01 October 2002 12:19
Summary of the AAP Finance Wire to 1400 AEST Tuesday, October 1
MELBOURNE - The Australian stock market was on the recovery trail by noon today reversing early losses with the banks
showing solid gains. SYDNEY - The Australian dollar is slightly weaker to noon although it remains largely on the
sidelines, trapped within a very tight range. SYDNEY - Australian interest rates are expected to remain on hold for the
fourth consecutive month today as concerns about the global economic outlook outweigh domestic economic strength.
MELBOURNE - ANZ Banking Group Ltd chief executive John McFarlane said today he believed official interest rates in
Australia would remain on hold at the moment. SYDNEY - Australian building approvals rose 23.1 per cent to 17,554 units
in August, seasonally adjusted, from an unrevised 14,260 units in July, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said. SYDNEY
- Australian building approvals surged in August as investors continued to pile into a market that is showing little
sign of slowing down, economists said. SYDNEY - Australian retail trade rose 0.2 per cent in August to a seasonally
adjusted $14.400 billion from an upwardly revised $14.370 billion in July, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.
SYDNEY - Australian retail trade rebounded from last month's fall in August as department store sales helped
underpin a small rise. SYDNEY - Australian manufacturing slid in September, with analysts saying the result confirms the
sector is moving into more stable growth going forward. MELBOURNE - Australian oil and gas company Santos Ltd has
commenced a joint venture exploration and drilling program in its Carnarvon Basin permits in Western Australia. SYDNEY -
Supermarket giant Woolworths Ltd today said it remained on track to maintain low double digit profit growth this year.
SYDNEY - Telecom Corp of New Zealand's Australian business has a valuation of $NZ1.5-1.7 billion ($A1.31-1.48
billion) and investors buying Telecom shares at current prices were getting the business for free, according to an
analyst report. SYDNEY - Corporate Express Australia Ltd today reiterated its forecast of 35 per cent net profit growth
in 2002/03, helped by an aggressive acquisition program. MELBOURNE - Electricity meter readers will be replaced with
computer operators under an agreement announced today between electricity meter suppliers, Email Metering, and the
developers of an automated remote meter reading system. MELBOURNE - Diversified manufacturer Hills Industries Ltd said
today its acquisition of healthcare products maker K-Care Group would be earnings per share positive in the first year
of ownership. BRISBANE - Global IT giant IBM Corp and Koukia Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Gold Coast software provider
Tomato Technologies Ltd have devised a package aimed at insurance companies. BRISBANE - New South Wales miner Cumnock
Coal Ltd today announced it is re-opening its open cut mine and making changes to its underground mine plan, which will
claim 30 jobs. SYDNEY - Australia risked losing significant capital investment from foreign companies if it failed to
cut its corporate tax rate, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants warned today. SYDNEY - Major problems
emerged in FAI Insurance's books soon after it was acquired by HIH Insurance, but a former HIH director today said
he had a hard time convincing the rest of the board to investigate what was going on. MELBOURNE - Biotech Bionomics Ltd
has signed a development and license agreement with United States firm Nanogen Inc to research and develop a new
diagnostic product for epilepsy. BRISBANE - Budding Queensland gas explorer Sunshine Gas Ltd expects to drill its first
well next month in the eastern Surat Basin. PERTH - Engineering and construction company Clough Ltd has acquired 50 per
cent of Melbourne based Shedden Uhde to boost the group's capacity to meet rising demand for services in the
process industries sector. PERTH - Minerals explorer Cullen Resources Ltd has posted an after tax profit of $141,937 for
2001/02 following the sale of its stake in the Pokrovskiy gold mine in Russia. PERTH - Perth-based Savannah Gold NL has
lodged a prospectus aimed at raising up to $3.2 million to fund exploration programs in Western Australia and
Queensland. BRISBANE - Heritage Building Society has successfully tapped into the European capital markets through its
sponsorship of a euro-denominated securitised issue. MELBOURNE - Santos Ltd has announced two new appointments to its
senior executive team. SYDNEY - The administrators of Pasminco Ltd have applied to the Australian Securities and
Investments Commission (ASIC) for a three-month extension to yesterday's deadline for the lodgement of its annual
audited accounts, The Australian Financial Review reports. SYDNEY - The Coles Myer Ltd board is expected to vote
unanimously today to delay a decision on the splitting off of Myer Grace Bros and Target until after the crucial
Christmas trading period, The Australian reports. CANBERRA - Approvals to build home units and apartments surged in
August to send building approvals to their highest level in eight years, official figures showed today. CANBERRA - A
massive rise in approvals to build home units and apartments ought to convince the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) board
to raise interest rates again, economists said today. CANBERRA - A rebound in spending at department stores helped lift
retail trade in August after the previous month's decline, official figures showed today. CANBERRA -
Australia's economy was still growing faster than many others, despite yesterday's 10th monthly trade deficit
in a row, Trade Minister Mark Vaile said today. SYDNEY - The Labor Party has regained some support in the last two
weeks, but Prime Minister John Howard is still way ahead of Opposition Leader Simon Crean, a Newspoll revealed today.
CANBERRA - The only reason the federal government was toying with a war tax was to cover its $1.3 billion 2001-02
deficit, Opposition Leader Simon Crean said today. MELBOURNE - A senior government minister today said it was wrong to
speculate about how Australia would pay for any involvement in a war with Iraq. CANBERRA - The man heading the federal
government's latest review of telecommunications services in non-metropolitan Australia said today plenty of
complaints had reached him. CANBERRA - Biotechnology and environmental issues feature high on the list of matters
scientists want to discuss with politicians for the Science Meets Parliament Day next month. DARWIN - A Senate inquiry
into uranium mining regulation will hear evidence today from the Mirrar traditional owners who have stopped the Jabiluka
mine. CANBERRA - Some executive salaries were out of touch with reality and reinforced the perception that businessmen
were greedy, Workplace Relations Minister Tony Abbott said today. SYDNEY - The ACTU today said they would push ahead
with a test case to extend unpaid maternity leave despite fierce opposition from the federal government and employer
groups. CANBERRA - The Australian Greens have accused Workplace Relations Minister Tony Abbott of lacking vision after
he vowed to oppose an extension of unpaid maternity leave. CANBERRA - The ACTU's proposal to dramatically lengthen
unpaid maternity leave would not succeed unless it was workable for employers, Opposition Leader Simon Crean said today.
SYDNEY - More than 300 striking NRMA road service officers are set to return to work today as union heads and NRMA chief
Rob Carter continue talks, at the request of the NSW Industrial Relations Commission (IRC). ADELAIDE - The South
Australian government must provide electricity concessions for self-funded retirees, the state opposition said today.
ADELAIDE - A ban has been imposed on future mining development within Kangaroo Island's major conservation parks.
NEW YORK - BHP Billiton Ltd today said its cash flows were benefiting from the strong oil price. NEW YORK -
Australia's largest supermarket group, Woolworths Ltd, today said its sales in the first quarter had been very
solid. NEW YORK - Telstra Corp Ltd chief executive Ziggy Switkowski today said the outlook for the global
telecommunications industry remained flat. NEW YORK - Low cost airline Virgin Blue expected to have 30 per cent of
Australia's aviation market by the end of 2003, its half owner Patrick Corp said today. NEW YORK - Australian
shopping centre group Westfield Holdings Ltd is looking at acquisition opportunities in the United States, while
planning to move into new markets in Europe and Canada in the longer term. NEW YORK - CSR Ltd today said the demerger of
its sugar assets remained one of a number of options for the group. NEW YORK - Oil and gas producer Santos Ltd today
said its second half net profit would rise by $A10 million for every one dollar increase in the oil price. NEW YORK -
Australia's largest supermarket group Woolworths Ltd today revealed its sales in the first quarter had been
"very solid". NEW YORK - The price of bread could rise again by the end of the year because of the drought,
Australia's largest food company warned today. NEW YORK - Chris Corrigan, the man at the centre of the bitter 1998
waterfront dispute, today said he would not be surprised if there was a "flare up" as his company restructured
its Pacific National rail assets. PARIS - Investors sliced more than two billion euro ($A3.62 billion) off the value of
French-American media giant Vivendi Universal on Monday after a report raising doubts over the sale of its Italian TV
arm rekindled funding concerns. TOKYO - Japan's business confidence improved in September but by a slim margin as
caution set in following a slide in Japanese and U.S. share prices, the Bank of Japan's "tankan"
sentiment survey showed on Tuesday. WASHINGTON - Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert McTeer, who pushed
unsuccessfully for lower interest rates at a Fed policy meeting last week, said on Monday it was essential for the
United States economy to grow faster. WASHINGTON - White House economic aide Glenn Hubbard on Monday struck an upbeat
note on the United States economy even as stock markets fell, saying he saw a fourth-quarter climb in business spending
and adding that the equities drop wasn't enough to trigger a new recession. WASHINGTON - United States consumers,
upset by a falling stock market and rising job layoff notices, trimmed their spending a bit in August even as their
incomes were picking up, the government said today. WASHINGTON - The United States economy's fitful recovery from
last year's recession is likely to accelerate next year, a senior Treasury Department official said on Monday.
CHICAGO - Manufacturing in the United States Midwest contracted for the first time in eight months in September, in a
new sign of economic weakness that sent US stocks sharply lower and intensified speculation the Federal Reserve will cut
interest rates soon. NEW YORK - Wal-Mart Stores Inc on Monday ratcheted back its September sales forecast, the second
month in a row that the world's biggest retailer has been hurt by increasingly hesitant consumers fretting about
job losses and a disastrous stock market. BLACKPOOL, England - The British government said on Monday that economic
conditions worldwide this year had been tougher than predicted but said any alteration of United Kingdom growth
forecasts would not come until November. BLACKPOOL, England - Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown
pledged on Monday to keep his government at the heart of Europe and said that in principle there were real benefits to
be had from joining its single currency. NEW YORK - New York's attorney-general today launched legal proceedings
against five top corporate executives - including former WorldCom chief executive Bernard Ebbers - seeking to regain
money that he said had been made by profiteering on share offerings and phoney stock ratings. NEW YORK - A comprehensive
analysis of what caused the twin World Trade Centre towers to collapse on September 11, 2001 may never be made public
because of a bitter insurance battle, the New York Times reported today. BAGHDAD - Iraq said today it has received only
$US31 billion ($A57.16 billion) worth of goods despite selling $US60 billion ($A110.64 billion) worth of crude since the
United Nations "oil-for-food" program came into force in December 1996. WELLINGTON - A group of Reserve Bank
economists have poured cold water on the notion that the new, looser Policy Targets Agreement (PTA) will mean New
Zealand is better placed to achieve sustainable economic growth. AAP
[AIW [Asia Africa Intelligence Wire]] |
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