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ASB Securities Morning Brief for Wednesday, 28 July 2010
New Zealand Headlines Fears that foreign investors could muscle in on the farming sector have prompted a last-minute rethink on land sales under a review of overseas investment rules... Read more Olam International could make takeover target NZ Farming Systems Uruguay profitable within two years, says the Singapore-listed company... Read more The New Zealand Superannuation Fund has ended its second-best year since inception as it boosted local investments to almost a third of funds under management... Read more Despite achieving a 15.45 per cent return for the 2009-10 year, the New Zealand Superannuation Fund has not increased the security of the country's superannuation and it should be dismantled, a retirement think-tank says... Read more Abano Healthcare posted full-year operating net profit of $4.4 million, in line with its guidance in March, and held off announcing a share buyback pending the possible sale of an associate company... Read more The Reserve Bank of New Zealand will raise interest rates on Thursday to counter galloping inflation expectations which could pose a danger if they trigger faster rising wages and prices, says Matthew Circosta, an economist at Moody's Analytics... Read more Some transactions by Strategic Finance raised question marks for the receiver, and the firm’s liquidation is not a fishing expedition, according to the trustee... Read more Most KiwiSaver funds were in the red over the second quarter as the markets had their first pullback after four positive quarters of strong results according to the Morningstar quarterly KiwiSaver Performance Survey... Read more Some of the worst-performing KiwiSaver funds have attracted the most money, data from Morningstar show... Read more The New Zealand dollar climbed to a six-month high as a surge in new home sales in the US stoked investors’ appetite for higher-yielding, or riskier, assets... Read more State-owned electricity company Genesis Energy is proposing a massive 600 Megawatt windfarm development at its northern Wairarapa site, Castle Hill... Read more NZ Windfarms' annual revenue from electricity sales more-than quadrupled to $4.1 million in the year ended June 30b but still fell well short of the $4.7 million forecast in the April prospectus for its $31.4 million rights issue... Read more Global equities investor Russell Investments says the world’s economy will avoid a double-dip recession, with fundamental signs that things are better than the view often presented in the media... Read more The imminent plan by fund managers to ban commissions on the sale of investment products is actually some time away.... Read more Allan Hawkins’ Budget Loans, a subsidiary of Cynotech Holdings that took on the National Finance 2000 loan book, has pleaded guilty to misleading investors... Read more New Zealand is threatening to undershoot the number of migrants it needs to keep the economy healthy, say immigration consultants... Read more Developers of an offshore Taranaki ironsands mining project say it could be greenlighted within the next three years, and require infrastructure costing between $500 million and $1 billion... Read more Australian pilots are taking their national airline Qantas to the employment court over allegations that a New Zealand airline is simply a subsidiary set up overseas in a bid to reduce wages.... Read more Air New Zealand, which is offering loyalty card discounts to domestic travellers, said demand within the country climbed last month even as it added capacity... Read more NZX-listed Tourism Holdings expects its annual net profit to decline by $940,000 as a result of Government tax changes to depreciation... Read more Directors could become liable for a company's tax bills if Inland Revenue wins a case against former businessman John Russell, from whom it is seeking $138 million, his lawyer Simon Judd said yesterday... Read more Wayne Lochore. Inever thought I’d see the day that the US Federal Reserve would admit that the US economy may not recover for five or six years. But they confessed exactly that late last week, and it changed the positions on the stove-top... Read more Daily Sharechat. New Zealand Oil & Gas's recent announcements have represented one step forward and two steps backwards, says Forsyth Barr analyst Andrew Harvey-Green... Read more NZ Market Report. New Zealand stocks fell for the second time in six sessions, as declines in Telecom and Contact Energy took the shine off more positive global sentiment for equities ahead of the corporate earnings season... Read more
Australian Headlines Australian Market Report. Australian shares edge higher, stretching gains into a third day, with bank gains eclipsing miners' losses... Read more Seven years ago, Richard Branson flew into Australia, blondes on his arm, toothy grin on his face, idly promising to take on the big banks.... Read more Interest rate rises - and not bias - are to blame for businesses shying away from loans, and the Reserve Bank can prove it... Read more The new rules governing world banking will be watered down to minimise the need for banks to raise fresh equity capital... Read more IAG has flagged that this year's profit would halve from $181 million to $91m because of its troubled British business and higher claims... Read more Coles will use the resources of owner Wesfarmers to offer car insurance to shoppers, further locking in customer loyalty... Read more Retail analysts have praised Wesfarmers' Coles supermarket chain for continuing to grow sales faster than Woolworths in the fourth quarter... Read more The Australian dollar has burst through the US90c barrier to an 11-week high, spurred by confidence among US and European investors... Read more Uncertainty on carbon policy results in debt held against Loy Yang B power station in Victoria being downgraded to one step above junk status.... Read more Councils launch legal fight against the agency that put AAA credit rating on complex securities.... Read more Small businesses are increasingly unhappy with their bank but concerns over rising interest rates are felt more by the big end of town, DBM Consultants says... Read more Contractors and training specialists will discuss at a forum tomorrow the lack of skilled technicians to build the national broadband network.... Read more Asciano is trying to block 16 coalminers from bargaining with QR over use of railway infrastructure associated with a Gladstone port... Read more The recent run of copper discoveries is expected to continue today, with Rex Minerals ready to confirm its Hillside project in South Australia as one of the biggest in recent times.... Read more Swiss mining giant Xstrata says coking coal, nickel and zinc production from Australian operations rose during the half year... Read more ResMed chief Kieran Gallahue has been pinged by the Australian Securities Exchange for not telling the market in time about a change in his shareholdings... Read more Long-haul airline AirAsia X could be flying between Australia and New Zealand by the end of the year.... Read more Charter Hall has launched the first of its much-anticipated suite of unlisted trusts with a $30 million closed-end industrial property fund that will offer investors a forecast initial yield of 8.7 per cent... Read more The Housing Industry Association says Australia's skilled migration intake policy needs to specifically address shortages in the residential home building sector.... Read more Macarthur Coal has terminated a deal with its major shareholder Citic Resources to purchase the Chinese company's interest in a NSW mine... Read more The Australian financial planning business of a Hong Kong businessman, Jack Flader, is alive and kicking despite his central role in the disappearance of $123 million from Trio Capital.... Read more The competitive noose is tightening on taxi-fare payments outfit Cabcharge as a rival prepares to strike at the heart of its operation... Read more Business could hold off developing low-emission technologies because of a "policy limbo" on climate change among the three major parties... Read more Stock trading technology outfit and exchange operator Nasdaq OMX has snapped up local market surveillance software specialist Smarts Group.... Read more Diversified property group Australand has built momentum for growth in 2011 through strong investment incomes and residential development... Read more Telstra has appointed former investment banker Nora Scheinkestel as a non-executive director... Read more The Queensland government will appoint a top water bureaucrat as gas commissioner as the state's liquid natural gas industry heats up... Read more Liquidators of the failed $1 billion Vision Tower site have agreed to sell the Brisbane property to the Billbergia Group.... Read more Valspar Corporation's $142 million bid for local paintmaker Wattyl will be scrutinised by the competition watchdog... Read more Oil Search said construction of its $US15 billion ($16.6bn) Papua New Guinea Liquefied Natural Gas project had progressed in the past quarter... Read more Centennial Coal has logged a steady first quarter ahead of tomorrow's expected opening of Thai coalminer Banpu's $2 billion cash bid... Read more Ross Gittins. I've had to cut short my leave because of the election campaign, but those who follow the political debate faithfully might be better off taking an overseas holiday for the next three weeks. It's clear they'd miss little but aggravation... Read more Eric Johnston. The appearance of antagonism between the big banks is a piece of theatre that is likely to come to an end once the election is over... Read more Stephen Bartholomeusz. While David Thodey says he'll 'roll with the punches' after the election, there's no doubt that a change in government so soon after the torturous NBN deal would cause some serious stress for Telstra... Read more Elizabeth Knight. Telstra is attempting some changes, but it is yet to prove it can survive without its historic advantages... Read more David Symons. The supermarket battle for market share is the retail issue of the moment, but look beyond the immediate and Woolworths' massive punt on the $36 billion hardware market is attracting raised eyebrows from investors as the strategy's launch date draws closer... Read more Malcolm Maiden. Queensland's $3 billion-plus partial rail-freight float is on, unless it is off... Read more Alan Kohler. Unfortunately for both major parties, but particularly the Coalition, Australia's CEOs will follow the policy rather than the party line, according to the Business Spectator Accenture CEO Pulse survey... Read more
International Headlines U.S. Market Report. An updated report of the latest action on Wall Street... Read more World Market Report. An updated report of the worlds' latest market movements... Read more BP says it will emerge from the oil spill crisis a smaller and wiser company, as it announces a record $US17bn loss... Read more The outgoing boss of BP believes he was "demonised and vilified" over the firm's Gulf of Mexico oil spill crisis... Read more Swiss bank UBS announces profits above market expectations, helped by strong equities and foreign exchange revenues... Read more Russia's economic growth accelerated in the three months to June, mainly due to rising consumer demand, according to its deputy economy minister... Read more Canon reports a fourfold increase in profit, helped by strong sales of digital SLR cameras and laser printers... Read more Deutsche Bank has reported a second-quarter net profit of 1.2bn euros ($US1.56bn), up from the 1.1bn-euro profit it made a year ago... Read more Air France-KLM Group, Europe’s biggest airline, said resurgent business travel and freight traffic helped it return to operating profit in the fiscal first quarter, excluding the impact of a volcanic eruption in Iceland... Read more Yahoo Japan has said that it will adopt Google's search engine technology, rather than Microsoft's which is used by its strategic partner Yahoo Inc... Read more Uncertainty about the US economy continued to shake consumer confidence in July, pushing a key measure of morale to the lowest level since February... Read more FDR said we have nothing to fear but fear itself -- and even though we're a long way from the Great Depression, uncertainty about the US economy is proving pretty scary, and a major drag on the recovery.... Read more Weight Watchers International Inc., the world’s largest chain of diet centers, said it is adapting its point-counting system to fit China and take advantage of a growing middle-class population.... Read more A jobless lorry driver who pulled off an "elaborate and outrageous scam" to sell London's Ritz Hotel for £250m has been jailed for five years... Read more Robert Peston. It is very difficult to describe a $US17bn loss for three months of trading as a sparkling performance. But for BP it could have been a lot worse... Read more
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