Fortescue mine hit by cost blowouts
Fortescue Metals is facing the prospect of a major blowout at its Iron Bridge magnetite project in Western Australia, as escalating costs threaten the project’s $US2.6bn ($3.4bn) budget. The Aus
Emissions bill poised to rise at Gorgon LNG
Technical difficulties at Chevron’s carbon capture and storage project at Gorgon LNG have caused Western Australia’s safety regulator to impose limits on the system’s operations, further inflating the venture’s expected $100 million-plus liability for falling short on emissions commitments. The Fin
Forrest’s Minderoo charity eyes $2bn mark after $90m paid out
Billionaire Andrew Forrest is likely to now have more than $2bn of assets in his Minderoo Foundation, having spent almost $90m on charitable causes last year — making it the biggest individually backed foundation in Australia. The Aus
Trump’s humiliating exit
Donald Trump’s tumultuous term is ending as it began, amid chaos and controversy after he became the first president to be impeached twice in a devastating bipartisan rebuke that could see him barred from returning to the White House. The Fin
Pfizer boosts its output by 2bn doses
The recovery of Australia’s airports has been pushed back “months and potentially even years” following the snap lockdowns and border closures in December and January, the industry has warned, as the Morrison government is asked to pick up the tab for necessary security upgrades. The Aus
No jab, no pay concerns
WA business leaders say clear guidelines are needed on whether employers can direct staff to get a COVID-19 vaccine, amid concern bosses could wear the cost of legal disputes. The West
Frydenberg joins protest against media blocking
Josh Frydenberg has slammed Google for burying the content of local media publishers, saying the search behemoth should be focused on making deals with news outlets. The Fin
Galaxy S21: more bells, less whistling at prices
Faced with slowing demand for premium smartphones, Samsung has done what any manufacturer might do when launching its latest flagship phones: it has slashed the prices of its Galaxy S21 range, and introduced features free of charge that once were found only in ultra-premium devices. The Fin
AUSTRAC’s $2.3b blunder ‘very worrying’
A computer coding error was responsible for the financial intelligence agency being forced to admit it wrongly accused the Vatican of transferring $2.3 billion to Australia. The Fin
Gupta revives $1b-plus IPO for InfraBuild
British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta has revived plans to float his InfraBuild Australian steel operations and has invited local investment banks to pitch for joint lead manager roles for a possible $1 billion-plus listing. The Fin
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: Donald Trump’s tumultuous term is ending as it began, amid chaos and controversy after he became the first president to be impeached twice in a devastating bipartisan rebuke that could see him barred from returning to the White House.
Page 2: Josh Frydenberg has slammed Google for burying the content of local media publishers, saying the search behemoth should be focused on making deals with news outlets.
Data centres, hospitals and build-to-rent apartment blocks are the beacons of hope for institutional investors in real estate in 2021 after the sector’s traditional trophy assets – major malls and big city offices – lost some of their lustre through the disruption of last year.
Page 7: Faced with slowing demand for premium smartphones, Samsung has done what any manufacturer might do when launching its latest flagship phones: it has slashed the prices of its Galaxy S21 range, and introduced features free of charge that once were found only in ultra-premium devices.
Page 8: A computer coding error was responsible for the financial intelligence agency being forced to admit it wrongly accused the Vatican of transferring $2.3 billion to Australia.
Page 13: British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta has revived plans to float his InfraBuild Australian steel operations and has invited local investment banks to pitch for joint lead manager roles for a possible $1 billion-plus listing.
Page 14: Fuels supplier Ampol has posted a smaller than expected fourth-quarter loss at its oil refinery in Brisbane but the news was offset by dented hopes for a renewed takeover tilt by Alimentation Couche-Tard as the Canadian giant turned its attentions to France’s Carrefour SA.
Page 15: Technical difficulties at Chevron’s carbon capture and storage project at Gorgon LNG have caused Western Australia’s safety regulator to impose limits on the system’s operations, further inflating the venture’s expected $100 million-plus liability for falling short on emissions commitments.
The Australian
Page 1: Defence is moving to dump the trouble-prone ARH Tiger armed helicopters and replace them with the more lethal, hi-tech American Apache Guardians — considered to be the “Diggers’ choice”.
Page 3: Josh Frydenberg has criticised Google for blocking news links for some Australian users and said the tech giants should focus on paying for news rather than burying it.
Page 5: The head of Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer says its has produced more of its COVID vaccine than can be used “right now’’ and the company plans to dramatically increase production of the vaccine over the course of the year.
The recovery of Australia’s airports has been pushed back “months and potentially even years” following the snap lockdowns and border closures in December and January, the industry has warned, as the Morrison government is asked to pick up the tab for necessary security upgrades.
Page 6: Australia’s decision to block the Chinese takeover of construction firm Probuild followed extensive discussions between security agencies and the Foreign Investment Review Board and comes against a backdrop of growing government concerns about cyber warfare.
Page 8: China has hailed warming relations with Indonesia at the end of a two-day visit by its top diplomat, who urged the two nations to work together to push through a regional code of conduct on the South China Sea, and pledged help to develop Indonesia’s 5G network.
Page 15: Fortescue Metals is facing the prospect of a major blowout at its Iron Bridge magnetite project in Western Australia, as escalating costs threaten the project’s $US2.6bn ($3.4bn) budget.
Billionaire Andrew Forrest is likely to now have more than $2bn of assets in his Minderoo Foundation, having spent almost $90m on charitable causes last year — making it the biggest individually backed foundation in Australia.
Construction materials giant Boral is forging ahead with a potential $2bn sale of its US building products unit after appointing Bank of America to advise on a deal amid mounting shareholder pressure for a divestment.
Page 19: Rio Tinto has backtracked on plans to close down its New Zealand aluminium smelter in August, after forcing Meridian Energy to the table to negotiate a new power deal and keep the smelter alive until December 2024.
The West Australian
Page 3: Mathias Cormann is one of the top three contenders to become the new secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Page 9: WA business leaders say clear guidelines are needed on whether employers can direct staff to get a COVID-19 vaccine, amid concern bosses could wear the cost of legal disputes.
Page 22: Surviving coronavirus gives as much protection against future infection as vaccination, a major study has revealed.
Page 23: The McGowan Government is on the cusp of dropping WA’s hard border with Victoria, but arrivals from the State will still have to self-quarantine for 14 days.
Page 26: Taxpayers are being slugged for every hour an ambulance sits outside WA’s overflowing emergency departments through a secret fine system introduced last year.
Page 70: Concerns about the environmental impact of condoms are leading some Aussies to shun them — contributing to a worrying spike in sexually transmitted diseases.
Business: Australia’s peak mining body is holding talks with resources companies on possible workplace implications of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
China’s exports continued to expand at a strong pace in December, pushing the trade surplus to a record high in the month and helping to underpin the economy’s recovery.
Veteran Perth lawyer Kevin Staffa is fighting to retain his professional registration after being busted by the Legal Profession Complaints Committee.
Austal’s new chief executive has pledged to use the WA shipbuilder’s near $200 million cash pile to pursue growth opportunities over reducing debt or sweetening dividends.
Shocks to supply chains are engulfing a wider swath of the global economy as the pandemic rages on, threatening to stifle Asia’s trade-led recovery and making it harder for businesses grappling with soaring freight costs to weather another year like 2020.
