THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW (www.afr.com)
Austereo Group yesterday received a A$740 million takeover offer from media group Southern Cross Media, the first major deal in the media industry for over a year. Cinema operator Village Roadshow, the majority shareholder in the Austereo radio group, has publicly backed the takeover. Village would earn around A$275 million after tax from the sale. Page 14.
The director of Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Republic Investment Management yesterday confirmed it was the key architect behind a proposal to revitalise Australian oil explorer Innamincka Petroleum. Anwar Awan, said the company's new plan would attract investors to the company. 'They - and I - are prepared to put money into a company which is going to drill some holes in the ground,' Mr Awan said. Page 14.
Navitas yesterday released a better than expected half-year result, easing concerns over difficulties in the foreign student education market. The education provider announced an 18 percent rise in net profit to A$32.6 million for the second half of 2010, leading analysts to raise their full-year earnings projections before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to A$120 million. 'It a kind of boring result which is probably a good thing given the problems in the higher education sector,' one analyst said. Page 14.
The board of plastic pipelines manufacturer Crane Group yesterday recommended a revised takeover offer from New Zealand construction group Fletcher Building FBU.NZ>. Investment fund Perpetual Investments, Crane's second largest shareholder, also indicated that it would approve the A$767 million bid. 'This acquisition makes sense at a business level and at a geographical level,' Perpetual senior portfolio manager Matt Williams said. Page 15.
THE AUSTRALIAN (www.theaustralian.news.com.au)
Shares in Northern Energy yesterday climbed 7 cents to A$1.74, after the coal miner seemed poised to reject a A$225 million cash takeover bid from energy firm New Hope Mining . 'It remains significantly below the valuation of the company,' Northern's managing director Kevin Barker said. The offer is less than half of independent expert Lonergan Edwards' diluted valuation of the company, which values it between A$2.70 and A$3.99 a share. Page 20.
Jupiter Mines has raised A$150 million to help fund its manganese venture in South Africa, thanks to the support of a share register that includes South Korean steel conglomerate POSCO and Australia's richest woman, Gina Rinehart. Director Priyank Thapliyal yesterday praised investors for their support, pointing out that manganese was a poorly understood commodity and that 'this raising ensures that Jupiter now becomes a development company.' Page 20.
The chief executive of budget airline Tiger Airways yesterday reiterated the company's commitment to growth in Australia, despite confirming that the company would be focusing on the Asian market. 'You have to say right now the opportunities in Asia mean that you'd probably want to put more growth into Asia, which is what we're doing,' Tiger's Tony Davis said. Page 21.
Insurance premiums for householders are set to rise by as much as 8 percent in 2011 after a wave of flood-related claims eats into insurers' profits, according to a new survey. Co-authored by JP Morgan and Deloitte, the report notes that insurance premiums for homeowners climbed by 11 percent in the year to June 30 last year as a result of extreme weather, which included the devastating bushfires in Victoria. 'The insurance industry is playing a bit of catch-up,' the report said. Page 21.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (www.smh.com.au)
Farmers are set for a lucrative 2011 thanks to reliable demand, high commodity prices and limited worldwide supply, rural finance specialist Rabobank said yesterday. 'We're pretty positive about the outlook and the main reason there is because with just a few exceptions we believe that agri-commodity prices are going to stay,' Justin Sherrard, general manager of food and agribusiness, research and advisory at Rabobank, said. Page B2.
The chief economist for financial services firm UBS yesterday said the Reserve Bank of Australia may leave interest rates steady after a batch of economic reports released yesterday cast doubt on the strength of Australia's economy. 'It does suggest that the Reserve Bank has time on its hands,' Scott Haslem from UBS said. The cost of an average Australian house climbed 4.7 percent in the year to December, according to data from RP Data-Rismark, and annual growth in credit slowed to 7.1 percent in December. Page B3.
Geoff Trotter, general manager of fuel monitoring group FUELtrac, yesterday claimed that major Australian supermarkets were raising petrol prices in order to fund their price war on bread and milk. According to the agency, fuel prices climbed 15 cents over the weekend. 'I think there is a connection between their grocery activities and their petrol activities,' Mr Trotter said. Page B3.
The engineering company responsible for assembling new trains for the New South Wales rail public transport system has 'seriously damaged' their credibility, according to an analyst. Ben Brownette, analyst at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, yesterday said Downer EDI was 'uninvestable given management credibility, high gearing, prospect of downgrade, further contract losses and overall lack of transparency.' Page B4.
THE AGE (www.theage.com.au)
Claims related to the floods in Queensland have risen to A$1.51 billion, the Insurance Council of Australia said yesterday. Around 38,460 claims were submitted to members of the industry body, which includes Insurance Australia Group and Suncorp. Suncorp is the only insurer to automatically offer flood coverage with its home insurance products, although insurer Allianz yesterday announced it would pay all property loss claims from residents in Toowoomba. Page 1.
Wesfarmers subsidiary Coles announced record sales yesterday, beating analyst expectations and outperforming rival retailer Woolworths. 'Coles, Officeworks, Kmart are all performing better than the industry generally and we think there is more to come,' Wesfarmers managing director Richard Goyder said. The conglomerate's Kmart and Target businesses, however, reported disappointing sales figures as they battled the effects of price deflation. Page 3.
Shares in Macquarie Telecom hit their highest levels in a decade yesterday after the telecommunications group upgraded its full-year earnings projections by 30 percent to A$37-39 million. Chief executive David Tudehope pointed to stronger than expected hosting sales as the reason behind Macquarie Telecom's second earnings upgrade in 12 months. The company also confirmed it was debt-free at the end of last year. Page 4.
Inclement weather and closures to operations in the final quarter of last year resulted in Origin Energy falling short of analyst expectations yesterday, despite the power provider posting a record first-half revenue of A$424 million. Executive director of finance and strategy, Karen Moses, blamed the lower than expected production on heavy rains, which affected projects in the Cooper Basin and coal seam gas ventures, and a lull in seasonal demand. Page 5.
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