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ASB Securities Morning Brief for Wednesday, 01 February 2012
New Zealand Headlines NZ Market Report. New Zealand stocks fell, despite news that 25 of the 27 euro zone states had agreed on a treaty... Read more Rob Fyfe, who helped buffer Air New Zealand from a turbulent global airline industry during six years as chief executive, will leave at the end of 2012, clearing the way for a new head as the government prepares to sell down its controlling stake... Read more Rob Fyfe has been credited with invigorating Air New Zealand during almost seven years at its helm, but says he'll be disappointed if the share price is still languishing when he leaves at the end of the year... Read more Air New Zealand's newest top executive, Christopher Luxon, is in pole position to replace Rob Fyfe.... Read more Douglas Graham failed in his role as chairman of Lombard Finance & Investments by not taking a more active role in getting to know the property development business as the lender ultimately failed, the Crown prosecutor says... Read more Australian retailer Woolworths plans to restructure its specialty consumer electronics chain Dick Smith, including closing up to 100 stores in Australia and New Zealand, with a view to eventually selling it... Read more Electronics retailer Dick Smith is likely to take "a very sharp knife" to its 66 New Zealand stores, an analyst says... Read more The New Zealand Stock Exchange has announced Tim Bennett will replace Mark Weldon as its chief executive, effective May 7... Read more The NZX's newly appointed chief executive will have a lot to "get his teeth into" when he starts in May, say market commentators... Read more Maritime Union of New Zealand members at Ports of Auckland have voted to strike for a sixth time, and wharfies will refuse to work containers moved by the company’s transport unit Conlinxx.... Read more George Kerr’s Australasian Equity Partners No. 1 LP waived the 90 percent minimum acceptance condition of its takeover offer for Pyne Gould Corp and extended the closing date by two weeks... Read more New Zealand Oil & Gas is calling for clarity from the Government on its plans to offer blocks for oil exploration as a way to attract investment... Read more Fletcher Building’s Formica laminates business has agreed to buy the 50 percent of Germany’s Homapal Plattenwerk it doesn’t already own for 30 million euros.... Read more The NZ dollar lifted against the greenback after news the majority of euro zone states had agreed to a new plan for fiscal control... Read more The New Zealand Superannuation Fund, which was set up to help pre-fund a ballooning pension bill for baby boomers, clawed back some of its losses in December, in a tough first half to its current financial year... Read more The advertising industry is on hold waiting for the outcome of last year's big advertising pitch - Vodafone.... Read more The year to December 2011 saw the lowest number of new housing approvals since records began 47 years ago... Read more People are sick of waiting and are finally going ahead with house-building plans, builders say, as consents start to rise after the worst year for the industry since records began in 1965... Read more Auckland tenants say they are trapped in a bidding war in a city choked for rental properties, as consents for new housing hit a 46-year record low... Read more Mondrian Investment Partners, a fund manager whose mandates include a share of the UK's Pension Protection Fund, sold down its stake in Fisher & Paykel Healthcare in the biggest transaction in the stock for 15 months... Read more Kiwis are buying so many SUVs they now represent the largest segment in the car market... Read more David Chaplin. The last of the big banks is about to enter the KiwiSaver game with BNZ in the final stages of preparing its scheme for market... Read more Jenny Ruth. The impending departure of Reserve Bank governor Alan Bollard has got people thinking about changing the way monetary policy is set - and there are plenty of views on what to do... Read more Sharechat Comment. Sky Network Television (NZX: SKT ) shareholders enjoyed a 25c special dividend for the year ending 30 June 2011 (FY11) as SKT returned surplus cash to shareholders, and the market continues to expect that this may continue... Read more Chalkie. Yes, unions have done great things and yes, they have an important role to play, but that doesn't mean they are always right. In the battle over Ports of Auckland, for example, Chalkie reckons the union is pushing the proverbial uphill... Read more
Australian Headlines Australian Market Report. Shares closed slightly lower, but the market still posted its first monthly rise since October, adding about $65 billion in value... Read more Iron ore billionaire Gina Rinehart is attempting to snare a cornerstone stake in Fairfax Media, offering $192 million... Read more Qantas is just one notch away from losing its coveted investment-grade rating after Moody’s downgraded the airline... Read more Woolworths plans the sale of Dick Smith as it rings up a small rise in food and liquor sales... Read more Entrepreneur and "Buy Australian" campaigner Dick Smith says he will "rubbish" the electronics business he founded and that still bears his name if it is sold into foreign ownership.... Read more The impending sale of about 300 Dick Smith electronic stores brought some joy to its listed rivals yesterday as investors cheered up at the signs of rationalisation in the cut-throat sector... Read more Telstra will shed 99 administrative jobs from its operations division, while its Sensis unit will cull a similar number of positions... Read more Prime Minister Julia Gillard has reaffirmed without qualification that the federal government will deliver a budget surplus.... Read more Mining magnate Clive Palmer is launching an $8b lawsuit against rail operator QR National for competing with his plans to build a 500km rail link to carry coal... Read more QR National brushes off claims the company allegedly stole Clive Palmer's idea... Read more The big supermarkets are slashing fruit and veg prices, but shoppers are being warned not to take discounts at face value.... Read more Australia's house prices fell in every quarter last year but the losses may be tailing off, new figures show... Read more Total credit provided to the private sector by banks and other lenders rose by 0.3 per cent in December, matching the previous month. Annual growth in housing finance slowed to its slowest pace in at least 35 years... Read more The outlook for telecommunications is good, with most analysts putting 'buy' ratings on listed stocks... Read more Energy producer and retailer Origin Energy Ltd lifted its first-half revenue by five per cent despite lower production and sales volumes... Read more Australian wheat exports are set to hit all time records.... Read more Australia will remain a supplier of cattle to Indonesia despite last year's export ban... Read more Air New Zealand is expected to search internally for a candidate to replace departing Rob Fyfe.... Read more BHP Billiton shareholders should not expect another round of share buybacks this year... Read more The oil and gas unit of engineering giant General Electric says it has won a $US1 billion ($A942.20 million) equipment and service contractfor the $30 billion Ichthys LNG project off the Kimberley Coast... Read more Aquila Resources has formally approved the Eagle Downs coal project it has been fighting over in court with joint venture partner Vale... Read more Exempting agriculture and deforestation from the carbon tax will cost $3.5 billion a year... Read more A new Brisbane Line has emerged, one that travels from the south-east corner of Queensland to Adelaide, confining the 80 per cent of Australian workers who live south-east of it to a relatively small triangle of land. The difference is that this time it is the 20 per cent of our workers who live north and west of the line who will prosper.... Read more Goldminer Kingsgate Consolidated has forecast a doubling in output to up to 230,000 ounces in the year to June 2012 as it increases production in Thailand and output recovers at its Challenger mine in South Australia... Read more Shares in Navitas slumped more than 10 per cent after the education services provider posted a modest 8.6 per cent rise in first-half profit to $35.4 million and said it expected second half profit to be down on the previous corresponding period... Read more A Melbourne boss has stunned his staff by giving them a staggering $15 million gift -- the ultimate pay-off for their hard work and loyalty... Read more Ian McIlwraith. Gina Rinehart is a woman driven by power, not always conventionally rational in her pursuit of it, and seemingly never afraid to exercise it... Read more Adele Ferguson. The Dick Smith decision shows how hard Woolworths must work to get its mojo back from Coles... Read more Elizabeth Knight. When the chief executive of a supermarket business proclaims it's a wonderful environment for customers, the flip side is it's a lousy environment for the company... Read more Stephen Bartholomeusz. The federal treasurer and others have already begun pressuring banks ahead of next week's RBA rates decision, but a closer look at the funding pressures they're facing reveals the attacks to be unfounded... Read more Robert Gottliebsen. The shopping centre landscape will change dramatically by the end of the year as three forces combine to push down rents – including a hefty hit from American online retailing... Read more Ian McIlwraith. JB HI-FI's surge above $12 a share yesterday may have been short-sellers covering their exits... Read more
International Headlines US Market Report. Stocks gave up early gains to turn flat on Tuesday, weighed down by mixed corporate earnings and weaker-than-expected data on Midwest business activity and consumer confidence... Read more World Market Report. An updated report of the worlds' latest market movements... Read more European leaders propose new measures to combat soaring youth unemployment as the scramble to halt the continent's almost two-year old debt crisis continues... Read more The unemployment rate in the eurozone hit a record high of 10.4% at the end of last year, the Eurostat agency says... Read more The U.S. budget deficit will shrink this year to $1.1 trillion, the Congressional Budget Office said today in a report sure to inflame the election-year debate over the government shortfall... Read more The EU has demanded that China loosen its policy on sales of rare earth materials after the World Trade Organisation upheld a ruling that Beijing's policies to limit raw material exports violated international trade rules... Read more Investors have begun 2012 in a cautious mood, with U.S. and Japanese asset managers worried about the euro zone debt crisis cutting exposure to stocks and boosting bonds, while European accounts added risky assets, Reuters polls show... Read more If you lose your job in Florida, chances are you won't find another one any time soon. The Sunshine State has the highest rate of long-term unemployment in the US. Some 53% of jobless Floridians were out of work for more than six months in 2011... Read more The world's largest public company, Exxon Mobil, has seen its profits rise despite producing less oil due to the higher price... Read more Hong Kong Financial Secretary John Tsang may hand out as much as HK$40 billion ($5.2 billion) in his last budget tomorrow, from tax rebates to property-rate waivers, as an economic slowdown starts to bite.... Read more Honda, announces a 41% drop in quarterly profit, as it continues to feel the impact of Japan's natural disasters and the floods in Thailand... Read more Bankrupt American Airlines expected to announce longer hours for flight crews, shift of maintenance work overseas and dumping underfunded pensions on government agency... Read more Arm Holdings, which designs chips used in iPhones, sees its profits rise after successfully agreeing more deals to licence its designs... Read more Banco Santander SA, Spain’s biggest lender, reveals a 35% fall in annual profits after the group took extra provisions for deteriorating real estate assets in Spain... Read more Prices of Mattel Inc toys like Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels cars have gone up as the company tries to compensate for increasing costs for materials like resin and rising wages in China... Read more Megaupload users have gotten at least a two-week reprieve during which the file-sharing company says it hopes their files and other stored data can be retrieved, not deleted.... Read more Apple Inc is hiring Dixons Chief Executive Officer John Browett, who drove a recent turnaround at the British electronics retailer, to lead the iPad maker's retail expansion.... Read more An Eastman Kodak employee filed a civil lawsuit against Kodak's board members and other fiduciaries of the photography companies' retirement plans, saying they breached their duties as the company was spiraling toward bankruptcy... Read more Fred Goodwin, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc’s former chief executive officer, was stripped of his knighthood by the U.K. authorities after he led the 285-year-old lender into the world’s biggest bank bailout... Read more Is Facebook worth $100 billion? A long list of tech IPOs captured attention in 2011, but no company has been drooled over like Facebook. And finally, its debut looks to be imminent... Read more A home in the U.K.’s most expensive neighborhood is being offered for more than 100 million pounds ($158 million), according to the broker handling the sale... Read more Paul Krugman. By one important measure – changes in real GDP since the recession began – Britain is doing worse this time than it did during the Great Depression... Read more Paul Carr. Mark Zuckerberg is likely to stay tight-lipped about Facebook's stock market flotation – unlike other Silicon Valley CEOs recently... Read more
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