Supermarket group Woolworths has put out tenders for a range of services as the company seeks to reduce costs. The largest contract is for telecommunications, which covers services to Woolworths supermarkets, liquor outlets and other subsidiaries, and is estimated to be worth $60 million a year. Telstra currently supplies all of Woolworths telecom services; however, the retailer is considering splitting the contract into separate infrastructure and consulting services. More
Research by Supernomics has found that retail superannuation fund investors have missed out on an extra $40 billion over the past 14 years due to high fees. David Whiteley, the chief executive of the Industry Super Network, yesterday said “competition within super is not working. There is profound market failure.” However, the Financial Planning Association questioned the research, saying that it came from an organisation with vested interests.
Agricultural chemicals group Nufarm yesterday defended the timing of its $70 million first-half profit downgrade announcement earlier this week, claiming that the company only became aware of the new forecast the day before. The announcement was made just minutes before a shareholder vote on selling a 20 percent stake in the company. The Australian Securities Exchange had asked the company for an explanation of the announcement.
West Australian Mines and Petroleum Minister Norman Moore yesterday rejected a Federal Government proposal to create a national regulator for the oil and gas industry, claiming that “it’s a sovereignty issue.” The Rudd government says it wants to reduce duplication and speed up the approval process for the burgeoning sector. However, Mr Moore said a national regulator would ignore the needs of the state, and could create further layers of bureaucracy.
Chinese state-owned company Bright Food Group yesterday indicated that it would continue its pursuit of conglomerate CSR’s sugar business, despite CSR’s rejection of an earlier approach. Bright Food vice-president told Chinese state officials that the original bid of $1.5 billion could be increased, saying, “price isn’t a problem.” However, sources at CSR say that Bright Food, despite its public comments, is yet to make a substantive offer.
The Nova network of radio stations yesterday scrapped its policy of “never more than two ads in a row,” which has been in place since the network’s launch in 2001. Cathy O’Connor, the chief executive of Nova-owner DMG Radio, said the move would increase the network’s advertising inventory by 60 percent. The change is thought to have been supported by Lachlan Murdoch, whose investment company, Illyria, recently acquired 50 percent of DMG.
Budget airline Jetstar yesterday announced that it would end services to Rockhampton Airport in Queensland due to the airport’s pricing arrangements. Jetstar has claimed that Rockhampton gave competitors unfair incentives to start new services. Jetstar also said it could reduce flights to airports in Hobart and Darwin over pricing disputes. Chief executive Bruce Buchanan said “we have got plenty of places in Asia we can throw our capacity.”
Don Voelte, the chief executive of oil and gas company Woodside Petroleum, this week sold almost a third of his stake in the company, generating almost $1.6 million. Mr Voelte last week said he was being forced to sell the shares due to Federal Government changes to the tax treatment of employer-provided incentive shares. Analysts say more senior executives are likely to follow Mr Voelte’s example.
Institutional shareholders in forestry products group Gunns have expressed concern about the December sale of 3.4 million shares in the company by chairman John Gay. A number of major shareholders are thought to be unhappy about the sale, given the sharp fall in the company’s share price following the announcement of a 98.7 percent fall in first-half profit on February 22.