| Congo miner tries to explain The Sydney Morning Herald |
| Multiplex directors are facing a barbed-wire pull The Sydney Morning Herald |
| Talking of Christmas, Forrest keeps dream alive The Sydney Morning Herald |
| Barrick makes $12b lunge for gold crown The Sydney Morning Herald |
| ACCC extends prison terms for executives The Australian Financial Review |
| Crippled ports revert to their old customs The Australian Financial Review |
| Toll ups ante in bid for Patrick The Australian Financial Review |
| Bullish value on Goodman The Australian Financial Review |
| Foodland poised for break-up The Australian Financial Review |
| Newcrest defences may be tested The Australian Financial Review |
| Iraq endorses inquiry into AWB payments The Australian Financial Review |
| CHH has a change of Hart The Australian |
| Clean skinned: $11m is missing The Australian |
| Beaming Scottie nabs fab chance The Australian |
| French stick from nuke renaissance man The Australian |
| Chemeq swallows medicine The Australian |
| Making millions when the chips are down The Age |
| AGL rating down a notch The Age |
| Qantas in Emirates' flight path The Age |
| Watchdog growls at auditors on conflicts The Age |
| Congo miner tries to explain |
| The Sydney Morning Herald --- Page: 26 : 2 November 2005 Original article by Jamie Freed |
| ABIX Summary |
| Australian resources group Anvil Mining
rejects claims it helped the army in the
Democratic Republic of Congo carry out a
massacre. In the Perth-based company's
quarterly report, it argues that a vehicle
was taken from it at gunpoint, and mass
graves were using ditches it had much earlier
created in road construction. Anvil says
human rights groups have gone too far in
making the World Bank investigate the
activities, and CEO Bill Turner has led a
two-day inspection of the mining operation
near Kilwa for non-government organisations.
A United Nations report on the incident
states Anvil declined to co-operate with its
investigation due to legal reasons
|
| Full article text |
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| Multiplex directors are facing a barbed-wire pull |
| The Sydney Morning Herald --- Page: 24 : 2 November 2005 Original article by Carolyn Cummins |
| ABIX Summary |
| Australian company Multiplex will hold a
potentially fiery annual meeting in Sydney on
2 November 2005. The company's shareholders
are likely to demand answers from management
about the troubled Wembley Stadium project in
the UK, which has resulted in $A82.5 million
in write-offs, and also about the Australian
Securities & Investments Commission's
investigation into the company. The board is
also likely to be asked about former finance
director John Corcoran, who is now the
company's chief investment officer, and the
search to replace him
|
| Full article text |
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| Talking of Christmas, Forrest keeps dream alive |
| The Sydney Morning Herald --- Page: 25 : 2 November 2005 Original article by Jamie Freed |
| ABIX Summary |
| Fortescue Metals in Australia has given the
market a statement about its reserves. On 1
November 2005, the company reported on its
Christmas Creek iron ore deposit, which it
plans to mine after its Cloud Break asset, if
it can find financial backers for the
project. Graeme Rowley, of Fortescue, said
that the company will release a reserve
statement on the Cloud Break deposit within
six weeks. Only around one-third of the ore
classified as probable reserve contains more
than the 60% iron content needed for it to be
regarded as high-grade. Fortescue has
conceded that some of its iron ore may have
to be sold at a lower price than high-grade
one. On the above date, shares in Fortescue
Metals rose by $A0.05 and closed at $A4.45
|
| Full article text |
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| Barrick makes $12b lunge for gold crown |
| The Sydney Morning Herald --- Page: 23 : 2 November 2005 Original article by Jamie Freed |
| ABIX Summary |
| A large portfolio of gold and copper
operations in Australia may be about to
change hands. Canadian company Barrick Gold
has launched a surprise $US9.2bn takeover
attempt at Placer Dome, a fellow Canadian. In
addition to significant copper operations,
over one-quarter of Placer Dome's gold
revenue is sourced from Australia. Across the
nation it has output of roughly 950,000
ounces annually, which is just short of the
one million ounces produced by its largest
Australian-owned rival, Newcrest Mining.
Newcrest and Barrick also share the
Kalgoorlie Super Pit mine
|
| Full article text |
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| ACCC extends prison terms for executives |
| The Australian Financial Review --- Page: 1/8 : 2 November 2005 Original article by David Crowe |
| ABIX Summary |
| The corporate regulator in Australia is
prepared to get very tough with executives
who lie, mislead or defraud. Graeme Samuel,
of the Australian Competition & Consumer
Commission (ACCC), insisted that the watchdog
will have no hesitation about putting liars
and fraudsters in jail. The ACCC has reached
an agreement with the Australian Director of
Public Prosecutions to seek penalties of up
to two years' jail in cases where business
executives have lied to an ACCC investigator.
The ACCC is in a strong financial position,
with an increased budget, and has more
lawyers working for it. It will use sections
of the Trade Practices Act that cover
criminal activities |
| Full article text [AFR subscription needed: Details] |
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| Crippled ports revert to their old customs |
| The Australian Financial Review --- Page: 1/52 : 2 November 2005 Original article by Emma Connors and Kean Wong |
| ABIX Summary |
| The Australian Customs Service is trying to
fix computer problems with its new cargo
processing software. The management has
conceded that Customs may have to continue to
use the old processing software for a short
time. There are teething problems in the
$A200 million Integrated Cargo System (ICS).
They have led to congestion at wharves and
angry customers, who have swamped the Customs
helpline, slowing the ICS system down
further. In early November 2005, some 10% of
imported cargo is still being processed using
the old system. Many critics are angry that
the complex new system was introduced just
before the busy Christmas season. There is
also criticism of the amount of money paid
for the new software |
| Full article text [AFR subscription needed: Details] |
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| Toll ups ante in bid for Patrick |
| The Australian Financial Review --- Page: 14 : 2 November 2005 Original article by Tansy Harcourt |
| ABIX Summary |
| Toll Holdings is reportedly about to launch
another attack of criticism at takeover
target Patrick Corporation. The Australian
logistics giant is due to release several
documents relating to the bid, and it is
likely to accompany these with a
supplementary bidder's statement. In refuting
Patrick CEO Chris Corrigan's claim that Toll
has no organic growth strategy, Toll CEO Paul
Little will probably allege that Patrick is
in fact playing copycat in trying to grow by
acquiring FCL. Little is also expected to
highlight Patrick's apparent $A400m cash flow
deficit
|
| Full article text [AFR subscription needed: Details] |
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| Bullish value on Goodman |
| The Australian Financial Review --- Page: 16 : 2 November 2005 Original article by Sue Mitchell |
| ABIX Summary |
| Goodman Fielder promises to be a huge float,
but investors may be hard to entice. The
Australasian food company, a subsidiary of
Burns, Philp, has been valued as high as
$A5.3bn by analysts. Calculating for debt,
Credit Suisse First Boston puts Goodman as
high as $A4bn in an equity valuation. The
problem is that Australasian sharemarkets are
starting to weaken. Burns, Philp has been
trying to excite and reassure prospective
shareholders, by pointing out that Goodman is
a strong, stable company with good growth
prospects
|
| Full article text [AFR subscription needed: Details] |
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| Foodland poised for break-up |
| The Australian Financial Review --- Page: 16 : 2 November 2005 Original article by Sue Mitchell |
| ABIX Summary |
| A shareholder vote on the fate of
Australasian grocery business Foodland
Associated is imminent. For the breakup and
sale of Foodland to go ahead, 75% of the
shares that are voted and 50% of the
shareholders who vote at the meeting on 2
November 2005 must approve the plan. After a
series of negotiations, Metcash plans to give
investors $A6.45 or 2.10 Metcash shares per
Foodland share, in exchange for 60
supermarkets and Foodland's Australian
wholesale business. Woolworths will take 22
Australian Foodland sites and Foodland's New
Zealand business, and will pay 81.59 million
shares and $A931.7m in cash
|
| Full article text Fairfax news store: free to subscribers |
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| Newcrest defences may be tested |
| The Australian Financial Review --- Page: 49 : 2 November 2005 Original article by Yvonne Ball |
| ABIX Summary |
| Newcrest Mining may be ripe for a takeover in
some competitors' eyes. Consolidation
activity in the global gold mining industry
is highlighted by Barrick Gold's sudden bid
for Placer Dome. Given several operational
troubles, its relatively low trading price
and its politically stable home,
Australia-based Newcrest may be next on the
list. Newcrest's Telfer mine in Western
Australia has been wracked by problems.
Newcrest is trading at 27 times predicted
earnings for calendar 2006, compared with
well over 30 for rivals
|
| Full article text [AFR subscription needed: Details] |
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| Iraq endorses inquiry into AWB payments |
| The Australian Financial Review --- Page: 5 : 2 November 2005 Original article by Mark Phillips and Sophie Morris |
| ABIX Summary |
| The fallout from the United Nations (UN)
oil-for-food scandal is continuing. The
Australian Government will set up an
independent inquiry into the AWB, which was
caught up in the scandal. A UN inquiry found
that the management of the AWB should have
suspected that $US221 million it paid to a
Jordanian trucking company was actually going
directly to the dictator of Iraq, Saddam
Hussein. The US Wheat Associates group, a
rival to AWB, is angry about the alleged
actions of the company. The US group has
threatened to use the scandal to attack the
monopoly wheat exporter in global trade. The
AWB has denied all knowledge of where the
money ended up
|
| Full article text [AFR subscription needed: Details] |
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| CHH has a change of Hart |
| The Australian --- Page: 43 : 2 November 2005 Original article by Geoffrey Newman |
| ABIX Summary |
| Australasian timber company, Carter Holt
Harvey (CHH), now supports a $A3.1 billion
takeover offer. CHH's three independent
directors had rejected the offer from Rank
Group, the investment company of New Zealand
entrepreneur Graeme Hart. However, CHH has
downgraded its forecast earnings for the
third time. The valuation of the shares has
been reassessed. Rank's offer is still below
the top end of the valuation, but the
independent directors have recommended that
shareholders accept it
|
| Full article text |
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| Clean skinned: $11m is missing |
| The Australian --- Page: 43 : 2 November 2005 Original article by Kevin Andrusiak and Vanda Carson |
| ABIX Summary |
| Failed wine investment scheme, Heritage Fine
Wines, can not account for wine worth up to
$A11 million. The fund went bankrupt in March
2005. Administrator, Crouch Insolvency, said
that accounts could not locate $A6 million
paid by investors for wine. Most of 1.3
million bottles of wine will be returned to
investors in early 2006, while another 1.3
million bottles are being revalued. Crouch is
investigating the actions of the fund's
directors to ascertain whether there was
wrongdoing |
| Full article text |
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| Beaming Scottie nabs fab chance |
| The Australian --- Page: 43/46 : 2 November 2005 Original article by Matthew Stevens |
| ABIX Summary |
| National Australia Bank (NAB) is confident
that its restructure is producing an
improvement in performance. The Australian
economy remains strong and the slowing of the
housing market has not affected the
profitability of the large banks. They are in
a good position to benefit from economic
growth. John Stewart, CEO of NAB, has spent
two difficult years restructuring the bank
and changing its culture. He has constructed
a strong foundation for sustainable recovery.
The bank's fortunes are expected to begin to
rise in 2006
|
| Full article text |
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| French stick from nuke renaissance man |
| The Australian --- Page: 43/46 : 2 November 2005 Original article by Amanda Hodge |
| ABIX Summary |
| French nuclear and uranium company, Areva, is
looking for uranium mining projects in
Australia. The company believes that there
will be an expansion of nuclear energy and is
aggressively pursuing uranium resources. It
has mines in Canada and Niger, and a new mine
in Kazakhstan will begin production in
November 2005. It wants to invest in
exploration in South Australia. It has done
some surveying and is in negotiations with
traditional owners. It plans to divest its
holding in Energy Resources of Australia |
| Full article text |
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| Chemeq swallows medicine |
| The Australian --- Page: 45 : 2 November 2005 Original article by Geoffrey Newman |
| ABIX Summary |
| Perth biotechnology company, Chemeq, has
agreed to changes to loan terms. One of the
providers of Chemeq's $A60 million loan,
Stark Trading, wants to buy out another
investor, Mizuho International. This led to
changes to the terms of the loan. Chemeq will
have to have gross revenue of at least $A4
million in the year to June 2006, nearly four
times the revenue of the previous year. It
already meets the other requirement of having
liquid assets of at least $A24 million. It is
confident that it can also meet the first
condition
|
| Full article text |
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| Making millions when the chips are down |
| The Age --- Page: b5 : 2 November 2005 Original article by Ian Porter |
| ABIX Summary |
| An Australian company has won a lucrative
contract to supply a tracking service to the
Chinese Government. The $A380 million deal
will see QuikTrak Networks deliver 3.5
million tracking devices for use in Beijing
by 2009, and the company says the technology
being deployed could become a national
standard, opening up further markets for
QuikTrak. For QuikTrak CEO Mark Pallister the
deal more than pays for his risk in buying
the company from administrators in 2004 and
spending $A4.5 million on research and
development. The company's tracking system is
used to monitor valuable assets such as cars,
and because it is multi-frequency, it is not
prone to network jamming like subscriber
identification module (SIM) card-based
systems
|
| Full article text |
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| AGL rating down a notch |
| The Age --- Page: B4 : 2 November 2005 Original article by Rod Myer |
| ABIX Summary |
| Ratings agencies are concerned that AGL is
paying to much for Southern Hydro. The
utility group is offering $A1.42 billion for
the hydro electricity generator, and news
that the Australian company wants to split
its merchant energy division and
infrastructure business could further drag
down ratings. Moody's Investors Service
dropped AGL's rating from "A3" to "A2"
following news of the deal, funded with
$A1.42 billion in debt, and says it will
further lower AGL's rating if the split goes
ahead, to "Baaa1". Fitch Ratings says it will
lower AGL's rating to "BBB" if the takeover
succeeds, and would apply this rating to the
demerged businesses. Despite these concerns,
AGL's share price closed $A0.04 higher to
$A15.18 in trade on 1 November 2005
|
| Full article text |
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| Qantas in Emirates' flight path |
| The Age --- Page: B1-B2 : 2 November 2005 Original article by Stephen Dabkowski and Rod Myer |
| ABIX Summary |
| Australian airline, Qantas Airways, could
face increased competition from Dubai-based
Emirates Airlines. Emirates has requested
permission from the Federal Government to
expand its Australian operations. It wants to
double the number of flights to and from
Australia, from 42 to 84. This would mean
three flights a day from Sydney, Melbourne,
Brisbane and Perth. The Federal Government is
reviewing international airline regulation
and is expected to release its report soon
|
| Full article text |
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| Watchdog growls at auditors on conflicts |
| The Age --- Page: B3 : 2 November 2005 Original article by Anne Lampe |
| ABIX Summary |
| While an investigation of auditing in
Australia has found no major breaches,
regulators say auditing firms can do better.
An Australian Securities & Investments
Commission (ASIC) inspection of auditors and
their independence from financial and
consulting links found no serious breaches of
the Corporate Law Economic Reform Program
(Audit Reform and Corporate Disclosures) Act
introduced in 2004. ASIC looked at the four
large auditing firms that audit 50% of
Australia's listed companies, and found that
while all firms had policies relating to
financial interest in audit clients, some
were stronger than others. ASIC wants the
firms to improve self-testing and an
improvement in compliance rates. ASIC plans
to conduct the inspection yearly, and is
preparing a similar inspection of second-tier
audit firms |
| Full article text |
Top |