| CBA | CBA has released its Q1 trading update with a profit of $1.85bn (+5.7%), flat margins, positive “jaws” (revenue growth exceeding cost growth), bad debt charge $291m (fine), trading income up. | Shaw |
| NWS | Newscorp has released its Q1 2013 earnings result with Sales of $8.14bn (+2%), operating EBIT of $1.45bn (+3%), and profit of $2.23bn. The company has reconfirmed guidance of “high single digit to low double digit operating profit growth”, reconfirmed its $10bn buy back and separation of the publishing entertainment businesses in 2014. Stock up 1% in the USA. NWS’s cable content business is growing at double digit rates and is 62% of operating earnings which is outstanding, the balance sheet is strong and the second $5bn buy back is underway, further management are demerging the company into two to enhance shareholder value. | Shaw |
| YBR | Macquarie Group in talks with financial services group Yellow Brick Road over a distribution arrangement that would see the YBR use Macquarie’s finances to provide home loans through its network of 140 branches | Company report |
| MQG | Macquarie Group in talks with financial services group Yellow Brick Road over a distribution arrangement that would see the YBR use Macquarie’s finances to provide home loans through its network of 140 branches | Company report |
| DOW | DOW has maintained FY13 EBIT guidance of $370m (Shaw $359m; consensus $369m) and NPAT of $210m (Shaw $206m; consensus $207m). DOW has seen an increasing level of uncertainty around the level and timing of government and private sector investment in infrastructure in both Australia and New Zealand – there have been a number of prospective projects deferred in the past two months (expected). DOW expects competition for available work to increase (expected). Progress has been made on the Waratah Train Project with quality standards being met in China and the production rate increasing to three trains per month. At this stage, 50% of the 78 train sets are either in Australia or being shipped here. Production targets in Cardiff are also being met and DOW is on track to deliver the 23rd train to RailCorp by Christmas and the 78th (final) train in mid-2014 (positive). | Shaw |
| EU | Germany’s composite PMI fell to 47.7 in October from 49.2 in September, which, says Markit, “raises the likelihood of an outright GDP contraction during the final quarter of the year.” Meanwhile, the eurozone figure of 47.7 is consistent with a quarterly fall of 0.5% in GDP, and the pace of decline in France’s private sector in the past two months “has been the sharpest since the post-Lehman slump in early 2009.” | Seeking Alpha |
| EU | Rajoy said he needed to know how much Spain’s borrowing costs would fall if the ECB intervened before asking for aid. However, he also said that high borrowing would eventually lead to Spain asking for a bailout. | Citi |
| BHP | BHP begins hunt for new CEO to replace Marius Kloppers | FT |
| UK | UK manufacturing output fell 1.7% in September | Morningstar |
| AWC | the Supreme Court of Indonesia annulled regulation by the country’s energy minister banning mineral ore exports. | Morningstar |
| LEI | signed a A$1.4bn 3-year syndicated performance bond Facility. The Facility doubles the size of the existing A$700m syndicated performance bond facility which it refinances. The syndication targeted a diverse range of banks in the Australian and Asia-Pacific loan market. A total of nineteen lenders participated, ten of which are new lenders to the Facility. | Morningstar |
| EU | Eurozone leaders are considering a range of options to avoid taking a haircut on their Greek bond holdings. They include lower rates on loans, the ECB taking short-term Greek paper as collateral for longer periods, and the ECB giving its profits on its Greek holdings to the government | Der Spiegel |
| EU | The European Central Bank is looking into whether it is treating Spanish government Treasury bills too generously when commercial banks present them as collateral for loans | WSJ |
| Japan | Japan’s coincident composite index, which consists of 11 key indicators, dropped 2.3 points on month in September to 91.2. That’s the sixth consecutive month of declines and prompted the government to say the economy is at a “turning point” toward the downside rather than “pausing,” as was the case in August. The data strengthens the fear that Japan is on the verge of recession. | Seeking Alpha |
| EU | France’s government has unveiled measures designed to help industry and exporters, including €20B in tax credits over three years, an extra €10B in public spending cuts and a €10B hike in consumer taxes. However, despite the dramatic fall in private sector activity, the measures fall short of the “shock” therapy called for in a report by industrialist Louis Gallois, who wants payroll taxes to be slashed by €30B over two years. | Seeking Alpha |
| EU | The EU Commission is less hopeful – or less delusional, if you prefer – than Spain’s government over its economic prospects, the El Pais newspaper reports, possibly increasing the pressure on the country to request a bailout. The EU expects GDP to fall 1.6% this year and 1.5% in 2013 before growing 0.5% in 2014, while Spain predicts -1.5%, -0.5% and +1.2% respectively. The EU also believes Spain will have a much bigger deficit than the government estimates. | Seeking Alpha |
| EU | Tens of thousands of Greeks are taking part in a two-day general strike to protest the latest austerity and labor reforms, which are expected to be passed by parliament tomorrow. That, said EU Commissioner Olli Rehn, would keep Greece on track to achieve a deal with the troika next week to receive the latest tranche of its bailout. However, the eurozone and the ECB can’t agree on who should help pay for Greece to receive more time to repay its loans. | Seeking Alpha |
| Fe | India’s iron-ore shipments are expected to plunge to about 25 million metric tons this fiscal–from 60 million tons in the year ended March 31–as the mineral-rich eastern state of Orissa has suspended all exports, a senior trade body executive said | WSJ |
Filed under: Company News, World News
