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)
--In a change to its original fund-raising plans, iron ore miner Fortescue Metals will now offer at least A$500 million in new equity to institutional investors. The equity raising is likely to be completed in the coming days and is additional to the bid by Chinese steel maker Hunan Valin Iron and Steel to secure a strategic 14 percent stake in the miner.
Fortescue says the new funds are to be targeted for expansion rather than used as working capital. Page 13.
--Apparel company Pacific Brands yesterday announced it will conduct a major clean-up of its product portfolio and sell several properties after completing an internal review. The decision ends speculation about a potential capital raising to pay down debt. Full details of the review, which was conducted in partnership with management consulting firm McKinsey & Co, will be provided on Wednesday when PacBrands releases its half-year results. Page 13.
--Diversified media company Macquarie Media Group is seeking to unwind deals it made for the sale of its digital television licenses in Tasmania and Darwin after the Federal Court recently threw out the ruling that had forced their divestment. Having won the initial ruling, the Australian Communications and Media Authority had forced the sale of the licenses under the Broadcast Services Act. The subsequent reversal of that decision has sparked Macquarie's effort to now seek to undo its license sales. Page 15.
THE AUSTRALIAN (www.theaustralian.news.com.au)
--Industry experts have forecast further consolidation of smaller banks, non-bank lenders, credit unions and building societies as credit conditions worsen, falling interest rates impact on margins and more rigorous regulation increases costs.
Since the start of 2007 the Big Four banks have increased their share of the home loan market to 90 percent from 45 percent.
Bank of Queensland chief executive David Liddy warns that to compete with the big banks, smaller financial institutions have been merging and will continue to do so. Pg 19.
--Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan conceded yesterday that the decision on whether to approve the proposed A$30.37 billion deal between miner Rio Tinto and Chinese resources company Chinalco was a 'tough' one. Mr Swan must assess the deal because of its foreign ownership implications, and his judgment appears unlikely to come quickly after the Treasurer said he would make his decision in good time as he was 'looking very closely at the national interest criteria.' Page 19.
--Australia's annual gold production hit a 19-year low in calendar 2008, according to mining consultant Surbiton Associates. Surbiton director Dr Sandra Close says that despite the drop in production the value of gold produced is higher over that same period, and these higher prices have enabled lower grade ores to be treated profitably. However, the increasing foreign ownership of Australian gold mining interests means much of the benefit of the surge in the market value of the precious metal is flowing offshore, according to analysts. Page 20.
--The bid by investment and financial services group Axa Asia Pacific Holdings to charge businessman David Tweed A$17,000 for a copy of its share register has been defeated after the Federal Court in Melbourne upheld last June's ruling to allow Tweed access for just A$250. Tweed uses company registers to search for elderly and unsophisticated investors from whom he can buy their shares below their worth. The ruling was based on the fact the Corporations Act of 2001 does not allow companies to rely on cost as a deterrent. Page 21.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (www.smh.com.au)
--Australia's banks may lose as much as A$2 billion of their A$7 billion exposure to the New South Wales pub sector if the sale of the Hurstville Ritz pub, in Sydney, is used as a benchmark, according to analysts. The Ritz was sold 10 days ago at a discount of 27 percent to the price paid 19 months earlier, reigniting fears that banks will not recover the loans they have made. As banks grow impatient in support of hotels struggling to service their debts, industry analysts have speculated an avalanche of sales may follow at record low prices. Page 19.
--Base metals miner OZ Minerals chief executive Andrew Michelmore suggested yesterday that his company's suitor, the state controlled China Minmetals, will use his company as a platform from which to make more takeovers. The Minmetals' deal is currently before the Foreign Investment Review Board and is also contingent on a consortium of banks agreeing to extend A$1.2 billion of debt facilities to OZ Minerals. The debt facilities are set to expire on Friday, the day OZ will release its full-year results. Page 20.
--The New South Wales (NSW) State Government is expected to approve the A$850 million Queensland to Hunter Valley gas pipeline within the next few days. Supplies from the pipeline are expected to start by 2011 providing that financing and final planning approvals are in place in the next few months.
Currently NSW has only two principal sources of gas supply, the Moomba to Sydney pipeline and the Eastern Gas Pipeline from Bass Strait to Sydney, both of which are operating at full capacity.
Page 21.
THE AGE (www.theage.com.au)
--The significant financial investment being made by the Victorian State Government into the bushfire crisis has placed added pressure on the state's budget surplus, according to analysts. Victoria is the only government in Australia not to declare it will run into deficit over the next four years.
However, Premier John Brumby said he was not counting the dollars being spent on the response to the bushfires. 'What the public wants is to get on with the job, to help families, to get into rebuilding and to rebuild these communities,' Mr Brumby said yesterday. Page 1.
--The Federal Government is at risk of losing support for its renewable energy target after leading renewable energy company Pacific Hydro said the 2020 target would not be met. Under the carbon pollution reduction scheme, electricity retailers are required to source 20 percent of their power from renewable energy by the year 2020, but Pacific Hydro has said only 15 percent will be achieved. Pacific Hydro yesterday warned that investment 'will fall off a cliff face' due to the phase-out mechanism between 2024 and 2030. Page 3.
--The bid by troubled television broadcaster the Ten Network to find a new cornerstone investor will not be easy, according to former board member Laurence Freedman. Last week Ten's planned capital raising failed to get off the ground when investors declined to pay the floor price and analysts believe the broadcaster is now considering other options in its search for cash. Mr Freedman said Ten was a 'huge buying opportunity,' but not at the current price levels. Page 3.
--Mining explorer Western Metals has announced it will buy the Tanzanian gold projects of Sub-Sahara Resources, a move that sees it enter the Tusker gold deposit joint venture with gold miner Barrick. Western Metals will increase its stake in Tusker to 68 percent by completing a positive bankable feasibility study into its development. The move by Western Metals follows last year's abandoned bid by the company to purchase the Parys Mountain base metals project in North Wales.
Page 6. --
Keywords: DIGEST AUSTRALIA BUSINESS (Sydney Newsroom +61-2 9373 1800; sydney.newsroom@reuters.com) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW (www.afr.com)
--In a change to its original fund-raising plans, iron ore miner Fortescue Metals will now offer at least A$500 million in new equity to institutional investors. The equity raising is likely to be completed in the coming days and is additional to the bid by Chinese steel maker Hunan Valin Iron and Steel to secure a strategic 14 percent stake in the miner.
Fortescue says the new funds are to be targeted for expansion rather than used as working capital. Page 13.
--Apparel company Pacific Brands yesterday announced it will conduct a major clean-up of its product portfolio and sell several properties after completing an internal review. The decision ends speculation about a potential capital raising to pay down debt. Full details of the review, which was conducted in partnership with management consulting firm McKinsey & Co, will be provided on Wednesday when PacBrands releases its half-year results. Page 13.
--Diversified media company Macquarie Media Group is seeking to unwind deals it made for the sale of its digital television licenses in Tasmania and Darwin after the Federal Court recently threw out the ruling that had forced their divestment. Having won the initial ruling, the Australian Communications and Media Authority had forced the sale of the licenses under the Broadcast Services Act. The subsequent reversal of that decision has sparked Macquarie's effort to now seek to undo its license sales. Page 15.
THE AUSTRALIAN (www.theaustralian.news.com.au)
--Industry experts have forecast further consolidation of smaller banks, non-bank lenders, credit unions and building societies as credit conditions worsen, falling interest rates impact on margins and more rigorous regulation increases costs.
Since the start of 2007 the Big Four banks have increased their share of the home loan market to 90 percent from 45 percent.
Bank of Queensland chief executive David Liddy warns that to compete with the big banks, smaller financial institutions have been merging and will continue to do so. Pg 19.
--Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan conceded yesterday that the decision on whether to approve the proposed A$30.37 billion deal between miner Rio Tinto and Chinese resources company Chinalco was a 'tough' one. Mr Swan must assess the deal because of its foreign ownership implications, and his judgment appears unlikely to come quickly after the Treasurer said he would make his decision in good time as he was 'looking very closely at the national interest criteria.' Page 19.
--Australia's annual gold production hit a 19-year low in calendar 2008, according to mining consultant Surbiton Associates. Surbiton director Dr Sandra Close says that despite the drop in production the value of gold produced is higher over that same period, and these higher prices have enabled lower grade ores to be treated profitably. However, the increasing foreign ownership of Australian gold mining interests means much of the benefit of the surge in the market value of the precious metal is flowing offshore, according to analysts. Page 20.
--The bid by investment and financial services group Axa Asia Pacific Holdings to charge businessman David Tweed A$17,000 for a copy of its share register has been defeated after the Federal Court in Melbourne upheld last June's ruling to allow Tweed access for just A$250. Tweed uses company registers to search for elderly and unsophisticated investors from whom he can buy their shares below their worth. The ruling was based on the fact the Corporations Act of 2001 does not allow companies to rely on cost as a deterrent. Page 21.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (www.smh.com.au)
--Australia's banks may lose as much as A$2 billion of their A$7 billion exposure to the New South Wales pub sector if the sale of the Hurstville Ritz pub, in Sydney, is used as a benchmark, according to analysts. The Ritz was sold 10 days ago at a discount of 27 percent to the price paid 19 months earlier, reigniting fears that banks will not recover the loans they have made. As banks grow impatient in support of hotels struggling to service their debts, industry analysts have speculated an avalanche of sales may follow at record low prices. Page 19.
--Base metals miner OZ Minerals chief executive Andrew Michelmore suggested yesterday that his company's suitor, the state controlled China Minmetals, will use his company as a platform from which to make more takeovers. The Minmetals' deal is currently before the Foreign Investment Review Board and is also contingent on a consortium of banks agreeing to extend A$1.2 billion of debt facilities to OZ Minerals. The debt facilities are set to expire on Friday, the day OZ will release its full-year results. Page 20.
--The New South Wales (NSW) State Government is expected to approve the A$850 million Queensland to Hunter Valley gas pipeline within the next few days. Supplies from the pipeline are expected to start by 2011 providing that financing and final planning approvals are in place in the next few months.
Currently NSW has only two principal sources of gas supply, the Moomba to Sydney pipeline and the Eastern Gas Pipeline from Bass Strait to Sydney, both of which are operating at full capacity.
Page 21.
THE AGE (www.theage.com.au)
--The significant financial investment being made by the Victorian State Government into the bushfire crisis has placed added pressure on the state's budget surplus, according to analysts. Victoria is the only government in Australia not to declare it will run into deficit over the next four years.
However, Premier John Brumby said he was not counting the dollars being spent on the response to the bushfires. 'What the public wants is to get on with the job, to help families, to get into rebuilding and to rebuild these communities,' Mr Brumby said yesterday. Page 1.
--The Federal Government is at risk of losing support for its renewable energy target after leading renewable energy company Pacific Hydro said the 2020 target would not be met. Under the carbon pollution reduction scheme, electricity retailers are required to source 20 percent of their power from renewable energy by the year 2020, but Pacific Hydro has said only 15 percent will be achieved. Pacific Hydro yesterday warned that investment 'will fall off a cliff face' due to the phase-out mechanism between 2024 and 2030. Page 3.
--The bid by troubled television broadcaster the Ten Network to find a new cornerstone investor will not be easy, according to former board member Laurence Freedman. Last week Ten's planned capital raising failed to get off the ground when investors declined to pay the floor price and analysts believe the broadcaster is now considering other options in its search for cash. Mr Freedman said Ten was a 'huge buying opportunity,' but not at the current price levels. Page 3.
--Mining explorer Western Metals has announced it will buy the Tanzanian gold projects of Sub-Sahara Resources, a move that sees it enter the Tusker gold deposit joint venture with gold miner Barrick. Western Metals will increase its stake in Tusker to 68 percent by completing a positive bankable feasibility study into its development. The move by Western Metals follows last year's abandoned bid by the company to purchase the Parys Mountain base metals project in North Wales.
Page 6. --
Keywords: DIGEST AUSTRALIA BUSINESS (Sydney Newsroom +61-2 9373 1800; sydney.newsroom@reuters.com) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.