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  • Banking Shakeup: Westpac Ditches PwC, BNZ Cuts Rates - Are More Changes Coming?

Banking Shakeup: Westpac Ditches PwC, BNZ Cuts Rates - Are More Changes Coming?

Author

Maren Ishak
March 11, 2024

Good Morning,

This week's financial newsletter dives into global market updates and economic news. We'll explore Europe's record-breaking week, mixed signals from the US job market, and China's market response to government intervention. On the domestic front, we'll cover ANZ bank's rate cuts, the competition watchdog's decision on the ANZ-Suncorp merger, and upcoming investment opportunities in New Zealand.

Let’s jump in!

Before The Bell

Markets

  • The US unemployment rate rose to a two-year high of 3.9% in February, but wage growth slowed down. (TRP)

  • European stocks surged for a seventh week, with the STOXX 600 reaching a record high by gaining 1.14%. Major indexes followed suit, with Italy's FTSE MIB up 1.43%, France's CAC 40 up 1.18%, and Germany's DAX rising 0.45%, while the UK's FTSE 100 dipped 0.30%. (TRP)

  • Chinese mainland stock markets rose as the government’s recent market stabilization measures lifted investor confidence, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell. The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.63%, and the blue-chip CSI 300 added 0.2%. In contrast, the Hang Seng Index gave up 1.42%. (TRP)

Earnings & Data

  • Wellington port company CentrePort lifts half year profit, warns of tough times ahead (NBR)

  • ASB will drop its one-year rate by 10 basis points, to 7.29%. (Stuff)

  • A specialist in Taranaki geoscience is casting doubt on the benefits of a new gas well drilled in the Kupe field, 46% owned by Genesis Energy, saying remaining revenue from the field is unlikely to cover decommissioning costs. (NBR)

  • NZX-listed recruitment firm Accordant says its revenue from public sector contracting and permanent placements has fallen 15% year-on-year after the Coalition Government asked public sector agencies to cut back. (NBR)

  • ILT may be forced to hike prices as profit plunges 91% (Stuff)

  • Broadcom said it expects US$10 billion in revenue from chips related to artificial intelligence this year, but its stock dipped 6 per cent after its full-year forecast failed to impress investors (CRN)

News Summary

Monday

  • Inflation risks keep the RBNZ alert (NBR)

  • Planning begins for 'possible' visit by King Charles III to Australia this year (9 News)

  • Germany accuses Russia of waging an ‘information war’ after alleged military leak (Guardian)

Tuesday

  • Christopher Luxon is facing heightened pressure to upgrade the country’s ageing military equipment - including from his own deputy prime minister - as he seeks to balance the books with tax and spending cuts. (Stuff)

  • Former PwC Australia acting chief executive Kristin Stubbins says she is as frustrated as the politicians examining the firm’s tax leaks scandal that its international leaders refuse to release details of the involvement of overseas partners (AFR)

  • The US Supreme Court has unanimously sided with Donald Trump, allowing the former president to remain on the election ballot and reversing a Colorado ruling that disqualified him from returning to office because of his conduct around the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. (Stuff)

Wednesday

  • TVNZ is set to outline dozens of job cuts and possible changes to some of its biggest news and current affairs programmes, including the 6pm news. (Herald)

  • Emergency services are responding to reports of a chemical leak in Central Wellington this evening, where residents have been evacuated. (Herald)

  • Donald Trump met with billionaire Elon Musk in Florida over the weekend as the former Republican president seeks a major cash infusion for his re-election campaign, The New York Times reported. (Guardian)

Thursday

  • BNZ cuts home loan rates (Stuff)

  • Tesla quits Australia auto lobby over claims on car emission standards (RT)

  • China's exports top forecasts as global demand returns (RT)

Friday

  • CA ANZ calls for mandatory pay gap reporting in NZ. (NBR)

  • Westpac ditches PwC for KPMG. (AFR)

  • JPMorgan says China remains ‘irreplaceable’. (BBG)

Weekend

  • Government says tax relief for landlords will help renters (NBR)

  • Next stop 8000: bank rally powers ASX 200 to record (AFR)

  • Saudi Aramco boosts dividend despite drop in 2023 profit (RT)

Deal Flow

Investments / M&A

Australia & New Zealand

  • Saba Capital widens out Aussie hit list (AFR)

  • Creditors of collapsed cryptocurrency exchange Cryptopia are unlikely to receive a distribution until mid-2025, a High Court judgment says. (NBR)

  • The competition watchdog has admitted defeat in its efforts to stop ANZ’s $4.9 billion purchase of Suncorp’s banking business, and won’t appeal a decision to unblock the deal, ending one of the longest-running merger battles in decades. (AFR)

  • Less than 18 months after wrapping up its $1 billion take-private of aerial technology outfit Nearmap, San Francisco private equity outfit Thoma Bravo is back in Australia, setting its sights on financial software group and perennial underperformer Iress. (AFR)

  • After mulling over a sale for seven months, Global Infrastructure Partners is ready to pull the trigger at Pacific National, the country’s largest privately owned rail freight business. (AFR)

  • Embattled smash repairer AMA Group has fielded an approach from a syndicate led by Jim Vais and Mark Milliner, the businessmen who built its Capital SMART business under Suncorp’s ownership, and are keen to buy it back. (AFR)

  • Tsihlis has been trying to raise funding for a new venture, which is aiming to produce low-carbon steel and cement. It follows Tsihlis’ EV bus outfit GoZero Group finalising an $80 million facility from the Commonwealth Bank, and another of his investments, Metsquare, facing scrutiny over its dealings with the tax office. (AFR)

  • National Group founder and CEO Mark Ackroyd and major creditor OCP Asia are seeking to refinance the company’s syndicated asset-backed facility, and have started schmoozing credit funds in Australia and offshore for a $250 million deal. (AFR)

  • ASX-listed Inghams Group has said it intends to acquire 100 per cent of the Bostock Brothers organic chicken business for NZ$35.3 million. (NBR)

Key Global

  • Dutch pension fund ABP aims for $32.5 bln in 'impact' investments by 2030 (RT)

  • Warner Music plans 1.65 bln euro bid to buy France's Believe (RT)

Other Global

VC & Fundraising

  • Whether Dubber Corp lives or dies is up in the air, with the cloud-based call recording software group weighing a capital raising with the help of Unified Capital Partners. (AFR)

Equity Raises

Australia & New Zealand

  • Bhagwan Marine starts IPO preparations seeking a market capitalisation of A$250 million. (AFR)

  • Dicker Data’s co-founder, David Dicker, was seeking to offload 10.2 per cent of the company in a $200 million block trade launched after Tuesday’s closing bell. (AFR)

Key Global

  • Skincare business Galderma Group AG is looking to raise about $2.3 billion in what’s expected to be one of the largest listings in Europe this year, serving as a key test for the region’s initial public offering market. (BBG)

  • French Startup Raises $73 Million for Blockchain, AI Privacy (BBG)

Other Global

  • Indorama Ventures Pcl, Thailand’s second-largest chemical maker by market value, aims to raise about $700 million from the listing of its US unit next year after a record annual loss sparked a business overhaul. (BBG)

Debt, Restructuring & Bankruptcy

  • Israel raised a record $8 billion in its first international bond sale since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, with very high demand even after Moody's gave Israel its first ever sovereign credit rating downgrade last month. (RT)

The Daily Deck is sponsored by Industrial Equity, LLC

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