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Fonterra has slashed its forecast milk price for the 2023/24 season by $1 as demand slumps, unemployment in New Zealand has climbed to 3.6%, China will scrap import tariffs on Australian barley from Aug. 5, the All Blacks and Warriors have both come away with a win this week, and ‘Barbie' is just under $100 million shy of reaching a billion-dollar box office as it enters its third weekend.

Let’s jump in!

Before The Bell

Markets

• Chinese demand for New Zealand’s key dairy export, whole milk powder, is looking “bleak” for the rest of the year and may not start to recover until next year, according to analysts atHighGround Dairy. (Stuff)

• Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) has increased the interest rates on three of its home loan terms, and one of the moves has prompted questions from economists. (Stuff)

• Australia’s central bank has left its cash rate target on hold for the second consecutive month at 4.1%. (NBR)

Earnings & Data

• Marcus Blackmore, the major shareholder of vitamins group Blackmores, says he feels “bittersweet” as he receives $11.6 million from a special dividend being paid to all shareholders on Tuesday in the first step of Kirin Corp’s $1.9 billion buyout. (AFR)

• British factory output contracted in July at the fastest pace in seven months, hit by higher interest rates and fewer new orders, despite weakening price pressures, a survey showed on Tuesday. (RT)

• HSBC, which generates most of its income in Asia, will repurchase an additional $2 billion on top of a previous program announced just three months ago, according to a second-quarter earnings statement on Tuesday. HSBC also said it is now expecting net interest income for 2023 to be above $35 billion, up from more than $34 billion. (BBG)

• Apple Inc. grew revenue in China a surprisingly strong 8% while setting a record for Indian iPhone sales, bright spots in an otherwise disappointing quarterly check-in from the world’s most valuable company (BBG)

• Japan’s state pension fund, the world’s largest, posted a record gain of ¥18.98 trillion (USD$133 billion) during the three months through June on returns from domestic stocks and overseas bonds (BBG)

• The U.S. economy maintained a moderate pace of job growth in July, but solid wage gains and a decline in the unemployment rate pointed to continued tightness in labour market conditions (RT)

• Danish shipping giant Maersk on Friday reported a sharp fall in second-quarter earnings on the back of plunging container rates, but still managed to beat market expectations and upgrade its full-year guidance (CNBC)

News Summary

Tuesday

• The Council of Trade Unions reckons the National Party has a $3 billion to $5b hole in its fiscal plan. (NBR)

• Freezing orders have been made against a former sales agent of New Zealand-based SolarZero it has accused of fraud. (NBR)

• The long-running intellectual property battle between amphibious boat rivals Sealegs and Orion Marine will go another round after the Appeal Court overturned a High Court ruling from February. (NBR)

Wednesday

• Unemployment in New Zealand has climbed to 3.6% (Stuff)

• Ngāi Tahu’s proposed salmon farm off the coast of Stewart Island has been declined (Stuff)

• Air New Zealand is seeking airports for next-gen aircraft routes (NBR)

Friday

• Fonterra has slashed its forecast milk price for the 2023/24 season by $1 as demand slumps (Stuff)

• Genesis Energy said an outage at its Unit 5 combined cycle gas plant at Huntly would cost $20-$30 million (Herald)

• China will scrap import tariffs on Australian barley from Aug. 5 in the latest sign of improving ties between the two countries (BBG)

Weekend

• The All Blacks and Warriors have both come away with a win this week (Stuff)

• 'Barbie' is just under $100 million shy of reaching a billion-dollar box office as it enters its third weekend (CNBC)

• China elevates its emergency response status for flooding in the northeastern region (RT)

Deal Flow

Investments / M&A

Australia & New Zealand

• Kiwi Group Capital is investing $225 million into subsidiary Kiwibank to accelerate its growth following the $310m sale of fund management business Kiwi Wealth to Fisher Funds last year. (NBR)

• Faced with an unshiftable problem – a $6.2 billion external financing load including bank debt, leases and handset receivables financing – and some hungry private capital types sniffing around, TPG is back at the negotiating table trying to deal its way out of a problem. (AFR)

• Melbourne SPAC on the prowl again as $185m buyout deal falls over (AFR)

• Good Spirits will sell for $20.7m (NZD) and then delist from the NZX (NBR)

• Platinum Equity is apparently interested in Accolade Wines (AFR)

• Brookfield is testing buyer appetite for Australia and New Zealand logistics business Linx Cargo Care Group (AFR)

Key Global

• Apollo, Bain & KKR are among the shortlisted companies for a $2.7B (USD) controlling stake in Fujitsu’s chip packaging unit Shinko Electric(BBG)

• Itochu Corp will pay as much as $2.7B (USD) to take its software unit private (BBG)

• Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Telecommunications Group has bought a controlling stake in PPF Telecom Group’s assets in Bulgaria, Hungary, Serbia and Slovakia for 2.15B euros (BBG)

• ANZ Group Holdings Ltd.’s A$4.9 billion (USD$3.2 billion) deal to buy Suncorp Group Ltd.’s banking arm was blocked by the Australian regulator, citing competition concerns (BBG)

• Shearer’s Foods, a snack maker backed by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, is exploring a sale that could fetch about USD$3 billion including debt (BBG)

• Ares Management is investing an extra USD$75 million in Inter Miami CF, the Major League Soccer club that’s riding high following the arrival of superstar Lionel Messi (BBG)

• Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board is considering making a USD$100 million investment in Indian e-commerce logistics startup Xpressbees (BBG)

VC & Fundraising

• Recommendations from the Government-appointed Startup Advisors Council made public today include introducing tax incentives to promote investment in startups and venture funds, as foreshadowed by NBR in late June. (NBR)

• Gyder Surgical, an Australian medtech startup, is considering raising funds (AFR)

• Four-year-old telco GigaComm, which is run and backed by former Macquarie Capital suits, is sounding investors for a chunky raising to bankroll the infrastructure it needs to get into a million Australian homes (AFR)

• ASX-listed lithium, copper and gold explorer Mont Royal Resources was in front of fund managers on Thursday, seeking to raise AUD$2 million (AFR)

• Juul Labs Inc., the e-cigarette company that almost went bankrupt last year, is seeking to raise about USD$1 billion (BBG)

Equity Raises

Australia & New Zealand

• The Overseas Investment Office has approved a $78.9 million land sale and leaseback deal by subsidiaries of egg farmer Indus Valley, allowing repayment of bank debts after a breach of covenants. (NBR)

Key Global

• Crown LNG Holdings, which develops liquefied natural gas terminals to operate in harsh weather conditions, on Thursday agreed to go public in New York through a merger with a blank check firm, in a deal that values the combined company at USD$685 million (RT)

Debt, Restructuring & Bankruptcy

• Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky is in talks to buy Atos's loss-making legacy operations in a 2 billion-euro ($2.20 billion) deal that will refocus the struggling French company on its cybersecurity and cloud assets, and cut its debt. (RT)

Job Board

New Zealand

• ASB rural banking graduate - Apply here

• Waterman Capital investment analyst - Apply here

Australia

• Citadel Securities graduate and intern roles - Apply here

• Goldman Sachs Investment Banking Intern - Apply here

• IMC graduate and intern roles - Apply here

• Jarden

  • Graduate role - Apply here

  • Summer internships - Apply here

• Optiver

  • Graduate role - Apply here

  • Internships - Apply here

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