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’A Potash warning: Sinofert is ‘very concerned’
Here’s a curious Chinese statement on Thursday that might give Marius Kloppers, BHP Billiton’s chief executive, pause for thought.
Sinofert, China’s largest fertiliser distributor – and subsidiary of Sinochem,
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Wednesday,
- BHP Billiton posts full-year operating profit of $20.03bn — statement.
- Tullow Oil says 1bn barrels discovered in Uganda; deal for Heritage assets hinges on tax dispute — statement.
BHP and the cost of borrowing $45bn
Small wonder that, as we wrote on Friday, there’s a mini M&A boom at the moment – just look at the cost of borrowing for big, stable companies like BHP Billiton.
Citigroup reckons the $45bn credit facility put in place by the miner to finance its hostile offer for PotashCorp is likely to be just 3-4 per cent.
Potash: ‘we have contact’
So PotashCorp says it was “contacted” late last week by China’s Sinochem Group and Brazil’s Vale as it sought to fend off the $39bn hostile bid from BHP Billiton, reports Bloomberg on Monday.
Citing a person with knowledge of the matter,
August in ‘busy’ shocker for global M&A
It’s beginning to look as if Credit Suisse were right about the upcoming rise of global M&A they recently predicted, though perhaps even they couldn’t have guessed how quickly it would come.
This is August,
More potash, more problems
Or, read the ag bull M&A small print.
BHP Billiton’s hostile bid for PotashCorp received a bit more resistance on Thursday, with indications of rival interest from Sinochem.
Now Citigroup’s analysts have also looked into the offer’s strategic innards,
BHP’s Potash war gets personal
So the gloves are off in the fertiliser battle and everyone has an opinion on the year’s biggest takeover bid, after BHP Billiton on Wednesday went hostile on its $39bn bid for PotashCorp.
One thing is for sure.
A legacy of potash
The ag bull strategy has been fertilised, the M&A is pumped up on nitrogen, the grand game of playing emerging-world food demand is back on.
Watch out for the whiffs of ammonia around the balance sheets though.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Wednesday,
- BHP Billiton sets aside $43bn to go hostile on PotashCorp offer — statement.
- Eurasian Natural Resources posts $1.435bn underlying EBITDA — statement.
- Rockhopper has $119.7m for exploration;
Duster!
The price action in Falkland Oil & Gas on Monday morning, following news that it had found no hydrocarbons at its Toroa exploration well south of the Islas Malvinas:
So that’s Dusters TWO (FOGL and Desire Petroleum),
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Friday,
- BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Xstrata welcome revised Australia resource tax — statement.
- Sanofi-Aventis eyeing US acquisition worth $20bn — report.
- Chloride accepts 375p cash offer from Emerson — statement.
G’day, Gillard — not
London’s miners were in a fug on the FTSE 100 on Thursday:
And it’s because Australia’s proposed mining super-tax — unlike the prime minister who launched it — appears to be sticking round.
Kevin Rudd resigned on Thursday — but his successor,
Political risk, Aussie rules
Those are the London shares of Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Xstrata.
They all shot up despite a negative FTSE 100 at about 1300 UK BST on Wednesday — probably as this flash broke via Reuters:
RTRS-AUSTRALIA PM FACES LEADERSHIP VOTE ON THURSDAY MORNING – SKY TV
The link being:
Renminbi reverberations
No doubt about the winner on the London stock market from China’s decision to let the renminbi to appreciate ever so modestly – miners, miners, miners and for good measure miners.
At pixel time the FTSE 100 leaderboard was dominated by resources stocks:
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Monday,
- BP says disagrees strongly with Anadarko allegations – statement.
- Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton reach agreement to amend royalties and state agreements – statement.
Super-confusion on Australia’s mining super-tax
A possibly tiresome — but still important — update on the Australian government’s much-villified plan to impose a 40 per cent “resources super-profits tax” on mining companies:
Confusion reigns on Friday.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Friday,
- BP’s Hayward ‘considering all options’ on dividend – WSJ.
- BHP Billiton says no consultation so far on Australia mining tax – statement.
- Punch Taverns sells four pubs to Greene King for £5.3m – statement.
The not so horrid Henry Tax
Mining stocks led Wednesday’s dead cat bounce in London:
And one reason was a report that claimed the Rudd government in Australia was set to perform something of a u-turn on its proposed mining supertax.
Miners spend big Down Under, but where’s the outrage?
Amid all the mining industry outrage Down Under about Canberra’s plan to slap a 40 per cent “super profits tax” on resources companies, one is almost tempted to side with the Australian Treasurer, Wayne Swan.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Monday,
- Prudential finally launches record-breaking £14.5bn rights issue; issues trading update – statement and statement.
- BHP Billiton to review Australian operations and investment plans in light of super tax – statement.
Australia’s super-controversial mining super-tax
The Australian government has not given up insisting that pigs fly that a planned 40 per cent tax on “super” profits generated by all resources operating on its soil is a Really Great Thing.
Even senior bureaucrats are now weighing in,
Forget banking. In Australia, it’s the miners who make the dosh.
Back in April, the FT reported that the City of London had been hit by a ‘brain drain’ to Australia, as British financial services professionals fled in droves for better weather and ‘comparatively more career opportunities in Sydney and Melbourne’.
The horrid Henry Tax
Messy, complicated, confusing and ultimately damaging for investment in mining down under.
That’s reaction in the City of London to the Australian government’s plan for a 40 per cent tax on profits generated by resource companies (the so-called Henry Tax),
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Wednesday,
- Autonomy reports record Q1 revs of $194.2m, and pre-tax profit of $85.3m – statement.
- Game Group CEO Lisa Morgan steps down, reports weak annual results – statement and statement.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Tuesday,
- Punch Taverns says chief executive Giles Thorley to stand down – statement.
- BHP Billiton agrees new iron ore contracts close to spot price – statement.
- Investec launches £412m offer for Rensburg Sheppards – statement.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Monday,
- Royal Dutch Shell and PetroChina make $3.4bn offer for Arrow Energy – statement.
- Prudential to seek secondary listing on Hong Kong stock exchange – statement.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Wednesday,
- BHP Billiton underlying EBITDA falls 22 per cent to $10.8bn – statement.
- Autonomy Corporation launches a £500m convertible bond offering – statement.
- SEB says Q4 profit fell to $35m as loan losses jumped – statement.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Friday,
- Nationwide says UK house prices rose by 1.2 per cent in January – statement.
- Debenhams to appoint Paddy Power’s Nigel Northridge chairman – statement.
- Investec nine-month operating profit climbs 1 per cent – statement.
What does the Aussie mining tax really mean?
Mining stocks were among the biggest fallers in Thursday’s sell-off. One of the factors driving the sector lower was news of a new mining tax being proposed by Australian Treasury Secretary, Ken Henry.
Resource nationalism down under
The mining sector took another leg down on Thursday afternoon in London:
Now what could have caused that? Surely not Obama’s Glass Stegall II proposal.
Nope. Instead, traders are pinning on it on a story published by the Sydney Morning Herald on Thursday: