinting that Apache’s stake in the $29 billion Wheatstone LNG project in Western Australia is on the list of potential targets. The Fin
Oil link ‘captured’ Premier
Nationals leader Terry Redman has accused Colin Barnett of being “captured” by his “close links” to Chevron after the Premier gave the nod to the oil and gas giant’s bid to back out of a commitment to house workers on its $30 billion Wheatstone project in the North West town of Onslow. The West
Double blow for Palmer in legal onslaught
Clive Palmer has suffered a disastrous day in his multipronged legal war with Chinese corporate giant Citic Pacific, with judges in two states ruling against attempts by his flagship company to take control of a key iron ore port in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. The Aus
NewCo snub adds to Nickel West stress
The decision to leave Nickel West out of BHP Billiton’s second-tier asset spin-off makes it even more critical for the business to secure off-take deals with Western Areas or Sirius Resources, according to Deutsche Bank analysts. The West
Court action to ward off MUA strike
The Australian Mines and Metals Association has taken pre-emptive legal action designed to prevent a strike at the Chevron-led $29 billion Wheatstone gas project in Western Australia. The Fin
RBA tells Abbott to hold nerve
Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens warned Australia can’t avoid large-scale budget spending cuts as the government decided to stop referring to the budget as being in crisis. The Fin
Retailers slam ACCC over petrol website
Petrol retailers have warned motorists maybe worse off if the competition regulator succeeds in shutting down a company that provides real-time information on pump prices. The Fin
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens warned Australia can’t avoid large-scale budget spending cuts as the government decided to stop referring to the budget as being in crisis.
Qantas Airways will formally shelve plans for a partial float of its $2.5 billion loyalty business next week, ending months of speculation about whether the airline will reduce ties with one its most profitable businesses.
Page 3: Petrol retailers have warned motorists maybe worse off if the competition regulator succeeds in shutting down a company that provides real-time information on pump prices.
Companies that trade bitcoins or use the digital currency for payments will have to pay the goods and services tax from fiscal 2015, the Australian Taxation Office has announced.
Page 4: Clive Palmer is standing by his claim that Chinese state-owned companies want to undercut wages and conditions in Australia as Beijing’s demand to import labour for its own projects holds up a trade agreement between the two countries.
Page 8: The Australian Mines and Metals Association has taken pre-emptive legal action designed to prevent a strike at the Chevron-led $29 billion Wheatstone gas project in Western Australia.
Page 9: Australian mining companies found up to four times as much new resource wealth offshore in the past five years as they did at home, demonstrating the internationalisation of the industry.
Page 11: Vodafone Hutchison Australia chief executive Inaki Berroeta says it needs to charge customers $10 late fees to cover its costs as the three largest telecommunications companies face looming lawsuits that could cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
Page 17: Wesfarmers managing director Richard Goyder says his appetite for acquisitions remains intact even after showering shareholders with $3.4 billion in dividends and capital returns this year.
Despite BHP Billiton’s controversial $US15 billion ($16 billion) spin-off freeing up cash flow for the mining giant, chief Andrew Mackenzie says acquisitions are not on the cards and instead the miner will concentrate on executing the cheapest possible expansions of its “four pillar” commodities.
Page 19: AGL Energy chief executive Michael Fraser has rejected suggestions that the $1.5 billion acquisition of large NSW power producer Macquarie Generation will fail to make money this year.
Woodside Petroleum has sharpened its appetite for acquisitions, with chief executive Peter Coleman hinting that Apache’s stake in the $29 billion Wheatstone LNG project in Western Australia is on the list of potential targets.
Page 20: Fortescue Metals Group, fresh from announcing a profit surge based on increased volumes, predicts iron ore prices will head upwards again despite broader market expectations of prolonged weakness.
Page 24: Webjet will consider making small acquisitions in Asia and North America to bolster its growing business-to-business division and to help offset a flat market in its core business of selling airline tickets, says managing director John Guscic.
Page 38: Chinese residential developer Zone Q Investments will make its first offshore play in Perth, building a $100 million apartment and commercial project overlooking the Swan River.
Page 39: Residential developer Cedar Woods has snagged a record net profit after tax of $40.3 million for the 2014 financial year, a 10.9 per cent rise on the previous financial year.
The Australian
Page 1: Clive Palmer has suffered a disastrous day in his multipronged legal war with Chinese corporate giant Citic Pacific, with judges in two states ruling against attempts by his flagship company to take control of a key iron ore port in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.
Former resources minister Martin Ferguson has accused Wayne Swan of misleading and ambushing the mining industry over his proposed mining tax, of betraying Mr Ferguson and of provoking the industry campaign against the former Labor government.
Page 2: Leading seniors group COTA Australia will today launch a campaign against proposed changes to the Age Pension, targeting Abbott government MPs in an unprecedented attempt to knock off the budget reforms.
Page 3: The nation’s two top family judges have called for the ban on commercial surrogacy to be lifted in Australia and for the government to crack down on couples who pay for it overseas, including by enforcing criminal sanctions and tightening visa rules to prevent babies being brought onshore.
Page 4: Long-serving business leader Kevin Li believes Clive Palmer’s racist outburst could hurt Australia’s ability to compete with the rest of the world to benefit from China’s future economic growth and international development.
Page 5: Split parents would become liable to pay private school fees on top of child support — even if children are enrolled in expensive schools only after a divorce — under proposed reforms.
Page 17: Investors pushed shares in Wesfarmers to an all-time high after a $1.1 billion capital return and the group’s best all-round retail performance, as chief executive Richard Goyder declared even stronger sales in the opening weeks of the new financial year.
Analysts are expected to slash earnings forecasts for Coca-Cola Amatil after newly installed boss Alison Watkins flagged a major downturn in earnings for the second half of the year.
Page 19: Online jobs and education group Seek will continue its aggressive expansion into international markets after a busy year of deal-making in which the company posted a solid full-year result, with net profit after tax up 27 per cent.
Page 27: Lend Lease’s funds-management unit is moving quickly to restock its office holdings, eyeing the purchase of a $175 million portfolio of assets from German real estate fund Sachsen-Fonds in Adelaide.
The West Australian
Page 1: The head of WA’s peak medical group has lambasted parents who do not immunise their children as guilty of child abuse.
Page 7: Nationals leader Terry Redman has accused Colin Barnett of being “captured” by his “close links” to Chevron after the Premier gave the nod to the oil and gas giant’s bid to back out of a commitment to house workers on its $30 billion Wheatstone project in the North West town of Onslow.
Perth petrol prices have fallen to a nine-month low, with yesterday’s average price of 139.4¢ a litre the cheapest since November.
Page 10: WA will have to find another 300,000 workers over the next decade and they will need to have farming, teaching or nursing skills, a report suggests.
Page 13: Morley Liberal MP Ian Britza skipped a high-level meeting with the New York Police Department to go to his wife’s home State of Texas while on tour with a parliamentary committee he quit weeks later.
Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett says privatising his State’s TAB was one of the worst decisions he has made.
Business: The decision to leave Nickel West out of BHP Billiton’s second-tier asset spin-off makes it even more critical for the business to secure off-take deals with Western Areas or Sirius Resources, according to Deutsche Bank analysts.
Investors have shrugged off contract trouble in Mongolia for Macmahon Holdings by driving up its share price after a return to profit.
The presence or absence of breakfast radio stars Kyle and Jackie O has had a big impact on the latest results of Australia’s two biggest commercial radio players.
