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* Signal Peak’s production to rise to 15 mln clean tons per
yearOct 18 (Reuters) - FirstEnergy and Boich Companies
said they will sell one-third interest in their joint venture
Signal Peak coal mine to commodity trader Gunvor Group for $400
million.Akron, Ohio-based FirstEnergy said it will get nearly $260
million from deal — which will help it cut its debt by about
$360 million due to deconsolidation.The company also said it stands to gain $390 million due to
a revaluation of the asset.FirstEnergy and Boich Companies, a privately held Columbus,
Ohio-based coal company, originally purchased Signal Peak in
2008.The Signal Peak operation is valued at over $1.5 billion,
inclusive of debt.FirstEnergy said it cut its coal purchase agreement with
Signal Peak to 2 million short tons from 7.5 million short tons.Signal Peak’s production is expected to rise to 15 million
clean tons per year from the current 9 million tons.Shares of FirstEnergy were trading up slightly in early
morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW (www.afr.com)Rio Tinto is planning to transfer its least
profitable assets into a new unit called Pacific Aluminium
before a planned divestment, it was revealed yesterday. The new
entity will house Alcan, all of Rio’s Australasian alumina
smelters and the Gove bauxite mine and smelter in the Northern
Territory. Deutsche Bank valued the assets at US$6.5 billion,
along with a further US$1.5 billion in United States and
European assets. Page 1.—Stephen Pearce, chief financial officer of Fortescue Metals
Group , yesterday said the iron ore producer will
proceed with plans to raise up to US$1.5 billion to fund the
expansion of its operations in Western Australia’s Pilbara
region. Mr Pearce said a number of funding options were
available, including the United States bond and term debt market
and Chinese lenders. Fortescue has budgeted around US$8.4
billion for the project. Page 20.—Customers are “starting to see a different Telstra” despite
the telecommunications giant not meeting its customer service
benchmarks, chief executive David Thodey will tell investors
today. “We still have a long way to go,” Mr Thodey said
yesterday. Telstra shareholders are expected to today
approve the A$11 billion transfer of the firm’s fixed-line
monopoly to NBN Co, the government company building the national
broadband network. Page 20.—Energy Resources of Australia has raised A$380
million from institutions through an entitlement offer, but
analysts were yesterday sceptical about retail investors’
appetite for the 12-for-7 offer. “This stock has been such a
diabolical performer . a lot of investors are not going to have
any inclination to perhaps throw good money after bad,” one
analyst said. The uranium producer hopes to raise A$180 million
more to fund an expansion of its Ranger mine in the Northern
Territory. Page 21.—THE AUSTRALIAN (www.theaustralian.news.com.au)Stephen Sasse, Leighton Holdings’ general manager,
organisational strategy, is understood to have left the
construction contractor two weeks ago on cordial terms.
Leighton senior executives, including chief risk officer Craig
van der Laan, have taken up Mr Sasse’s roles. The departure is
the first from executive ranks since the surprise replacement of
long-time chief executive David Stewart with Hamish Tyrwhitt in
August. Page 25.—The quarterly mergers and acquisitions (M&A) index, released
yesterday by law firm Allen & Overy, revealed that “fairly
solid” activity was being driven by the resources sector. “Year
on year we are tracking ahead of the previous year, but quarter
to quarter we are seeing quite a bit of volatility and that is
probably symptomatic of the market as a whole,” Allen & Overy
partner Michael Parshall said. Australia ranked fourth
worldwide for inbound M&A deals. Page 25.—Bill Moss, former executive director of investment bank
Macquarie Group, yesterday said the value of the commercial
property market is likely to decline, although “relative to the
world it’s in pretty good shape”. Mr Moss said “the property
market begins to act like equities” with less access to cheap
debt, suggesting that “we can’t afford to live the way we have
lived”. Ageing populations will lead to lower land values and
the introduction of property taxes, he added. Page 25.—The Palazzo Versace hotel on Queensland’s Gold Coast will be
taken over by Sunland Property Group , it was revealed
yesterday. The property developer will swap the remaining 49
percent held by its partner, Enshaa PSC/Emirates Investment
Holdings, for the interests and obligations in two Dubai
properties. Royal Bank of Scotland Morgan’s Fiona Buchanan said
the takeover of the asset, valued at A$70 million on June 30,
was a “positive outcome for the group”. Page 25.—THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (www.smh.com.au)The Federal Government’s pledge to return the budget to
surplus by 2012-13 could be broken if the euro-zone sovereign
debt crisis is not resolved promptly, Treasurer Wayne Swan said
yesterday. “The impact on confidence alone has had consequences
for our own growth and budget revenue, and there is every
prospect this could get worse,” Mr Swan told an Austrade lunch
in London. World policymakers had “absolutely no excuse for
failure,” he added. Page B1.—A report released yesterday by online payments service
PayPal has forecast online retail spending to grow to A$37.7
billion by 2013. “With 97 percent of Australian internet users
having shopped online, retailers have woken up to the online
opportunity,” the Secure Insight: Changing the Way we Pay report
said. Department store chain Myer recently announced a
A$9 million upgrade of its e-commerce platform. Page B3.—South Australian Greens MPs yesterday called for an inquiry
into BHP Billiton’s planned expansion of the Olympic
Dam gold, copper and uranium mine. Despite Premier Mike Rann’s
call for Parliament to approve the mining giant’s plans quickly,
the balance of power in the state’s upper house is held by seven
minor party MPs. “It is time . to finally get some answers on
this enormous project,” South Australian Greens leader Mark
Parnell said. Page B5.—The New South Wales Land and Environment Court yesterday
heard an application from the Environmental Defender’s Office to
invalidate AGL Energy’s Gloucester Gas development. The legal
aid service, representing the Barrington-Gloucester-Stroud
Preservation Alliance, a Hunter region community group, alleged
that the energy retailer’s coal seam gas project risked
contaminating water supplies. AGL paid A$370 million for rights
to the licence area in 2008. Page B8.—THE AGE (www.theage.com.au)Data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics
yesterday revealed that commercial lending increased 7.9 percent
in August to reach a three-year high of A$34 billion. Overall
credit commitments grew 5.2 percent in August to A$57 billion, a
23-month high. “Credit growth so far has been somewhat soft,
but these sorts of finance figures suggest it’s going to build
up,” said Stephen Roberts, chief economist at financial services
firm Nomura. Page B3.—Cougar Energy is suing three Queensland government
officials for A$34 million in compensation over the closure of
its A$550 million Kingaroy underground coal gasification
development. The project was shut down after benzene was
detected in ground water at the site. Cougar waited two months
to notify authorities of the contamination. “At no time did
Cougar Energy cause harm to the environment,” chairman Malcolm
McAully said yesterday. Page B4.—Diversified conglomerate Wesfarmers yesterday came
under fire from the Australian Shareholders Association over
remuneration packages for senior executives and dividend
payouts. The investor lobby group said the current level of
dividend payouts may be unsustainable if retail conditions
worsen, and called pay rises for Wesfarmers chief executive
Richard Goyder and chief financial officer Terry Bowen
“unacceptably high”. Page B5.—Ansell chief executive Magnus Lincoln told a
shareholder meeting yesterday that costs for raw materials such
as synthetic rubber nitrile had risen, while latex rubber and
cotton prices had declined. Mr Lincoln said the rubber glove
and condom maker’s most recent guidance had been rightfully
cautious due to ongoing market volatility. Flooding in Thailand
has fuelled uncertainty about latex price forecasts. Page B5.—
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW (www.afr.com)Rio Tinto is planning to transfer its least
profitable assets into a new unit called Pacific Aluminium
before a planned divestment, it was revealed yesterday. The new
entity will house Alcan, all of Rio’s Australasian alumina
smelters and the Gove bauxite mine and smelter in the Northern
Territory. Deutsche Bank valued the assets at US$6.5 billion,
along with a further US$1.5 billion in United States and
European assets. Page 1.—Stephen Pearce, chief financial officer of Fortescue Metals
Group , yesterday said the iron ore producer will
proceed with plans to raise up to US$1.5 billion to fund the
expansion of its operations in Western Australia’s Pilbara
region. Mr Pearce said a number of funding options were
available, including the United States bond and term debt market
and Chinese lenders. Fortescue has budgeted around US$8.4
billion for the project. Page 20.—Customers are “starting to see a different Telstra” despite
the telecommunications giant not meeting its customer service
benchmarks, chief executive David Thodey will tell investors
today. “We still have a long way to go,” Mr Thodey said
yesterday. Telstra shareholders are expected to today
approve the A$11 billion transfer of the firm’s fixed-line
monopoly to NBN Co, the government company building the national
broadband network. Page 20.—Energy Resources of Australia has raised A$380
million from institutions through an entitlement offer, but
analysts were yesterday sceptical about retail investors’
appetite for the 12-for-7 offer. “This stock has been such a
diabolical performer . a lot of investors are not going to have
any inclination to perhaps throw good money after bad,” one
analyst said. The uranium producer hopes to raise A$180 million
more to fund an expansion of its Ranger mine in the Northern
Territory. Page 21.—THE AUSTRALIAN (www.theaustralian.news.com.au)Stephen Sasse, Leighton Holdings’ general manager,
organisational strategy, is understood to have left the
construction contractor two weeks ago on cordial terms.
Leighton senior executives, including chief risk officer Craig
van der Laan, have taken up Mr Sasse’s roles. The departure is
the first from executive ranks since the surprise replacement of
long-time chief executive David Stewart with Hamish Tyrwhitt in
August. Page 25.—The quarterly mergers and acquisitions (M&A) index, released
yesterday by law firm Allen & Overy, revealed that “fairly
solid” activity was being driven by the resources sector. “Year
on year we are tracking ahead of the previous year, but quarter
to quarter we are seeing quite a bit of volatility and that is
probably symptomatic of the market as a whole,” Allen & Overy
partner Michael Parshall said. Australia ranked fourth
worldwide for inbound M&A deals. Page 25.—Bill Moss, former executive director of investment bank
Macquarie Group, yesterday said the value of the commercial
property market is likely to decline, although “relative to the
world it’s in pretty good shape”. Mr Moss said “the property
market begins to act like equities” with less access to cheap
debt, suggesting that “we can’t afford to live the way we have
lived”. Ageing populations will lead to lower land values and
the introduction of property taxes, he added. Page 25.—The Palazzo Versace hotel on Queensland’s Gold Coast will be
taken over by Sunland Property Group , it was revealed
yesterday. The property developer will swap the remaining 49
percent held by its partner, Enshaa PSC/Emirates Investment
Holdings, for the interests and obligations in two Dubai
properties. Royal Bank of Scotland Morgan’s Fiona Buchanan said
the takeover of the asset, valued at A$70 million on June 30,
was a “positive outcome for the group”. Page 25.—THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (www.smh.com.au)The Federal Government’s pledge to return the budget to
surplus by 2012-13 could be broken if the euro-zone sovereign
debt crisis is not resolved promptly, Treasurer Wayne Swan said
yesterday. “The impact on confidence alone has had consequences
for our own growth and budget revenue, and there is every
prospect this could get worse,” Mr Swan told an Austrade lunch
in London. World policymakers had “absolutely no excuse for
failure,” he added. Page B1.—A report released yesterday by online payments service
PayPal has forecast online retail spending to grow to A$37.7
billion by 2013. “With 97 percent of Australian internet users
having shopped online, retailers have woken up to the online
opportunity,” the Secure Insight: Changing the Way we Pay report
said. Department store chain Myer recently announced a
A$9 million upgrade of its e-commerce platform. Page B3.—South Australian Greens MPs yesterday called for an inquiry
into BHP Billiton’s planned expansion of the Olympic
Dam gold, copper and uranium mine. Despite Premier Mike Rann’s
call for Parliament to approve the mining giant’s plans quickly,
the balance of power in the state’s upper house is held by seven
minor party MPs. “It is time . to finally get some answers on
this enormous project,” South Australian Greens leader Mark
Parnell said. Page B5.—The New South Wales Land and Environment Court yesterday
heard an application from the Environmental Defender’s Office to
invalidate AGL Energy’s Gloucester Gas development. The legal
aid service, representing the Barrington-Gloucester-Stroud
Preservation Alliance, a Hunter region community group, alleged
that the energy retailer’s coal seam gas project risked
contaminating water supplies. AGL paid A$370 million for rights
to the licence area in 2008. Page B8.—THE AGE (www.theage.com.au)Data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics
yesterday revealed that commercial lending increased 7.9 percent
in August to reach a three-year high of A$34 billion. Overall
credit commitments grew 5.2 percent in August to A$57 billion, a
23-month high. “Credit growth so far has been somewhat soft,
but these sorts of finance figures suggest it’s going to build
up,” said Stephen Roberts, chief economist at financial services
firm Nomura. Page B3.—Cougar Energy is suing three Queensland government
officials for A$34 million in compensation over the closure of
its A$550 million Kingaroy underground coal gasification
development. The project was shut down after benzene was
detected in ground water at the site. Cougar waited two months
to notify authorities of the contamination. “At no time did
Cougar Energy cause harm to the environment,” chairman Malcolm
McAully said yesterday. Page B4.—Diversified conglomerate Wesfarmers yesterday came
under fire from the Australian Shareholders Association over
remuneration packages for senior executives and dividend
payouts. The investor lobby group said the current level of
dividend payouts may be unsustainable if retail conditions
worsen, and called pay rises for Wesfarmers chief executive
Richard Goyder and chief financial officer Terry Bowen
“unacceptably high”. Page B5.—Ansell chief executive Magnus Lincoln told a
shareholder meeting yesterday that costs for raw materials such
as synthetic rubber nitrile had risen, while latex rubber and
cotton prices had declined. Mr Lincoln said the rubber glove
and condom maker’s most recent guidance had been rightfully
cautious due to ongoing market volatility. Flooding in Thailand
has fuelled uncertainty about latex price forecasts. Page B5.—
The incremental cost savings will come from cutting senior manager posts, including Network Solutions’ chief executive, and consolidating data centers and applications, Web.com Chairman and Chief Executive David Brown said in a telephone interview.Web.com, valued at around $500 million, said in August it was buying privately-held marketing and domain name company Network Solutions in a cash and stock deal worth $560 million.”There is significantly more overlap than we originally estimated, and so it’s likely going to be more headcount reduction,” Brown said, noting overlaps in marketing, systems and development, and engineering.Network Solutions’ Miles Reidy, who is both chief operating officer and chief financial officer, will lead the integration, Brown said, though he did not say if Reidy would be a part of the combined company.There will be no job cuts at lower or customer facing levels, said Brown, who in 1997 founded the company that eventually became Web.com.Web.com will close and consolidate some data centers over the next 12-18 months, Brown said, and the Jacksonville, Florida-based company will consolidate applications like the e-commerce, email technology and domain name infrastructure.Once the deal closes, Web.com will add about 2 million subscribers, but will “re-set” its average revenue per user (ARPU) — a key gauge of profitability — as it did after buying domain name registration company Register.com in July last year.Web.com’s ARPU recalibrated to around $14 per month from $29 per month after it added more than 700,000 low-ARPU Register.com customers. Last quarter, Web.com had ARPU of $16.24 per month.Buying Network Solutions is expected to push down overall ARPU to $11-$12 per month for about 3 million subscribers, said Brown.”We expect the ARPUs to grow sequentially post the closing of the deal, which we will be doing by end of this month,” Brown said, though he would not forecast when ARPU would go back to $16.Analyst James Cakmak at Sidoti & Co, expects Web.com’s ARPU to trend higher beginning next year with incremental cross selling.Web.com will cross sell and upgrade these new customers to its higher, value-added services such as website design, online marketing, social media, mobile and eCommerce.INTERNET SHIFTWeb.com, which caters mainly to small and medium sized businesses (SMBs), said it was seeing a big shift among companies to adapt the Internet as a local advertising tool versus traditional channels such as trade directories and telephone books.”We’re seeing growth in spending by SMBs and this is in teens, year-over-year, and this gives us confidence that we can grow our business in teens as well,” Brown said, referring to at least double-digit percentage point growth.Web.com said it would focus more on mobile, e-commerce and social networking to meet SMBs’ needs.Shares of Web.com, have almost halved since hitting a life high in May, when it missed first-quarter earnings estimates and gave a weak outlook.
* A Eslováquia é o último dos 17 membros da Zona Euro a votar esta proposta. A União
Europeia adiou a cimeira de líderes para 23 de Outubro de forma a finalizar a estratégia da Zona
Euro para resolver a crise de dívida soberana.”Os mercados aproveitaram para corrigir e fazer mais valias após vários dias de subidas
sucessivas, num dia em que se espera a ratificação da Eslováquia em relação ao FEEF e, do outro
lado do Atlântico, o destaque vai para a Alcoa que apresenta contas”, disse Diogo Oliveira,
trdaer do Banco Best.”O voto eslovaco está na ponta da faca: qualquer coisa pode acontecer. Mas, se votarem
contra, podem votar novamente”, disse Jeremy Batstone-Carr, da Charles Stanley, frisando: “o
mercado acha que eles se estão a fazer difíceis”.* A acentuar o nervosismo dos investidores estiveram também as declarações do ainda
presidente do Banco Central Europeu (BCE), Jean Claude Trichet, que afirmou que a crise de
dívida tornou-se sistémica e que os riscos à economia estão a aumentar rapidamente, com os
bancos europeus numa zona perigosa.* O índice PSI20 cai 1,53 pct para 5.970,01 pontos, com 19 títulos em queda e uma
subida, tendo-se negociado 23,3 milhões de acções ou 27 ME, na NYSE Euronext Lisbon .* Os analistas técnicos do BPI apontam os 5.945 pontos como próximo nível de suporte do
PSI20 e aconselham uma postura compradora, explicando que há uma “dinâmica compradora de curto
prazo, após terem sido alcançados níveis mínimos”.* A Brisa lidera as descidas percentuais do índice com uma queda de 3,24 pct para
2,602 euros, estando a Portugal Telecom a recuar 2,48 pct para 5,344 euros e a Jerónimo
Martins a perder 2,75 pct para 12,01 euros.* Na banca, o Banco Espírito Santo perde 1,62 pct para 1,938 euros, o BPI
recua 1,35 pct para 0,657 euros, o Millennium bcp tomba 2,86 pct para 0,17 euros e o
Banif cai 0,77 pct para 0,388 euros, em linha com os pares europeus.* O euro cai 0,26 pct para 1,3602 dólares, a corrigir dos máximos de uma semana
alcançados ontem.* Os futuros do Dow Jones DJc1 caem 0,3 pct e os do Nasdaq cedem 0,41 pct,
apontando para uma abertura em baixa do outro lado do Atlântico, no dia em que a Alcoa apresenta
as suas contas e dá início à época de resultados nos EUA.* O contrato do barril de brent para Novembro LCOc1 cai 0,49 pct para 108,42 dólares e o
de crude CLc1 recua 0,49 pct para 84,99 dólares, com os investidores a recear quanto à saúde
da zona euro e quanto à greve dos funcionários das alfândegas no Kuweit, que poderá causar
interrupções no fornecimento de crude.(Por Patrícia Vicente Rua; Editado por Filipa Cunha Lima)
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