This Month
Rio, BHP and Fortescue at electrification crossroads
Iron ore miners in the Pilbara are under pressure to slash emissions and preparing to fork out billions on emissions-free trucks and renewables.
- Brad Thompson
Why are analysts so upbeat on IAG?
The insurer’s latest confession about old claims creeping up means it should have missed a key earnings target from last year.
- Liam Walsh
Telcos battle for internet calling provider
Symbio is the latest business caught up in an acquisition spree as small telecoms companies go after the biggest fish in the pond.
- Jenny Wiggins
- Analysis
- Aviation
Fundies have five demands for the Virgin Australia float
Virgin Australia’s IPO isn’t going to happen until the new calendar year, but local investors already have their Christmas wish-lists ready.
- Ayesha de Kretser
September
- Analysis
- Origin Energy
The $18.7b bid for Origin depends on this key question
The competition watchdog may be wary. Investors are sceptical. But can the $18.7 billion buyout jump-start the end of coal generation? Brookfield says yes.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
Insurers behaving badly: who will pay the price?
Bloodied carpets. Repair delays. Sly pricing accusations. While investors warm to insurers, government oversight is rising and crackdowns have struck overseas.
- Liam Walsh
Perpetual vote tests mood after fund manager’s humble year
The Perpetual chairman is up for re-election, and even as Magellan and Platinum struggle, Perpetual’s challenges with its M&A-led strategy stand out.
- Jemima Whyte
Is another CHESS advisory group already coming off the wheels?
The ASX continues to face regulatory opprobrium and an embarrassing loss of face among the investing community. A new oversight body has its work cut out.
- James Eyers
August
Corporate Travel faces fallout over UK refugee barge
Fund managers are sticking with the company, but the Bibby Stockholm barge has sparked concerns from some investors, who fear it is a high-risk, high-profile job that will backfire.
- Liam Walsh and Ayesha de Kretser
Seek’s VC valuation will be a barometer for private markets
Employment Hero, one of the Seek Growth Fund’s holdings, is in discussions to raise more capital, at almost double its valuation.
- Jemima Whyte
- Analysis
- Analysis
Will the lithium price rout kill the next wave of Australian mines?
Lithium-rich spodumene concentrate prices would need to more than halve to jeopardise the next wave of ASX-listed miners’ lithium projects.
- Elouise Fowler, Peter Ker and Brad Thompson
July
Can Aurizon revive a 40-year-old rail line in central Australia?
The group has a grand vision of moving freight from Darwin to Melbourne on trains instead of ships. Importers don’t know if the plan will make financial sense.
- Jenny Wiggins
- Analysis
- Analysis
Two-horse race to eventually run Westpac is a gruelling marathon
Just two years after combining them, Westpac again split its consumer and business banks. Now Jason Yetton and Anthony Miller will each have to change the momentum.
- Lucas Baird
- Analysis
- Telecommunications
Optus’ satellite phone deal is a future win, but has muted impact now
Text messages sent via Optus’ plan to let users connect via satellites could take two minutes to transmit, helping explain why Telstra’s shares weren’t dented.
- Nick Bonyhady
- Analysis
- The Star Entertainment Group
NSW government’s tax respite creates more challenges for Star
Labor’s reprieve on the casino impost may have bought some time, but it has caused more problems than it solved.
- Zoe Samios
Is Origin Energy being sold on the cheap? Increasingly, it seems so
The takeover offer price from Origin’s North American suitors, originally labelled as a “knockout”, is starting to look cheap in some eyes.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
June
- Analysis
- Analysis
Qantas walks a delicate line between returns and paying for new planes
The airline is getting started on the largest fleet renewal project in its 100-year history, taking delivery of nearly 300 new aircraft over 10 years.
- Lucas Baird
May
- Analysis
- Syrah Resources
Is this beaten down battery stock the next Lynas?
Syrah Resources will this year become the biggest producer of a battery grade critical mineral outside China, but its shares don’t reflect that optimism.
- Peter Ker
- Analysis
- Analysis
Straight out of Black Mirror, Life360 confounds doubters (for now)
Four years on from listing on the ASX, the Silicon Valley family tracking group has reported a profit. Apple and Google, however, will prove tough competitors.
- Paul Smith
- Analysis
- Big four
Have the tables turned on bank cash-back offers?
While everyone is pointing the finger at someone else for the mortgage wars, the end of cheap deposit funding means curtains for the home loan battle too.
- Ayesha de Kretser
