Forge’s trading halt linked to recap plan
Fears that troubled Perth-based mining and engineering contractor Forge is about to dump more bad news have eased, with its trading halt tipped to lead to a recapitalisation plan to placate its banker ANZ. The Aus
Bosses urge state asset sale
WA’s leading business group has called on the Barnett Government to develop a 10-year plan to progressively sell down state owned businesses amid a warning from Treasury that government agencies such as Western Power represent a spending risk to the Budget. The West
Ban prompts nickel hopes
WA’s nickel producers will be looking for a welcome upturn in the nickel price in the first few months of this year, after Indonesia yesterday officially signed off on a watered-down mineral export ban. The West
Cheaper LNG tipped to undercut US
Warnings Australia’s new $200 billion wave of liquefied natural gas projects will be under severe threat from cheaper United States exports to Asia are premature as Australian exports may end up cheaper than shipments from the US, a leading oil and gas consultancy has advised. The Fin
ASX warns against market outsourcing
The Australian Securities Exchange has told the first major inquiry into Australia’s financial system in more than 15 years that explicit measures and mandates could be required to ensure the nation does not one day find its markets have been ‘‘outsourced to overseas’’. The Aus
Telstra sale builds $7bn war chest
The multibillion-dollar war chest Telstra is building from the sale of Sensis and other assets is set to be spent on acquisitions such as Asian technology services providers and the return of funds to shareholders. The Fin
Miners brace for fall in ore, coal prices
The normally volatile iron ore market has been eerily stable at an elevated level for the past six months, but a break appears imminent with prices set to drop below the $US130-a-tonne mark. The Aus
Glencore sale puts Aussies on alert
Speculation that the Beijing-ordered sale by Glencore Xstrata of its $US6 billion ($6.7bn) Las Bambas copper project in Peru is imminent has placed ASX-listed companies PanAust, Highlands Pacific and Indophil on high alert. The Aus
The West Australian
Page 40: Shares in Perth-based explorer Buxton Resources are expected to garner heavy interest this morning, with the company claiming to have discovered Australia’s highest grade graphite find.
Page 40: It is a business model that skips the terrifying unknowns of consumer demand — not to mention the terrifying uncertainty of the bank manager’s office.
Instead of building a product, throwing it out there and hoping it succeeds, crowd sourcing website Kickstarter allows the creator to see if the market is there — and how big it is — before it is manufactured.
Page 40: Six months after it was launched, the State Government’s Mining Rehabilitation Fund has freed up more than $220 million in environmental bonds held by WA mining and exploration companies — but owners of “highrisk” sites will have to wait for months for clarity about how the system applies to them.
Page 41: It has been quite the ride for gold: from less than $US500 an ounce a decade ago to more than $US1900 in 2011, gold gained more than 400 per cent. Since its $US1921.15 September 6, 2011 peak, however, the shine is off the yellow metal. Gold plummeted 38 per cent, recently breaking below $US1200. Yesterday it closed at $US1236.50 in Sydney, towards the lows.
The Financial Review
Page 1: Industry superannuation fund trustees are being urged to fight a rearguard action against an Abbott government proposal to force super boards to appoint more independent directors.
Page 3: ANZ Banking Group plans to change some of its courtside sponsorship signage to Chinese for the last four days of the Australian Open tennis tournament. The move is part of the bank’s strategy of using tennis to promote its services in the Asian market, where it has a major growth strategy.
Page 4: Former Westpac chief executive David Morgan is set to be appointed an international adviser to the federal government’s financial system inquiry chaired by David Murray.
Page 5: An Indonesian ban on exporting raw mineral ore, which started at midnight on Sunday, may lift depressed world nickel prices, increase demand for aluminium and weaken China’s stranglehold on the global aluminium industry.
Page 6: Tourism operators say the lower Australian dollar has helped boost bookings over the Christmas period but would still like it to fall further to about US85¢.
Page 11: Australia’s largest privately owned milk processor, United Dairy Power, has backed Canadian dairy giant Saputo’s bid for control of Warrnambool Cheese & Butter in a fierce $500 million-plus takeover battle with Victorian farmer co-operative Murray Goulburn.
Page 13: BHP Billiton chairman Jac Nasser is under pressure to revisit its capital management initiatives as investors demand greater returns following asset sales and cost cuts.
Page 14: Rail companies Aurizon and Asciano want trucks to be charged at rates that better reflect their road use by exploiting satellite technology to track the distances they travel.
Page 17: A horde of Australian life science hopefuls has flocked to San Francisco for the annual JP Morgan healthcare conference. The upstart companies are keen to spruik their stories and kick off another strong year for local biotechnology stocks.
Page 21: Never sell Shell, goes the sharemarket adage. That advice is best ignored.
Europe’s biggest oil and gas company by market capitalisation trails the FTSE All-Share Index over one, two, three and five years, and is level over 10. That makes the post office look attractive. Ben van Beurden, Shell’s chief executive since January 1, needs to break this pattern of underperformance.
Page 22: Barclays predicts commodity prices will not be held back by the reduction in stimulus out of the United States and sees a positive year ahead for energy and metals, with the exception of gold and silver.
Page 22: A Chinese insurer and an Italian bank aren’t obvious picks for international equities investors but Platinum Asset Management, ever the contrarians, see some standout opportunities in these overlooked parts of the global sharemarket.
Page 23: Fortescue Metals Group shares enjoyed a strong run in the lead-up to Christmas amid a healthy iron ore price and focus on repaying debt. However, lingering concerns about its operational culture and the long-term outlook for iron ore has somewhat divided the market on the stock.
Page 24: New research has found a strong historical correlation between the January and annual performances of Wall Street’s S&P 500, with the direction of the first five trading days of the year tipped as a reliable indicator of the sharemarket’s performance over the coming 12 months.
Page 31: The prospect of another very hot and dry season and a pattern of fluctuating extreme weather is changing the appetites of rural property investors.
The Australian
Page 2: The interest bill for state and territory governments is set to hit $35 billion over this budget cycle, adding to pressure for privatisation to free up funds so cash strapped governments can plug the infrastructure gap.
Page 9: It was in August 2011 that Gladstone Harbour environmental manager John Broomhead first realised something had gone horribly wrong.
The bund wall to retain the millions of cubic metres of dredge spoils from work on the $35 billion Curtis Island LNG developments was about to be completed and a team of workers was clearing the vast ponds of turtles, dolphins and other sea life so they did not become trapped.
Page 15: Mining magnate and federal MP Clive Palmer says Indonesia’s crackdown on the export of unprocessed nickel ores and other minerals is a non-issue for Australia’s only importer of nickel ores from the country — his Yabulu nickel refinery near Townsville in north Queensland.
Page 17: Melbourne accounting and wealth group FIWA has done a deal to buy Centric Wealth, creating what may be the biggest privately held wealth management business in Australia.
Page 17: A rapid pick-up in borrowing could force the major banks to ‘‘manage’’ their dividend policies in order to meet new capital regulations, a major credit rating agency has warned.
Page 18: The disappointing US jobs report at the weekend is likely to curb the Federal Reserve’s recent enthusiasm about that nation’s economic recovery, but it seems unlikely on its own to convince officials they should alter the policy course chairman Ben Bernanke laid out for the central bank last month.
Page 18: China’s reputation as the world’s factory floor is being undercut by the yuan’s upward march against the US dollar, which, along with rising wages, is pushing manufacturers to look for cheaper production bases in Asia.
Page 18: Ford Motor’s new F-150 pickup, the first high-volume vehicle to be built with an all-aluminium body, is becoming the best news for a troubled metals industry since beer cans were converted from steel in the 1970s.
Alcoa and Novelis, the top two US aluminium-sheet producers, invested about $US1 billion last year in US factories producing metal for cars.