Michael Considine has left Aitken Investment Management, the funds management firm set up by high-profile stockbroker Charlie Aitken last year.
Michael Considine has left Aitken Investment Management, the funds management firm set up by high-profile stockbroker Charlie Aitken last year.
Considine was head of trading at AIM.
more to come
Woodside is set to use its investor day briefing to tackle the deep perception in the market that the oil and gas producer is "ex-growth".
After putting the Browse floating LNG project on ice in March, Woodside Petroleum is set to use its investor day briefing to tackle the deep perception in the market that the oil and gas producer is "ex-growth".
Citigroup analyst Dale Koenders is expecting some in-depth updates on the Greater Enfield oil project in Western Australia, on the fast-emerging Myanmar gas opportunities and the overlooked potential of the Canadian business at Woodside's May 20 briefing in Sydney helmed by chief executive Peter Coleman.
On the M&A front, the market has been disappointed with Woodside, with concerns that it overpaid for the assets it acquired from Apache early last year, then the failure to gain traction in its $11.6 billion tilt for Oil Search.
But perhaps being overlooked is the organic potential in Woodside's business, with Citigroup putting the value of near-term growth options at about $2 a share, with another $9 a share of potential long-term growth options sitting in the existing portfolio. That's on top of the $29.94 a share value it places on the base business, including Woodside's recently acquired stake in Chevron's Wheatstone LNG.
A final investment decision has been flagged for Greater Enfield early in the second half, while Koenders points to the Thalin gas discovery in Myanmar as a possible candidate for development in the mid 2020s.
Citi is also anticipating a positive update from Woodside on its Pluto LNG venture, that will result in minor upgrades to production levels, as well as a firming-up of plans to extend the life of the North West Shelf venture through processing gas from third parties, or from successful exploration.
Flying under the radar, US independent Hess Corporation has been plugging away on engineering work at its Equus offshore gas project that is targeted for processing through the North West Shelf, with a final investment decision on the multi-billion dollar development pencilled in for 2017.
Grocery wholesaler Metcash has opted to go it alone in the Woolworths hardware auction, sources told Street Talk.
Grocery wholesaler Metcash has opted to go it alone in the Woolworths hardware auction, sources told Street Talk.
Metcash, which owns hardware wholesaler Mitre 10, was one of several parties that submitted an indicative bid on Monday. This column understands a bidder shortlist for those vying for all or parts of Woolworths' Masters and Home Timber & Hardware business will be formalised by the month's end.
Metcash's bid for Woolworths' profitable Home Timber & Hardware business would require an equity raise, a move a number of its major investors have already indicated they would support to fund the acquisition.
Metcash's bid makes it clear the company, which is advised by Luminis Partners, is distancing itself from private equity firms.
Metcash has been stalking Home Timber & Hardware since at least the middle of last year and is believed to have already held informal talks with the competition regulator. There had been suggestions it would join with Anchorage Capital Partners to reduce the size of its investment or even sell Mitre 10 into a new entity that included HTH.
Street Talk on Tuesday flagged that several players, including private equity investors Carlyle Group and Pacific Equity Partners, had pulled out of the Citigroup-run sale process. Blackstone Group, the Pacific Alliance Group, Abacus Property Group, Charter Hall and Bunnings are still interested in Masters stores.
A combined Mitre 10-Home Timber & Hardware operation would create a significant No. 2 player in the market, with the scale to potentially challenge hardware behemoth Bunnings on price and range.
Woolworths chairman Gordon Cairns in January outlined a prospective sale or wind-up of the embattled hardware operations. That came after a strategic review found Masters, a joint venture between Woolworths and United States retailer Lowe's, would lose money for many years.
Elsewhere, newly merged Willis Towers Watson Australia has promoted Martin Goss to head of investments.
The position was vacated when Graeme Miller left to take up the CIO role at Telstra Super following the departure of Jim Christensen in November.
Goss joined Towers Watson in 2007 and has led client consulting and headed up the investment committee.
The local asset consulting firm, favoured by many industry super funds, merged with global giant Willis over the Christmas holidays.
In other moves, IFM Investors appointed Rich Randall its new head of debt investments.
Block trades may have had a short hiatus but they are firmly back on the radar of equities desks this week.
Block trades may have had a short hiatus but they are firmly back on the radar of equities desks this week.
As revealed by Street Talk on Thursday evening, brokers were sounding investors on a block trade of CIC's 9.7 per cent stake in market darling Goodman Group.
The last time CIC sold down its stake in 2012 it offloaded 50 per cent via Goldman Sachs. Its remaining shareholding is worth almost $1 billion, a chunky transaction, that will have investment banks fighting hard to win the work.
Investors would not have missed the fact Goodman Group's share price is at a record high.
This week chief executive Greg Goodman said the company was in "great shape, operationally and financially," as he delivered a third-quarter update.
Goodman reaffirmed operating earnings for the year at 40¢ a security, up 7.5 per cent on last year, and confirmed a full-year distribution forecast of 24¢ a security, up 8 per cent on last year.
Elsewhere, the slated float of payments business Fastacash has been put on the backburner.
It comes as the company opted to bring in private investors in lieu of a listing in the future.
Fastacash had been seeking to raise $50 million, which would allow it to buy two European payments businesses. Some investors did, however, raise concerns about the structure of the transaction after meetings with management.
The south-east Asia company allows users to transfer money through social media applications.
Now here is an instance where good health, as opposed to just sickness, can be contagious.
Now here is an instance where good health, as opposed to just sickness, can be contagious.
Asian demand for clean, green Australian vitamins has already provided a $1.67 billion payday for the Sali family behind Swisse Wellness, and now that demand may trickle down to one of its key suppliers too.
Melbourne-based Australian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers is up for sale and KPMG is booking for buyers.
The business, which operates out of the suburb of Keysborough, has been a big beneficiary of the rise of Swisse. APM is one of the company's three main suppliers and makes and packages a range of tablets, gels and powdered products.
Demand for Swisse products has been a big contributor to APM's soaring bottom line. In the past couple of years earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation have popped from $1 million to about $12 million.
Swisse, which is known for its celebrity ambassadors like actor Nicole Kidman and cricketer Ricky Ponting, was snapped up by Hong Kong-listed Biostime last year.
Elsewhere, and as revealed by Street Talk on Thursday night, Independence Group is said to be moving to protect its commercial rights under an exploration agreement with junior ABM Resources ahead of an ABM shareholder vote on a proposed board-spill.
ABM went into a trading halt on Thursday ahead of news "regarding a notice received pursuant to the Lake Mackay Exploration Agreement".
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