Super done, next task is growth
Treasurer Scott Morrison says spending cuts and revenue increases alone will not be enough to repay the nation’s burgeoning debt and that the economy needs to become more productive to address what he calls an earnings problem. The Fin
Bank chiefs to face three-hour grilling
The chief executives of the four major banks will be grilled for three hours each in front of a parliamentary inquiry which will challenge the banks’ market power. The Fin
Palmer’s secret hit list predated nickel sackings
Clive Palmer secretly demanded a hit list of Queensland Nickel workers and their redundancy entitlements be drawn up a month before 237 refinery staff were sacked from his Townsville operation. The Aus
Bayer swallows Monsanto in $76bn biotech tie-up
Monsanto agreed to sell itself to Bayer after months of haggling, in a $US57 billion ($76bn) deal that would create an agricultural powerhouse and end the independence of one of the most successful and controversial companies in the US. The Aus
Sunday Times sale approved
Seven West Media could be producing The Sunday Times newspaper as early as November after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission yesterday approved a takeover. The West
City towers on hold as unit market stays flat
Plans for thousands of Perth apartments are being put on hold, including what could have been the tallest residential tower outside the CBD, because of lacklustre market conditions. The West
Juniors right to fret over Utah Point twists
In seeking to appease the concerns of Utah Point’s smaller-scale exporters worried they will get squeezed out by the majors, the State Government is enshrining the right of WA’s biggest miners to use the Port Hedland bulk-handling facility. The West
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: Treasurer Scott Morrison says spending cuts and revenue increases alone will not be enough to repay the nation’s burgeoning debt and that the economy needs to become more productive to address what he calls an earnings problem.
He meditates and manages $10 billion It’s fair to say that fund manager Peter Cooper is not your ordinary stock picker. The daily meditator, yoga devotee and one-time business partner of small caps king David Paradice has almost single-handedly built a $10 billion investment powerhouse with little of the fuss and none of the media profile that comes with the territory.
Myer chief executive Richard Umbers is standing by his $600 million transformation strategy and growth targets for the retailer even though profits fell for the sixth consecutive year, emphasising the complexity of the turnaround.
Executive chairman of defunct stockbroker BBY Glenn Rosewall enlisted the help of a psychic in preparing budget estimates, revenue and cash-flow forecasts for at least two years before its collapse, a court examination revealed.
Page 3: The chief executives of the four major banks will be grilled for three hours each in front of a parliamentary inquiry which will challenge the banks’ market power.
Page 9: Embattled businessman Clive Palmer said he did not bankroll a round-the-world trip for his nephew and former managing director of Queensland Nickel, which means he cannot give evidence about the $300 million corporate collapse of the Townsville refinery.
Page 15: China’s economy has received a vote of confidence from improbable believers: American investment institutions who have at times expressed pessimism about Beijing’s ability to orchestrate a soft economic landing.
Page 17: BHP Billiton and Glencore have had a portion of their coking coal supply interrupted after a train derailment in Queensland’s Bowen Basin.
BHP Billiton says one of its largest future iron ore projects, which could account for just under a third of its annual production, would be put at ‘‘risk’’ by the Nationals WA’s iron ore tax proposal.
Lenders and 22,500 creditors to the collapsed Arrium face a significant shortfall even if strong prices are obtained for the two big businesses currently being offered to the market, while the 79,000 shareholders will be left with nothing.
Page 18: Distributed ledger start-up Ripple has confirmed that National Australia Bank and Westpac Banking Corp are among its growing network of global banks seeking to cut costs and boost the speed of making cross-border payments in competition with the global settlement engine SWIFT.
Pimco has escalated its legal battle with estranged co-founder Bill Gross by saying he leaked confidential pay information and may have destroyed documents in violation of court rules.
Page 19: CUA, the nation’s largest credit union, has reported a higher full-year net profit driven by more home loan lending but says the coming year will be more challenging because the big four banks have intensified competition through aggressive pricing.
Veteran banking analyst Victor German has a grim warning for the 169,000 people employed by Australia’s big four: the banks are sharpening their axes.
Page 21: Woolworths is pushing for the legal dispute with Lowe’s over its Masters joint venture to be resolved by former High Court chief justice Murray Gleeson.
Page 26: The rigid, relentless sales goals that prompted Wells Fargo employees to open more than 2 million unauthorised customer accounts are on their way out, the company said yesterday.
Page 29: The brutal years for value investors have hit their nadir, and those invested in out of favour stocks are set to enjoy a boost as the extreme valuations of defensive stocks and bonds begin to unwind, a British fund manager says.
The Australian
Page 4: Insurance claims lodged by Australian public servants have fallen by 25 per cent in the past five years and are costing taxpayers less money, but the Turnbull government wants to further reform a scheme that has been perceived as a “soft touch”.
Scott Morrison believes neither interest rates cuts nor budget spending can deliver a sustainable boost to the economy and is commissioning the Productivity Commission to conduct an inquiry to work out what can.
Page 5: Clive Palmer secretly demanded a hit list of Queensland Nickel workers and their redundancy entitlements be drawn up a month before 237 refinery staff were sacked from his Townsville operation.
Page 19: MBAs from Australia’s top universities and management schools can more than match it with the best in the world, according to some of the nation’s leading chief executives and company directors.
Page 21: In the bitter dispute between retail heavyweight Woolworths and US hardware giant Lowe’s over their exit from hardware chain Masters, allegations the Australian group had last month prepared a “game plan” to terminate the venture were aired in court yesterday.
The Reserve Bank’s interest rate cuts hurt as many households as they help, with savers suffering a squeeze on income. But the central bank says the nation as a whole gains from rate cuts because borrowers are carrying debts that are between two and three times bigger than the assets of the savers.
Page 23: The domination of Australia’s life insurance industry by vertically integrated corporations, volume-based bonuses for advisers and high fees charged by super funds for disability insurance will be points of friction in a new parliamentary inquiry into the sector.
ANZ has stuck with Optus as its telco of choice, extending their relationship for another two years. The contract extension, worth more than $200 million, will see Optus continue to provide core telephony and data services to the bank across the Asia-Pacific region until 2020.
Page 26: Monsanto agreed to sell itself to Bayer after months of haggling, in a $US57 billion ($76bn) deal that would create an agricultural powerhouse and end the independence of one of the most successful and controversial companies in the US.
Page 29: Qantas boss Alan Joyce says the carrier will be left on the sidelines of a consolidating global airline industry unless the federal government revisits and relaxes the company’s restrictive foreign ownership cap.
The West Australian
Page 1: Seven West Media could be producing The Sunday Times newspaper as early as November after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission yesterday approved a takeover.
Page 10: The Turnbull Government has dropped key “ironclad” parts of its overhaul of superannuation after a backbench revolt but will end up improving the Budget bottom line.
Page 14: There are fresh concerns about the WA jobs market and State economy after new figures showed a record fall in the number of people holding full-time work.
Page 16: Treasurer Mike Nahan has appeared to scotch indefinitely the sale of the East Perth power station site, saying companies that responded to the Government’s expressions of interest process did not bid enough.
Page 20: Plans for thousands of Perth apartments are being put on hold, including what could have been the tallest residential tower outside the CBD, because of lacklustre market conditions.
Page 65: The first shipment of spodumene concentrate from the Mt Marion mine, 40km south-west of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, is set to depart Fremantle next month bound for lithium processing plants in China.
The owner of Bankwest, Commonwealth Bank, is looking for a new chief for the WA-based subsidiary after the sudden resignation of managing director Rob De Luca.
Page 66: P&N Bank has left its big rivals in the shade after a major strategic revamp and advertising blitz helped fuel an extraordinary rise in its lending volumes.
In seeking to appease the concerns of Utah Point’s smaller-scale exporters worried they will get squeezed out by the majors, the State Government is enshrining the right of WA’s biggest miners to use the Port Hedland bulk-handling facility.
