Whitehaven posts $82.2m loss on low coal prices, Narrabri delays
Updated | Depressed coal prices and delays at its Narrabri coal project have seen Whitehaven Coal fall to a net loss after tax of $82.2 million for fiscal 2013.
Seven’s Voelte prepared for mining gloom
Chanticleer | When Kerry Stokes brought in Don Voelte to run his mining equipment business, he knew things were going to get a lot worse before they got better. But Mr Voelte is expected to take an aggressive approach to the industry downturn.
Results wrap | Watpac FY net loss narrows to $4.7m
Reporting season live | ■ Whitehaven in the red ■ Ainsworth falls ■ Seven posts record ■ ClearView up ■ Beach Energy beats expectations ■ Western Areas has loss ■ Flight Centre posts $240m underlying profit ■ Transfield also due to report today.
Billabong’s recapitalisation need ‘urgent’: Pollard
Updated | Billabong chairman Ian Pollard says the retailer’s latest results demonstrate the need for a swift recapitalisation plan and a new leadership team so the company can move ahead with its turnaround plan.
Coalition will match Labor on surplus: Abbott
Federal election live | “We will do at least as good as the government” on surplus, says Abbott ■ PM losing support because his values are unclear, says Howard ■ Rudd details plan to close Garden Island naval base, speaks to President Obama about Syria
Lloyds sells Murray portfolio to Sankaty Advisors
Updated | Bain Capital’s debt arm, Sankaty Advisors, has bought Lloyds’ Murray portfolio in Australia with an announcement expected on Tuesday afternoon.
ASX steady, $A weaker as world watches Syria
Updated | The ASX steadied after opening lower on Tuesday as the world watched and waited to see what moves could be taken against Syria after chemical attacks on the country’s people.
Investec shuts local equity arm, amid overhaul
South African banking giant Investec Group formally told clients on Tuesday morning that it has rationalised its Asia Pacific equities business and closed its Australian-based equities operations.
Flight Centre cuts costs, posts record profit
Flight Centre has forecast its profit before tax will rise between 8 per cent and 12 per cent in 2013-14, after reporting its 14th record profit before tax for the 2012-13 financial year.
Investors await US move after Syria chemical attack
Investors are on tenterhooks as they wait to see whether US President Barack Obama will push ahead with plans to launch military action against Syria.
ASIC warns investors of risks in emerging markets
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has warned retail investors about companies operating in emerging markets, after a review found “challenges” such as inadequate disclosure.
Is there still value in cyclical stocks? asks Citi
Citi strategist Tony Brennan is wondering whether there’s still value in some of those cyclical names.
Google’s Australian revenue about $1.7bn says search advertising study
A new study has pegged Google’s Australian revenue at almost $1.74 billion, with mobile search advertising on smartphones and tablets tipped to become the largest digital advertising medium in Australia by 2018.
Citigroup blames board battle for Miclyn dropping dividend
Citigroup analysts have questioned Miclyn Express Offshore’s decision not to pay a full-year dividend and linked it to CHAMP Private Equity and Headland Capital Partners’ move up the shareholder register.
Journalist Bill Peach dies aged 78
Bill Peach, best known as the presenter of the seminal ABC current affairs show This Day Tonight, has died at the age of 78.
How weird can be normal in the world of investment banking
Investment bankers surround themselves with other investment bankers and so their idea of what is normal is grotesquely distorted.
JPMorgan to pay $US42.5m to Blavatknik
JPMorgan has been ordered to pay US billionaire Leonard Blavatknik $US42.5 million damages in relation to a soured investment in mortgage-backed securities.
All I want for my Ultrabook is Windows 8.1
October 18 is a day I’ve been fantasising about for months. October 18 is the day Windows 8.1 is released and all my problems are over once and for all.
Yahoo buys image search startup IQ Engines
Yahoo says it has bought image search specialist startup IQ Engines to go with its acquisition of photo service Flickr.
The apps good taste forgot
Internet Rule No. 34 says if you’ve though of it, porn of it already exists online. For apps, it might be a case of if you think of it, it exists – and it’s filthy.
Social media fails to fire up election
Australian social media strategists have labelled the current election campaign as a missed opportunity for both sides, saying a focus on US-style negative tactics has largely backfired.
Learn graphic design in 23 seconds flat
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Entrepreneur Melanie Perkins is hoping to kill off Clip Art through the launch of her new site which allows even the graphically challenged to design.
Specialty Fashion Group battles $A swings
Womenswear retailer to source more clothing directly from offshore suppliers and seek rent reductions on 170 stores to counter cost pressures.
Businessman John Winning’s dream home faces compulsory acquisition
Sydney businessman John Winning spent seven years and $5 million converting an old warehouse in Surry Hills into his dream home – but the dream could become a nightmare.
National
Coalition will match Labor on surplus: Abbott
Federal election live | “We will do at least as good as the government” on surplus, says Abbott ■ PM losing support because his values are unclear, says Howard ■ Rudd details plan to close Garden Island naval base, speaks to President Obama about Syria
- People don’t know what Rudd stands for: Howard
- Abbott under fire over surplus
- Future Fund dragged to court over Perth Airport purchase
- Rudd announces closure of Garden Island but opens debate on naval bases
- ASIC warns investors of risks in emerging markets
- GrainCorp deal a looming test of Coalition unity
- Coalition takes aim at rights during law debate
- Abbott faces GrainCorp sale row
- Coalition to suspend Labor's marine parks: Abbott
Nationals fight back over trade portfolio
Barnaby Joyce has criticised plans to deny his party the trade portfolio should the Coalition win government, saying the position needs to be held by somebody with an affinity for agriculture and manufacturing.
Opinion
Ballmer’s reign leaves questions for next Microsoft chief
From a desktop user’s view Steve Ballmer’s reign at Microsoft has been characterised by product releases that resemble the curate’s egg – excellent in parts.
Keeping perspective on foreign investment
Editorial | If there was a grating note at Sunday’s Liberal Party campaign launch and love-in, it was the complaint of the Nationals’ Warren Truss that the Foreign Investment Review Board has never knocked back an overseas investment in the rural sector.
Westpac’s Bill Evans tells twitchy bond bears to relax
Westpac chief economist Bill Evans doesn’t think the US economy is strong enough for everyone to start talking about tapering. But everyone is talking and doing something about it.
World
Syria’s chemical weapons use a ‘moral obscenity’
The US says chemical weapons have been used against Syrian civilians and is warning US President Barack Obama will demand accountability for this “moral obscenity”.
- Mid-East peace talks off after deaths in Palestine
- Mexico set to break dependency on oil taxes
- Head of Russia’s Uralkali detained in Belarus: agencies
- ECB won’t keep rates low for years: Bundesbank chief
- Trades from 1990s come back to haunt Wall Street
- Filipinos protest against misuse of development fund
- Japan may dip into budget reserves to fight Fukushima leak
- Karzai asks Pakistan to help arrange Taliban talks
Globalisation is killing the US middle class: Fukuyama
The global geo-political balance is being thrown off by a decline in employment of the middle classes of developed countries.
Business
Results wrap | Watpac FY net loss narrows to $4.7m
Reporting season live | ■ Whitehaven in the red ■ Ainsworth falls ■ Seven posts record ■ ClearView up ■ Beach Energy beats expectations ■ Western Areas has loss ■ Flight Centre posts $240m underlying profit ■ Transfield also due to report today.
- Whitehaven posts $82.2m loss on low coal prices, Narrabri delays
- Seven posts record profit, mining downturn pressure ahead
- Billabong’s recapitalisation need ‘urgent’: Pollard
- Investec shuts local equity arm, amid overhaul
- Flight Centre cuts costs, posts record profit
- AWE leaps into the black with $20m profit
- Beach Energy exceeds forecasts with $153.7m profit
- Austbrokers targets new buys as profit jumps 61pc
- Super fees to rise as small accounts disappear
Whiff of recovery in CBD office market
A 33 per cent rise in leasing inquiries in the first six months of 2013 indicates the CBD office market could begin a “mild” recovery from mid-2014, according to Colliers International.
Technology
Google’s Australian revenue about $1.7 billion says search advertising study
A new study has pegged Google’s Australian revenue at almost $1.74 billion, with mobile search advertising on smartphones and tablets tipped to become the largest digital advertising medium in Australia by 2018.
- Amazon shifts cloud strategy for CIA contract
- Social media fails to fire up election
- Learn graphic design in 23 seconds flat
- Vodafone vows no more ‘corporate bullshit’ in customer bid
- Customs gets smarter to identify risky arrivals
- The apps good taste forgot
- Media rivals plan video-on-demand catch up service
- Both sides miss the point as NBN debate lacks future focus
- Ballmer’s reign leaves questions for next Microsoft chief
All I want for my Ultrabook is Windows 8.1
October 18 is a day I’ve been fantasising about for months. October 18 is the day Windows 8.1 is released and all my problems are over once and for all.
Markets
ASX steady, $A weaker as world watches Syria
Updated | The ASX steadied after opening lower on Tuesday as the world watched and waited to see what moves could be taken against Syria after chemical attacks on the country’s people.
- Is there still value in cyclical stocks? asks Citi
- ASIC warns investors of risks in emerging markets
- $A falls as attack on Syria contemplated
- Westpac’s Bill Evans tells twitchy bond bears to relax
- How weird can be normal in the world of investment banking
- US stocks sink after US blasts Syrian attacks
- European stocks waver as dealers eye US
- Eyes on US home sales as demand for durable goods drops
- Subdued outlook as dividends hit $54bn
Goldman options glitch costs tens of millions: source
Goldman Sachs Group lost tens of millions of dollars after a computer glitch led to a flood of erroneous options trades last week, a source close to the matter has said.
Personal finance
Subdued outlook as dividends hit $54bn
Australian companies will pay more than $54 billion worth of dividends in the 2013 financial year, but payout levels are nearing their historical peak, reflecting tepid economic conditions and a subdued earnings outlook.
- Drapac US property funds exceed target
- Pharmacies could be bitter pill for retail landlords
- Tax must rise, but politicians silent, says ex-Treasury man
- UniSuper aims to rejig defined benefits offering
- Sydney, Melbourne sales soar with houses under the hammer
- Higher super payments no recipe for savings: CPA
- Employers back apprentice scheme but ask for more
- Fine sport to be had driving Mercs on ice
- Midas touch in personal Margaret River tours
Gold gets back some lustre
Over the past month, gold has been a popular play for technical traders, with the physical market retracing its way back to the $US1400 region and carrying several leading gold stocks with it.
Lifestyle
The evolution of luxury
Since Louis Vuitton landed in Australia in the ’80s, locals have embraced high-end brands, and it’s a growing appreciation.
Vuelta a España excitement grows
As the cycle teams are announced for Spain’s Vuelta a España, Australian fans have high hopes tor Orica GreenEDGE.
Unexpected treasures a traveller has discovered
From Sao Paulo to Seoul, most memorable travel experiences are often the result of pure chance, writes Ute Junker.
Suburb profile | Brighton-Le-Sands
Culturally diverse and vibrant, this Sydney bayside community near the airport is luring younger residents.
Latest TV
Dreyfus v Brandis: the great legal debate
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus and his opposition counterpart George Brandis have clashed at a debate over the relationship between the states and the Commonwealth. More AFR TV
Chanticleer | Don’t mention the tax
Former Treasury official Mike Callaghan says business must bring more attention to the benefits of tax, such as increased investment, rather than directly campaigning on tax reform itself. More AFR TV
Results wrap: Billabong, Seven, Flight Centre
Gloom from Billabong and Seven, while Flight Centre and Austbrokers have brought investors cheer. More AFR TV
Fukuyama: middle-class blues
Political scientist and economist Francis Fukuyama says the rise of the middle class around the world has a downside. More AFR TV
