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)
Airline Virgin Blue's plan to become more upmarket and attract increased corporate business is under threat following two recent regulator decisions, according to chief executive John Borghetti and major shareholder Richard Branson.
The decisions, by Australian and United States regulators, are not yet final, and the airline yesterday said it expects to succeed with both applications, which propose alliances with Air New Zealand and Delta Airlines. Page 17.
Jack Cowin, a major shareholder in Ross Human Directions (RHD), yesterday said he may lodge a takeover bid for RHD, in competition with that of Malaysia's Peoplebank Holdings.
Mr Cowin, who founded fast-food group Hungry Jack's, last week went to the Takeovers Panel to challenge an agreement between Peoplebank and the board of RHD. The agreement prevented Mr Cowin from undertaking due diligence unless he made a higher bid.
Page 18.
Terry Burgess, chief executive of copper producer OZ Minerals , has told an Australian investment conference in New York that the company is still considering increasing its stake in West Australian miner Sandfire Resources. However, Mr Burgess said OZ was not a portfolio investment fund and would not 'buy 15 percent of this and 10 percent of that.' Mr Burgess said OZ was interested in Sandfire's highly-rated Doolgunna-DeGrussa copper-gold resource. Page 18.
Colin Storrie, a former chief financial officer at Qantas Airways, has been appointed as an adviser to Investec Bank's global aircraft fund. Mr Storrie's appointment came as the fund launched its third capital raising. Fund executive David Phillip yesterday said the fund expects to raise at least A$200 million this year, with the money used to expand the number of investments by the fund from the current seven aircraft. Page 20.
THE AUSTRALIAN (www.theaustralian.news.com.au)
Bernie Brookes, chief executive of department store Myer , on the weekend warned that increasing or broadening the goods and services tax could 'disembowel consumer confidence.'
Mr Brookes comments come as business leaders call for the newly returned Federal Government to undertake major tax reforms at the tax summit due to take place in the first half of next year.
Page 21.
Analysts CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets say that unitholders in ING Real Estate's ING Office Trust and ING Industrial Trust would benefit most from the trusts outright sale by parent company ING Groep. The Dutch group is currently undergoing a strategic review of its real estate platforms around the world.
Local property group's Investa and Goodman have already submitted a bid for the trusts' management rights and Ing Groep's stakes, with the deal valued at around A$300 million. Page 22.
Wal King, chief executive of construction and contracting group Leighton Holdings will return to Australia later this week, and is expected to hold talks on his future at Leighton with chairman David Mortimer. Mr King's departure from the chief executive role, which he has held for 23 years, has been brought forward following pressure from major shareholder Hochtief and the company's independent non-executive directors.
The date of Mr King's resignation is yet to be confirmed. Page 22.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia's (CBA) deputy chief financial officer, Michael Venter, on Friday pulled out of attending an investor conference held by brokerage and investment group CLSA in Hong Kong. Mr Venter's withdrawal came a day after CLSA analyst Brian Johnson released a report that criticised the bank for ignoring Australia's housing market bubble, accusing CBA of 'self-serving rhetoric.' Page 23.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (www.smh.com.au)
German construction company Bilfinger Berger is to revive plans to float its Australian arm, Valemus, after first shelving the planned initial public offering (IPO) in July. Nick Greiner, chairman of Valemus, yesterday confirmed that the float was again being prepared, saying that 'subject to market conditions, they intend to have an IPO around Easter time next year.' Page 1.
The hardware stores that Woolworths is preparing to roll-out across the country will generate around A$30 million each in annual sales, according to a report commissioned by the supermarket chain. The report found that rivals Bunnings and Mitre 10 could see sales fall by as much as 16 percent at individual stores. However, John Gillam, Bunnings' managing director yesterday said that he welcomed the competition. Page 3.
West Australian company Peak Oil and Gas may proceed with a planned A$55 million float as early as this week. However, managing director Jeff Steketee yesterday said that the company's prospectus would more likely be released next week. The company has already attracted around A$10 million in seed capital, and will be focused on the Cadlao oil project in the Philippines.
Page 3.
National Australia Bank (NAB) Wealth group executive Steve Tucker yesterday said the bank would decide over the next few days whether to continue pursuing a proposed A$13.3 billion takeover of wealth manager AXA Asia Pacific Holdings. The proposal was last week rejected by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, despite NAB's promise to sell AXA's North retail investment platform to wealth manager IOOF. Page 3.
THE AGE (www.theage.com.au)
Actor Paul Hogan has sold his last piece of property in Australia, an office block in Sydney's Parramatta, for A$12.2 million. Mr Hogan purchased the property in 1988 for A$13.6 million, and had been attempting to sell the property for A$19 million since 2008. Mr Hogan's last residential address in Australia was the 132-hectare Cedar Springs that sold in 2006 for A$8.1 million. Page B1.
Swimwear company Seafolly last week took Gold Coast designer Leah Madden, of label White Sands, to court, alleging misleading and deceptive conduct. Ms Madden 11 days ago sent out an email containing images comparing swimsuits from the two companies and asking 'has Seafolly taken a little too much 'inspiration' from White Sands?' Anthony Halas, Seafolly chief executive, called Ms Madden's claims of plagiarism 'completely false and without foundation.' Page B3.
The Australian Pipeline Industry Association yesterday called for the newly returned Federal Government to support Queensland's emerging coal seam gas industry. The association's chief executive, Cheryl Cartwright, said the industry has around A$10 billion of investment in pipeline infrastructure due to take place over the next decade, and this is expected to climb if the Government places a price on carbon. Page B5.
Jason Buchanan, founder of GPS Innovations, recently spoke at the Australian Marketing and Social Research Society conference in Melbourne. Mr Buchanan said GPS tracking technology was set to become an important research tool for marketers and advertisers, providing far more accurate information on people's everyday habits. Mr Buchanan told the society that the use of GPS could also help governments and companies provide improved services. Page B6. --
Keywords: DIGEST AUSTRALIA BUSINESS (Sydney Newsroom +61-2 9373 1816; sydney.newsroom@allreleases.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. 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)
Airline Virgin Blue's plan to become more upmarket and attract increased corporate business is under threat following two recent regulator decisions, according to chief executive John Borghetti and major shareholder Richard Branson.
The decisions, by Australian and United States regulators, are not yet final, and the airline yesterday said it expects to succeed with both applications, which propose alliances with Air New Zealand and Delta Airlines. Page 17.
Jack Cowin, a major shareholder in Ross Human Directions (RHD), yesterday said he may lodge a takeover bid for RHD, in competition with that of Malaysia's Peoplebank Holdings.
Mr Cowin, who founded fast-food group Hungry Jack's, last week went to the Takeovers Panel to challenge an agreement between Peoplebank and the board of RHD. The agreement prevented Mr Cowin from undertaking due diligence unless he made a higher bid.
Page 18.
Terry Burgess, chief executive of copper producer OZ Minerals , has told an Australian investment conference in New York that the company is still considering increasing its stake in West Australian miner Sandfire Resources. However, Mr Burgess said OZ was not a portfolio investment fund and would not 'buy 15 percent of this and 10 percent of that.' Mr Burgess said OZ was interested in Sandfire's highly-rated Doolgunna-DeGrussa copper-gold resource. Page 18.
Colin Storrie, a former chief financial officer at Qantas Airways, has been appointed as an adviser to Investec Bank's global aircraft fund. Mr Storrie's appointment came as the fund launched its third capital raising. Fund executive David Phillip yesterday said the fund expects to raise at least A$200 million this year, with the money used to expand the number of investments by the fund from the current seven aircraft. Page 20.
THE AUSTRALIAN (www.theaustralian.news.com.au)
Bernie Brookes, chief executive of department store Myer , on the weekend warned that increasing or broadening the goods and services tax could 'disembowel consumer confidence.'
Mr Brookes comments come as business leaders call for the newly returned Federal Government to undertake major tax reforms at the tax summit due to take place in the first half of next year.
Page 21.
Analysts CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets say that unitholders in ING Real Estate's ING Office Trust and ING Industrial Trust would benefit most from the trusts outright sale by parent company ING Groep. The Dutch group is currently undergoing a strategic review of its real estate platforms around the world.
Local property group's Investa and Goodman have already submitted a bid for the trusts' management rights and Ing Groep's stakes, with the deal valued at around A$300 million. Page 22.
Wal King, chief executive of construction and contracting group Leighton Holdings will return to Australia later this week, and is expected to hold talks on his future at Leighton with chairman David Mortimer. Mr King's departure from the chief executive role, which he has held for 23 years, has been brought forward following pressure from major shareholder Hochtief and the company's independent non-executive directors.
The date of Mr King's resignation is yet to be confirmed. Page 22.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia's (CBA) deputy chief financial officer, Michael Venter, on Friday pulled out of attending an investor conference held by brokerage and investment group CLSA in Hong Kong. Mr Venter's withdrawal came a day after CLSA analyst Brian Johnson released a report that criticised the bank for ignoring Australia's housing market bubble, accusing CBA of 'self-serving rhetoric.' Page 23.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (www.smh.com.au)
German construction company Bilfinger Berger is to revive plans to float its Australian arm, Valemus, after first shelving the planned initial public offering (IPO) in July. Nick Greiner, chairman of Valemus, yesterday confirmed that the float was again being prepared, saying that 'subject to market conditions, they intend to have an IPO around Easter time next year.' Page 1.
The hardware stores that Woolworths is preparing to roll-out across the country will generate around A$30 million each in annual sales, according to a report commissioned by the supermarket chain. The report found that rivals Bunnings and Mitre 10 could see sales fall by as much as 16 percent at individual stores. However, John Gillam, Bunnings' managing director yesterday said that he welcomed the competition. Page 3.
West Australian company Peak Oil and Gas may proceed with a planned A$55 million float as early as this week. However, managing director Jeff Steketee yesterday said that the company's prospectus would more likely be released next week. The company has already attracted around A$10 million in seed capital, and will be focused on the Cadlao oil project in the Philippines.
Page 3.
National Australia Bank (NAB) Wealth group executive Steve Tucker yesterday said the bank would decide over the next few days whether to continue pursuing a proposed A$13.3 billion takeover of wealth manager AXA Asia Pacific Holdings. The proposal was last week rejected by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, despite NAB's promise to sell AXA's North retail investment platform to wealth manager IOOF. Page 3.
THE AGE (www.theage.com.au)
Actor Paul Hogan has sold his last piece of property in Australia, an office block in Sydney's Parramatta, for A$12.2 million. Mr Hogan purchased the property in 1988 for A$13.6 million, and had been attempting to sell the property for A$19 million since 2008. Mr Hogan's last residential address in Australia was the 132-hectare Cedar Springs that sold in 2006 for A$8.1 million. Page B1.
Swimwear company Seafolly last week took Gold Coast designer Leah Madden, of label White Sands, to court, alleging misleading and deceptive conduct. Ms Madden 11 days ago sent out an email containing images comparing swimsuits from the two companies and asking 'has Seafolly taken a little too much 'inspiration' from White Sands?' Anthony Halas, Seafolly chief executive, called Ms Madden's claims of plagiarism 'completely false and without foundation.' Page B3.
The Australian Pipeline Industry Association yesterday called for the newly returned Federal Government to support Queensland's emerging coal seam gas industry. The association's chief executive, Cheryl Cartwright, said the industry has around A$10 billion of investment in pipeline infrastructure due to take place over the next decade, and this is expected to climb if the Government places a price on carbon. Page B5.
Jason Buchanan, founder of GPS Innovations, recently spoke at the Australian Marketing and Social Research Society conference in Melbourne. Mr Buchanan said GPS tracking technology was set to become an important research tool for marketers and advertisers, providing far more accurate information on people's everyday habits. Mr Buchanan told the society that the use of GPS could also help governments and companies provide improved services. Page B6. --
Keywords: DIGEST AUSTRALIA BUSINESS (Sydney Newsroom +61-2 9373 1816; sydney.newsroom@allreleases.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. 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.