AAA loss to ‘ricochet through the economy’
Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen will today outline the bleak scenario facing the nation’s banks and heavily indebted households if the AAA credit rating is lost, and blame the Turnbull government for exploding federal debt by $4500 a person in Australia. The Fin
OECD sees resurgent US growth lifting world economy
Global growth will pick up faster than previously expected in the coming months as the Trump administration’s planned tax cuts and public spending fire up the US economy, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said late on Monday, revising up its forecasts. The Fin
Banks fight on as Apple Pay access denied
Four of Australia’s biggest banks will fight on in their bid to gain access to Apple’s payment platform after the competition regulator rejected their initial bid. Apple lauded the ACCC’s draft decision and said it still wanted to work with the banks. The Fin
Google tax to force disclosures
Sweeping new powers to be granted to the tax commissioner to hit companies for diverting profits to low-tax jurisdictions are expected to see a rush of businesses coming forward to clarify their international arrangements, as the government advances reforms targeting multinationals ahead of proposed business tax cuts. The Aus
First strike for embattled Wellard board
Embattled cattle exporter Wellard will need to placate lenders and rebuild its relationship with two of its biggest shareholders as it looks to move on from its dismal debut year on the Australian stock exchange. The Aus
Penalty rates in Barnett’s sights
Colin Barnett has vowed to clamp down on penalty rates to boost hospitality, tourism and retail jobs in a major electoral point of difference with Mark McGowan’s Labor. The West
Warship bidders told to use local workers, steel
The Federal Government will insist companies vying for new shipbuilding contracts show how they will create jobs, as well as the best warships. The push comes as WA builder Austal looks to employ a record number of apprentices in anticipation of a flurry of work from the Government’s multi-billion-dollar warship program. The West
Rents boost Perron’s pile
Stan Perron’s national portfolio of shopping centres and office towers has delivered the multibillionaire another big profit as the strength in east coast markets offsets softer trading in WA. The West
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: Australia Post’s main union effectively controlled its workers’ compensation scheme, which is racked by fraud and costs as much as 10 times more than schemes in comparable companies, according to a confidential complaint being investigated by Comcare.
Page 2: Bloomberg chats and social media posts will soon be monitored by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission as it prepares to use artificial intelligence to detect rogue market behaviour.
Page 4: Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen will today outline the bleak scenario facing the nation’s banks and heavily indebted households if the AAA credit rating is lost, and blame the Turnbull government for exploding federal debt by $4500 a person in Australia.
Page 5: Gaps between the cheapest and most expensive borrowing rates for buying residential property are blowing out by nearly 240 basis points as lenders struggle with volatile capital markets, costly underwriting and regulatory changes, and the growing likelihood of rate rises.
Page 6: Politicians and leaders must ditch the myth that making something ‘‘you can drop on your foot’’ is better than ‘‘sheila’s work’’ to defuse the angst that fuelled Donald Trump’s rise, an economic forum has heard.
Page 7: Residents of a visionary new affordable housing development in Fremantle will be among the first apartment-dwellers in the nation to be able to trade their surplus solar power with their neighbours.
Energy rules need to be changed to ensure households that don’t embrace new technologies such as battery storage and solar photovoltaic systems are not left picking up the bill, federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg says.
Page 9: The federal government has all but won the support from the Nick Xenophon Team for its flagship industrial relations legislation.
Page 11: China’s government is planning to introduce new restrictions on foreign investment deals in a bid to stem capital outflows, a move that will be felt across the globe as Chinese companies have been on a buying spree this year.
Global growth will pick up faster than previously expected in the coming months as the Trump administration’s planned tax cuts and public spending fire up the US economy, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said late on Monday, revising up its forecasts.
Page 12: The percentage of ASX top-500 companies that use non-standard financial measures such as underlying profit and underlying earnings has almost doubled since 2000, and more than 40 per cent of them now promote these metrics to the market.
Professional services firm KPMG has purchased Indigenous consultancy Arrilla and will take a stake in Arrilla’s digital training venture, as part of a move to provide specialist advisory services to businesses in the sector.
Page 13: Four of Australia’s biggest banks will fight on in their bid to gain access to Apple’s payment platform after the competition regulator rejected their initial bid. Apple lauded the ACCC’s draft decision and said it still wanted to work with the banks.
Vocus Group chief executive Geoff Horth insists the telco has not bitten off more than it can chew and promised better earnings in the second half after its shares plunged 24.5 per cent on disappointing profit guidance yesterday.
Financial analyst James Aitken on Trumpenomics ‘‘‘Old school macro’ is back,’’ says financial markets analyst James Aitken as US President-elect Donald Trump heads to the White House.
Page 15: NIB Holdings and Suncorp Group are expanding their over-50s health insurance partnership into the wider $20 billion health insurance market.
Page 16: The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s investigation into Rio Tinto’s accounting of its $US4 billion Riversdale coal acquisition is understood to be focused on the company’s decision to only partially impair the asset when it sacked the two executives responsible for the deal.
At a shipyard on the Yangtze River outside Shanghai, Fortescue Metals Group chief executive Nev Power allowed himself the smallest degree of introspection.
Energy analysts have returned from an investor trip to Oil Search’s operations in Papua New Guinea, convinced that a long-awaited expansion of LNG production will be delayed by complications in the takeover of one of its partners and by the general election next year.
Page 17: One of AMP’s most prominent shareholders says chief executive Craig Meller has shown he is listening to shareholders after he announced the head of AMP’s troubled life insurance division will leave the group following a major executive reshuffle.
Macquarie Group has merged two of its three capital markets businesses, combining the underperforming Macquarie Securities into the Commodities and Financial Markets Group.
Page 18: Terry O’Brien, who has been chief executive of one of Australia’s biggest food groups for 16 years, is preparing to exit in late 2017 with ‘‘eyes wide open’’ ahead of a new post next year as chairman of an ASX-listed aquaculture company in a volatile sector.
Wellard’s third-biggest shareholder has moved to dump shares in the nation’s largest live cattle exporter.
The Australian
Page 1: Malcolm Turnbull has sealed a vital Senate deal that clears the way for the government’s landmark workplace relations reform, offering a pledge on the Murray-Darling to bring his agenda back from the brink of disaster.
Page 2: Mike Baird says the federal government must revisit the divisive debate over raising the GST, arguing tax reform is “inevitable” to meet the growing cost of health services.
Page 5: Embattled Ardent Leisure is expected to announce today that it will reopen its Gold Coast theme parks Dreamworld and WhiteWater World from as early as Monday, after last month’s fatal accident.
Page 19: Sweeping new powers to be granted to the tax commissioner to hit companies for diverting profits to low-tax jurisdictions are expected to see a rush of businesses coming forward to clarify their international arrangements, as the government advances reforms targeting multinationals ahead of proposed business tax cuts.
AMP chief executive Craig Meller has shown two top executives the door as part of a major management overhaul that appears unlikely to calm an array of investors pushing for Mr Meller to be replaced.
Page 21: Embattled cattle exporter Wellard will need to placate lenders and rebuild its relationship with two of its biggest shareholders as it looks to move on from its dismal debut year on the Australian stock exchange.
Chinese internet celebrity and the wife of the founder of e-commerce giant JD.com, Zhang “Nancy’’ Zetian, is backing a new infant formula and organic baby food company to list on the Australian Securities Exchange next month.
Qantas’s plans to dominate the skies over the Pacific have been left in tatters and its popular routes into San Francisco and Dallas placed under review after the Australian carrier and American Airlines ditched plans to expand their partnership.
Page 22: Excitement about iron ore prices cracking $US80 a tonne for the first time in more than two years has been tempered by the sharp retreat in thermal coal prices in response to China lifting restrictions on its domestic industry.
The Chinese group behind a $US1.3 billion ($1.7bn) bid for a half-stake in Kalgoorlie’s famous Super Pit gold mine may be at risk of overpaying for the asset, according to one of the Australian gold sector’s most successful dealmakers.
James Packer’s Crown Resorts remains committed to the multi-billion-dollar break-up of its gaming empire, but the transaction is expected to take longer than the initial nine-month timeframe given to the market in June by its chief executive Rowen Craigie.
The real estate arm of US investment bank Morgan Stanley has all but severed ties with property group Investa, which it bought at the peak of the last property boom for $6.6 billion, by yesterday selling its $232 million stake in the listed Investa Office Fund.
Greater scrutiny of tailings dams triggered by last year’s disaster at the BHP Billiton and Vale-owned Samarco iron ore operation in Brazil could lead to Iluka walking away from its agreed $425 million takeover of the London-listed minerals sands producer Sierra Rutile (SRL).
Page 23: Australian property developers are being forced to turn to foreign banks to secure funding to finish major apartment developments, as the local big banks scale back lending to the real estate sector.
ANZ Bank has made a series of concessions to an inquiry into questionable small-business lending practices, including a commitment to give customers three months’ notice of any intention to withdraw a lending facility.
Macquarie Group has merged its underperforming institutional stockbroking arm with the commodities and markets operations, yielding to investor pressure to address its problem child amid subdued trading conditions.
Page 24: The World Trade Organisation has struck a blow against Boeing, saying a key tax benefit granted for the production of its newest long-haul jetliner contravenes international trade rules.
Samsung Electronics will raise dividends and consider restructuring as the world’s largest smartphone maker seeks to appease growing demand for governance reforms.
The West Australian
Page 1: Colin Barnett has vowed to clamp down on penalty rates to boost hospitality, tourism and retail jobs in a major electoral point of difference with Mark McGowan’s Labor.
Page 3: WA has the biggest gender pay gap of any Australian State, with women earning on average 30.9 per cent less than men.
Page 4: The Federal Government will insist companies vying for new shipbuilding contracts show how they will create jobs, as well as the best warships. The push comes as WA builder Austal looks to employ a record number of apprentices in anticipation of a flurry of work from the Government’s multi-billion-dollar warship program.
Page 8: Colin Barnett has spoken to the heads of Qantas and Perth Airport in a bid to end an impasse over plans to run direct flights to London and Europe from Perth.
Page 9: WA’s audacious attempt to leapfrog other creditors in the Bell Group liquidation will be subjected to a Senate inquiry — and Barnett Government ministers Mike Nahan and Michael Mischin will be asked to appear.
Page 13: WA’s biggest private school will cut its fees by up to 16 per cent in recognition that many parents are doing it tough.
Page 71: Stan Perron’s national portfolio of shopping centres and office towers has delivered the multibillionaire another big profit as the strength in east coast markets offsets softer trading in WA.
James Reid and Jonathan Matthews believe there is a gaping power vacuum in WA’s corporate telecommunications offerings. And they want to fill it.
Dacian Gold is nearing the close of its funding package for its Mt Morgan gold project, closing on debt funding after launching a $150 million equity raising at $2.75 a share.
Iluka Resources has parked its planned $375 million takeover of Sierra Leone miner Sierra Rutile after detecting geotechnical risks at the West African company’s tailings dams.
Page 72: The boss of CITIC’s Sino Iron magnetite project says the company expects to ship more than 10 million tonnes of concentrate this year after completion and commissioning of all its production lines.
Transerv Energy is a minnow trying to swallow a whale. The $11 million oil and gas explorer is bidding for the onshore Perth Basin assets of Origin Energy for a price rumoured to be north of $200 million.
The WA Greens want an inquiry into the State’s Department of Mines and Petroleum amid doubts about whether the operators of the North West Shelf gas project are paying their fair share of royalties.
Page 73: Pakistani meat trader Tariq Butt is selling down a 14.4 per cent stake in Wellard after fellow shareholders crushed his attempt to win a seat on the live exporter’s board.
Outgoing Northern Star Resources chairman Chris Rowe says his 13 years holding the boardroom reins of the WA gold major has been a “remarkable journey”, telling its annual shareholder meeting yesterday he was proud of the company’s achievements.
Page 74: A long-held aspiration to realise the Pilbara’s cropping potential received a leg-up yesterday when a global sustainable food scheme confirmed interest in an Australian-first venture into the region.
Page 75: Unlisted property trust giant ISPT has been quietly buying up Hay Street mall retail properties adjoining its premium enex100 CBD office tower, which has three levels of fashion, food and lifestyle retailers between the mall and St Georges Terrace.
Page 76: Perth apartment sales may be down but they are certainly not out, with Urbis revealing Perth apartment sales have remained stable in inner-city areas — and there is likely to be a shortage by 2020.