Compiled for Reuters by Media Monitors. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW (www.afr.com)
--Tennis Australia should put the broadcast rights to tennis up for tender, and Ten Network would bid, said Ten's new chief executive, Hamish McLennan, as broadcaster Seven West Media negotiates to extend its A$21-million-a-year incumbency. An unofficial offer of A$40 million a year has been made to Tennis Australia by an international sports management firm aiming to onsell to local television, according to sources. Page 13.
--Fairfax Media is entering a second stage of restructuring to leverage its core journalism business and create more costs savings in addition to the A$311 million currently identified, said chief executive Greg Hywood. Revenue from metropolitan and regional publishing is down 11 percent while Domain Digital revenue has increased by 16 percent during the current half. Page 13.
--A new gas service company, Petroserv International, has been established with investment from Qatar and will operate through Australia and the Asia-Pacific from headquarters in Brisbane. Qatar's Petroserv Group has acquired 49 percent of Brisbane-based Bothar Boring & Tunnelling to create Petroserv International, with funding in the "nine-figure region for organic and acquisitive growth", said managing director Noel Kerr. Page 13.
--Air New Zealand has claimed it is not seeking a seat on the Virgin Australia board or to take control as it confirms it owns 23 percent of the Australian budget airline. The New Zealand government-owned airline is seeking Foreign Investment Review Board approval to increase its stake in Virgin Australia to 26 percent. Page 15.
--Sims Metal Management, the largest scrap metal recycler, has indicated a new chief executive should be appointed in early next financial year. Sims released a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange yesterday informing the market that outgoing chief executive Daniel Dienst will remain with the company as a consultant. Page 16.
--Pressure from the Federal Liberal party has caused the Federal Labor government to defer some proposed changes to the Tax Agents Services Act for review by a committee. Financial Planning Association's general manager for policy and conduct, Dante de Gori, said the deferment gave the government time to make sure the legislation would be workable. Page 17.
--Credit and debit card fraud has fallen by 11 percent to A$261 million in 2012, according to figures released by the Australian Payments Clearing Association (APCA). The decrease came from better card security technology, growing use of PINs and an increase in online shopping, said APCA chief executive Chris Hamilton. Debit card counterfeit and skimming scams increased by 30 percent, costing A$9.5 million. Page 17.
--Wilson Asset Management is questioning the A$12 million allocated to wind up Australian Infrastructure Fund (AIF), saying that is "extremely expensive", while chairman Geoff Wilson seeks a breakdown of costs from AIF. Wilson owns six percent of AIF, which recently sold all its assets to the Future Fund. Page 17.
THE AUSTRALIAN (www.theaustralian.news.com.au)
--Fairfax Media will conduct another review of its newspaper, magazine, radio station, website and digital products this year to reduce costs by A$60 million. Current half-year group revenues are tracking 9 percent to 10 percent lower than the same period last year, indicating a fall from A$205.3 million to around between A$129 million and A$135 million. Page 17.
--The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has been criticised by brokerage firm Citi for competing against its own clients by luring customers into the ASX dark pool Centre Point. The ASX charges clients who have not used Centre Point extensively 0.25 basis points and 0.4 basis points for others, which is lower than the regular dark fee. Page 17.
--Investment bankers Citi and Credit Suisse have downgraded gold miner Newcrest to "sell" citing a "50-50" chance Newcrest's Telfer mine in Western Australian would close in five years. Newcrest should refocus on making cash, said Lee Mickelburough, a fund manager with Perennial Growth Management. Page 18.
--Rio Tinto could roll poor performing unit Pacific Aluminium back into its profitable Alcan portfolio for a wholesale public offering, according to industry observers. Rio is likely to offload the first of its assets later this month with the expected US$1 billion sale of the Northparkes gold and copper mine. Page 18.
--The Qantas Airways move into low-cost air travel in China has been boosted as gambling mogul Stanley Ho's Shun Tak Holdings will join Qantas by taking a one-third share in Jetstar Hong Kong. Shun Tak will put A$66 million into the A$208.5 million venture that has China Eastern Airways as the third stakeholder. Jetstar is waiting on approval from the Transport and Housing Bureau of Hong Kong, but said earlier in the week it was "confident" approval would be given by the end of the year. Page 19.
--Woolworths planned acquisition of a store site in the western Sydney suburb of Glenmore Park will be opposed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on the grounds it will substantially lessen competition in the area. Although next year Aldi will open a store in the area, the contentious site provided the only opportunity for further competition in the local market, said ACCC chairman Rod Sims. Page 19.
--The metered, "freemium" and subscriber models are all part of the paid content system for online access to the flagship newspapers of Fairfax Media, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, unveiled yesterday. Each month the two papers combined experienced over 3.7 million website visits, over 1.2 million tablet downloads and their mobile sites averaged 456,000 unique browsers each day. Page 23.
--The board of Network Ten has agreed to a "multi-year turnaround" timeframe, announced chief executive Hamish McLennan yesterday. Ten will target the 25- to 54-year-old demographic as younger viewers have different television viewing habits, while the average age of a Ten viewer will be younger than that of those watching Seven or Nine. Ten will focus on "event TV" in reality shows and sport, Mr McLennan explained. Page 23.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (www.smh.com.au)
--A new monthly record for Australian businesses going into administration was established in April this year with 941 firms hitting the wall, the highest since records began in 1999. So far this year, almost 3450 companies have been placed into administration. Page 27.
--Federal and state governments are being urged to guarantee the supply and price of natural gas to heavy industries. BASF Australian operations managing director Ross Pilling told the Plastics and Chemicals Industries Association national conference that the "broken natural gas market" is preventing local manufacturers from locking in long term energy contracts despite Australia's gas export boom. Page 27.
THE AGE (www.theage.com.au)
--Companies attempting to avoid paying tax in Australia could be caught by technical changes to tax laws which were passed by the Federal House of Representatives yesterday. The changes were to defend the integrity of Australia's tax base and to ensure larger companies paid their fair share, said independent MP Rob Oakeshott. Some large companies could leave Australia rather than take on the extra burden, said shadow treasurer Joe Hockey. Page 23.
--The number of customers using mobile devices for banking purposes reached 6 million earlier this year, but the value of transactions performed from this platform remains low. Mobile banking made up 40 percent of digital banking logons, but created only 9.6 percent of digital transactions, according to consultancy firm the Market Intelligence Strategy Centre. Page 24.
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