SYDNEY, Oct 14 (Reuters) - 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)
Oil and gas group Nexus Energy is seeking a new partner for its Crux liquids project after global market uncertainty caused Japan's Mitsui & Co to pull out of a deal last week to buy 25 percent of Crux. Mitsui's withdrawal triggered a slide in Nexus shares, which closed at 41.5 cents yesterday, down from A$1.09 a week ago. Nexus managing director Ian Tchacos also took a hit in the aftermath when he received a margin call over 1.5 million shares. American and Asian companies have now expressed interest in taking a stake in Crux. Page 19.
Fast food group McDonald's Australia last night announced the promotion of chief operating officer Catriona Noble to managing director. Ms Noble, 39, who started working at a McDonald's restaurant when she was 14, has previously held several positions with the chain. Observers said the elevation made Ms Noble a potential replacement for the company's Australia chief executive, Peter Bush, who said the move was 'a part of our succession planning'. Page 19.
Gas and power company Origin Energy has seen the value of its coal seam gas deal with United States group ConocoPhillips rise to A$6.69 billion from the initial A$5.91 billion because of the falling Australian dollar. But Origin said yesterday it will not be able to fully benefit from the windfall as it has agreed to share with ConocoPhillips any foreign exchange gains. ConocoPhillips will make the payment to Origin once it has secured the approval of the Foreign Investment Review Board for the deal, which was struck on September 8. Page 20.
The outlook has dimmed for West Australian conglomerate Wesfarmers because of the softening demand for commodities. Wesfarmers said yesterday that its coal production remained robust, but analysts said sliding commodity prices would weigh on the company's cash flows and earnings in 2009 and 2010. Investors expect chief executive Richard Goyder to present a cautious outlook statement at Wesfarmers' six-monthly investor briefing today. Wesfarmers shares closed down 2.4 percent at A$21.22. Page 20.
THE AUSTRALIAN (www.theaustralian.news.com.au)
National Australia Bank chief executive John Stewart has warned that Australian regulators will need to ensure the Federal Government's bank wholesale funding guarantee is not abused by smaller lenders. Mr Stewart said the Reserve Bank of Australia will need to set the fee charged for the guarantee high enough that banks will 'come off the drug' once conditions improve. Mr Stewart also noted some of the 'super-banks' recently created by mergers may be later broken up on competition grounds. Page 19.
Woodside Petroleum chief executive Don Voelte said yesterday the Australian Government's emissions trading scheme (ETS) is 'dead on arrival for a 2010 start-up,' due to the global financial crisis. Mr Voelte said the introduction of the ETS, if combined with an economic downturn, would lead to job losses, little environmental benefit and would be 'very unwise for the Government'. Mr Voelte, who has previously criticised the scheme, said the issue would influence Woodside's decision on its Browse Basin gas project. Page 20.
The Australian Government's move to guarantee all bank deposits has given even the smallest financial institutions a AAA credit rating, which should allow all institutions to access capital at the same rates. The move was welcomed by the general manager of Resources Credit Union (RCU), Oleg Rozmeta, who said that although RCU does not use wholesale markets for funding, the decision removed any doubts Australian depositors may have about the security of financial institutions. Page 20.
A key business adviser to the Federal Government, Rod Eddington, yesterday told the Australia-Japan Joint Business Conference in Perth that the current global financial turmoil will 'hasten the shift of economic power from the West to the East'. Mr Eddington said the emergence of China and India as major economic forces would provide both countries with opportunities, but also called for the relationship between Australia and Japan to be strengthened. Page 21.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (www.smh.com.au)
Banking and insurance group Suncorp-Metway is expected to seek a higher price for its troubled banking and wealth management arms after the Federal Government guaranteed all retail and wholesale deposits. But despite the Government's relief package making the two businesses more valuable than ANZ Bank's offer of more than A$2 billion over the weekend, Suncorp-Metway remains under investor pressure to lift the value of the larger group. Suncorp-Metway shares fell 22 cents to close at A$9.05. Page 19.
National Australia Bank (NAB) yesterday cut the interest rate on its fixed-price home loans by 1.6 percentage points. NAB's move, which came in the wake of a 1.1 percentage point rate cut by Westpac Banking Corp on the weekend, is expected to ease pressure on home owners beset with high mortgage costs. Observers predicted that the Reserve Bank of Australia, which last week lowered official interest rates by a surprising 1 percentage point, would reduce rates even further in coming months. Page 20.
Iron ore miner Fortescue Metals released its September quarterly report yesterday, showing payments from some shipments made during the quarter had not been received by the end of the quarter. But the West Australian company eased concerns the credit crisis might be affecting its Chinese customers by clarifying that the outstanding payments had come in since the start of the month. Analysts noted that the quarterly report did not contain expected production and sales figures, with one analyst saying it was 'a little bit confusing'. Page 21.
Property group Stockland yesterday acquired a 14.4 percent interest in retirement homes operator Aevum from investment bank Babcock & Brown for A$27 million. Aevum is the biggest for-profit player in the retirement homes sector in New South Wales, with 2100 units across the state. Stockland would have 'a constructive dialogue with the Aevum board as the company's largest shareholder,' said managing director Matthew Quinn. Stockland raised A$300 million last week but will use debt to fund the Aevum deal. Page 21.
THE AGE (www.theage.com.au)
The global head of citizenship at accounting firm KPMG, Michael Hastings, yesterday told an audience in Melbourne that the underlying causes of the financial crisis were 'greed, personal responsibilities, ambition,' and called for 'responsible business behaviour' guided by a concept of citizenship. Lord Hastings said emerging markets around the world meant growth would continue in some areas. He also warned against delaying or slowing the introduction of carbon management and trading schemes. Page B1.
Experts are divided over the future of the Australian property market, although all agree there will be tough times ahead. Some analysts, such as economist Steve Keen, believe there will be a painful correction in house prices, others including Australia and New Zealand Banking Group's Paul Braddick say the current shortage of housing will prevent any major price falls. Builder AV Jennings also said new house prices could only fall if land prices fell, as builders' profit margins are already as small as possible. Page B2.
Macquarie Infrastructure Group and Transurban <TCL.AX> have both reported significant falls in overseas toll road volumes in the September quarter compared to the previous year. The poor results for the North American and European toll roads were blamed on the 'continuing weak global economic conditions' by MIG. Transurban also had weaker results from its Australian toll roads, although Sydney's Westlink M7, co-owned by Transurban and MIG, reported a 6 percent rise in volume. Page B3. -- . ng COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW (www.afr.com)
Oil and gas group Nexus Energy is seeking a new partner for its Crux liquids project after global market uncertainty caused Japan's Mitsui & Co to pull out of a deal last week to buy 25 percent of Crux. Mitsui's withdrawal triggered a slide in Nexus shares, which closed at 41.5 cents yesterday, down from A$1.09 a week ago. Nexus managing director Ian Tchacos also took a hit in the aftermath when he received a margin call over 1.5 million shares. American and Asian companies have now expressed interest in taking a stake in Crux. Page 19.
Fast food group McDonald's Australia last night announced the promotion of chief operating officer Catriona Noble to managing director. Ms Noble, 39, who started working at a McDonald's restaurant when she was 14, has previously held several positions with the chain. Observers said the elevation made Ms Noble a potential replacement for the company's Australia chief executive, Peter Bush, who said the move was 'a part of our succession planning'. Page 19.
Gas and power company Origin Energy has seen the value of its coal seam gas deal with United States group ConocoPhillips rise to A$6.69 billion from the initial A$5.91 billion because of the falling Australian dollar. But Origin said yesterday it will not be able to fully benefit from the windfall as it has agreed to share with ConocoPhillips any foreign exchange gains. ConocoPhillips will make the payment to Origin once it has secured the approval of the Foreign Investment Review Board for the deal, which was struck on September 8. Page 20.
The outlook has dimmed for West Australian conglomerate Wesfarmers because of the softening demand for commodities. Wesfarmers said yesterday that its coal production remained robust, but analysts said sliding commodity prices would weigh on the company's cash flows and earnings in 2009 and 2010. Investors expect chief executive Richard Goyder to present a cautious outlook statement at Wesfarmers' six-monthly investor briefing today. Wesfarmers shares closed down 2.4 percent at A$21.22. Page 20.
THE AUSTRALIAN (www.theaustralian.news.com.au)
National Australia Bank chief executive John Stewart has warned that Australian regulators will need to ensure the Federal Government's bank wholesale funding guarantee is not abused by smaller lenders. Mr Stewart said the Reserve Bank of Australia will need to set the fee charged for the guarantee high enough that banks will 'come off the drug' once conditions improve. Mr Stewart also noted some of the 'super-banks' recently created by mergers may be later broken up on competition grounds. Page 19.
Woodside Petroleum chief executive Don Voelte said yesterday the Australian Government's emissions trading scheme (ETS) is 'dead on arrival for a 2010 start-up,' due to the global financial crisis. Mr Voelte said the introduction of the ETS, if combined with an economic downturn, would lead to job losses, little environmental benefit and would be 'very unwise for the Government'. Mr Voelte, who has previously criticised the scheme, said the issue would influence Woodside's decision on its Browse Basin gas project. Page 20.
The Australian Government's move to guarantee all bank deposits has given even the smallest financial institutions a AAA credit rating, which should allow all institutions to access capital at the same rates. The move was welcomed by the general manager of Resources Credit Union (RCU), Oleg Rozmeta, who said that although RCU does not use wholesale markets for funding, the decision removed any doubts Australian depositors may have about the security of financial institutions. Page 20.
A key business adviser to the Federal Government, Rod Eddington, yesterday told the Australia-Japan Joint Business Conference in Perth that the current global financial turmoil will 'hasten the shift of economic power from the West to the East'. Mr Eddington said the emergence of China and India as major economic forces would provide both countries with opportunities, but also called for the relationship between Australia and Japan to be strengthened. Page 21.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (www.smh.com.au)
Banking and insurance group Suncorp-Metway is expected to seek a higher price for its troubled banking and wealth management arms after the Federal Government guaranteed all retail and wholesale deposits. But despite the Government's relief package making the two businesses more valuable than ANZ Bank's offer of more than A$2 billion over the weekend, Suncorp-Metway remains under investor pressure to lift the value of the larger group. Suncorp-Metway shares fell 22 cents to close at A$9.05. Page 19.
National Australia Bank (NAB) yesterday cut the interest rate on its fixed-price home loans by 1.6 percentage points. NAB's move, which came in the wake of a 1.1 percentage point rate cut by Westpac Banking Corp on the weekend, is expected to ease pressure on home owners beset with high mortgage costs. Observers predicted that the Reserve Bank of Australia, which last week lowered official interest rates by a surprising 1 percentage point, would reduce rates even further in coming months. Page 20.
Iron ore miner Fortescue Metals released its September quarterly report yesterday, showing payments from some shipments made during the quarter had not been received by the end of the quarter. But the West Australian company eased concerns the credit crisis might be affecting its Chinese customers by clarifying that the outstanding payments had come in since the start of the month. Analysts noted that the quarterly report did not contain expected production and sales figures, with one analyst saying it was 'a little bit confusing'. Page 21.
Property group Stockland yesterday acquired a 14.4 percent interest in retirement homes operator Aevum from investment bank Babcock & Brown for A$27 million. Aevum is the biggest for-profit player in the retirement homes sector in New South Wales, with 2100 units across the state. Stockland would have 'a constructive dialogue with the Aevum board as the company's largest shareholder,' said managing director Matthew Quinn. Stockland raised A$300 million last week but will use debt to fund the Aevum deal. Page 21.
THE AGE (www.theage.com.au)
The global head of citizenship at accounting firm KPMG, Michael Hastings, yesterday told an audience in Melbourne that the underlying causes of the financial crisis were 'greed, personal responsibilities, ambition,' and called for 'responsible business behaviour' guided by a concept of citizenship. Lord Hastings said emerging markets around the world meant growth would continue in some areas. He also warned against delaying or slowing the introduction of carbon management and trading schemes. Page B1.
Experts are divided over the future of the Australian property market, although all agree there will be tough times ahead. Some analysts, such as economist Steve Keen, believe there will be a painful correction in house prices, others including Australia and New Zealand Banking Group's Paul Braddick say the current shortage of housing will prevent any major price falls. Builder AV Jennings also said new house prices could only fall if land prices fell, as builders' profit margins are already as small as possible. Page B2.
Macquarie Infrastructure Group and Transurban <TCL.AX> have both reported significant falls in overseas toll road volumes in the September quarter compared to the previous year. The poor results for the North American and European toll roads were blamed on the 'continuing weak global economic conditions' by MIG. Transurban also had weaker results from its Australian toll roads, although Sydney's Westlink M7, co-owned by Transurban and MIG, reported a 6 percent rise in volume. Page B3. -- . ng COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.