Thursday November 19, 08:12 PM
PRESS DIGEST-Australian Business News - Nov 20
Compiled for Reuters by Media Monitors. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW (www.afr.com)
Transport logistics company Brambles yesterday held its annual general meeting, reporting a 3 percent fall in sales revenue for the October quarter to US$1.4 billion. Revenue from the company's CHEP pallet business in the United States (US) suffered the largest decline, falling 5 percent to US$513 million. Chief executive Tom Gorman said the US result was due to economic conditions in the country rather than loss of market share. Page 43.
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Food company Goodman Fielder is expected to sell its commercial oils and fats business for less than book value, after a public deadline on its sales process passed without a formal sale agreement. Goodman yesterday confirmed that the sales process, which the company had hoped would generate between A$330 million and A$400 million, now had only one bidder, thought to be United States company Cargill. Page 43.
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Brett Godfrey, chief executive and co-founder of airline Virgin Blue, yesterday confirmed that the company has started a formal search for his successor. Mr Godfrey, who helped found the airline 10 years ago, told the Queensland Media Club that he would not decide on a departure date until a successor had been identified. Mr Godfrey would not discuss the outlook for the company before next week's annual meeting. Page 44.
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Packaging company Amcor (Frankfurt: 854559 - news) yesterday confirmed that it intends to sell US$850 million of bonds in the United States, the largest ever U.S bond issue by an Australian company. Amcor expects to issue the debt next month, and is currently taking bids on bonds with maturities of up to 12 years. The funds will be used to retire around A$800 million of more expensive bank debt. Page 44.
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THE AUSTRALIAN (www.theaustralian.news.com.au)
Lindsay Fox has outlined plans to expand his trucking and logistics company, Linfox, into Asia, developing closer ties with international brands to service the middle class of the region.
There are two billion people in India, China and the Asian region who are going to have disposable incomes over the next 10 years that they never had before, Mr Fox said. The Melbourne-based company has a turnover of A$3 billion a year, and 14,000 employees worldwide. Page 19.
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Andrew Forrest, chief executive of mining company Fortescue Metals Group, told shareholders yesterday that he will not fund another railway line in the Pilbara in Western Australia and that common sense should see third parties allowed access to BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT.L - news) and Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO.L - news) 's rail tracks. Mr Forrest told shareholders at the company's annual meeting that Australia has fallen behind Brazil in iron ore production because local miners were not sharing infrastructure. Page 20.
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Iron ore mining company Centrex Metals' position as a future iron ore producer has been strengthened following the Foreign Investment Review Board's approval of a A$40 million joint venture with China's Baotou Iron & Steel. The deal gives Baotou a 50 percent stake in Centrex's proposed Bungalow magnetite project. Baotou has also received regulatory approval from Chinese authorities for the deal. Page 20.
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Altona Energy (LSE: ANR.L - news) , through its Australian subsidiary Arckaringa Energy, has signed a deal with Chinas CNOOC New Energy Investment to develop a A$3 billion coal project in South Australia. The deal will give CNOOC (0883.HK - news) -NEI a 51 percent stake in Arckaringas exploration licences, which is estimated to include 7.8 billion tonnes of coal. Altona says the funds from China will speed up the project, and is a major step for a company with a grand vision. Page 20.
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THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (www.smh.com.au)
Consolidated Press Holdings, the private family company of James Packer, has challenged the liquidator and former managing director of collapsed telecommunications company One.Tel to proceed with threatened damages suits against Consolidated Press.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission this week lost a civil case against the former managing director, Jodee Rich, however, Consolidated Press says it would be able to present a much clearer argument against Mr Rich's claims. Page 1.
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The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) yesterday received criticism from litigation and corporate governance experts. The criticism concerns the methods and management of a case against former directors of failed telecommunications company One.Tel, which ASIC lost earlier this week. A number of commentators say that ASIC's methods have changed substantially since the One.Tel case was initiated in 2001. Page 2.
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Reserve Bank of Australia assistant governor Guy Debelle yesterday raised the prospect of mandating a minimum deposit size for home loan borrowers as a way of preventing the emergence of asset bubbles. Dr Debelle said that although a proper discussion of such controls is yet to take place in Australia, countries such as Hong Kong have already moved to reign in maximum loan-to-valuation ratios. Page 3.
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The Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law, Chris Bowen, yesterday told the Financial Planning Association National Conference that the Government was not out to get financial advisers. However, Mr Bowen said that Australians required high-quality financial advice, and that moves away from commission-based payments to fee-based advice would improve the industry's reputation. Page 4.
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THE AGE (www.theage.com.au)
Ratings agency Moody's yesterday announced that it is undertaking a review of the credit ratings of banks' hybrid securities. Moody's is concerned that regulators such as the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority are now more likely to order banks to stop interest payments on hybrids to protect the capital base of banks. Australian banks have around A$24 billion in hybrid securities which could be affected by the review. Page B1.
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Creditors to failed agribusiness group Great Southern yesterday voted to wind up 27 of the group's 35 companies.
Administrator Martin Jones, of Ferrier Hodgson, told creditors that although the companies will be wound-up, the managed investment schemes making up the companies will not. Mr Jones agreed with one creditor who said that the group's major lenders, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, have total control over the future of the creditors' investments. Page B3.
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The Australian Bankers Association said yesterday it was concerned by the threatened withdrawal of credit ratings from the retail market. 'If the retail market in Australia as a source of capital is not available, this will impact on the availability of capital and reliance on wholesale funding by banks, and ultimately could impact the cost of funds for all consumers and business,' said chief executive David Bell. The comments stem from Standard & Poor's announcement that it will only apply for a wholesale licence in Australia. Page B3.
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The launch of a joint credit card between David Jones and American Express (NYSE: AXP - news) has been hailed a success by both companies a year after its launch. The companies have now launched a new marketing campaign, aimed at convincing David Jones Amex card-holders to use the card for a wider variety of purchases. Amex's Mark Rayner yesterday said 'we are not asking people to spend more but getting them to switch spending.' Page B5.
Keywords: DIGEST AUSTRALIA BUSINESS . Keywords: DIGEST AUSTRALIA BUSINESS =2
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