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Good Morning,

Apple has begun testing speedy new M3 chips as it pursues a Mac comeback, Stats NZ said gross domestic product (GDP) fell a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent in the three months ended December, the NZ government has announced plans to improve competition in the building supplies industry, and kiwi sprint star Zoe Hobbs wins the women’s 100m sprint final at the Seiko Golden Prix in Yokohama.

Let’s jump in!

Before The Bell

Markets

• Falling bond yields, fear over the US debt ceiling and an end to the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate tightening cycle have created a “near enough perfect backdrop” for the gold price to forge a record high, according to analysts at Macquarie (AFR)

• National Australia Bank has lifted its expectation that the cash rate could rise two more times to repel still-high inflation as the US debt ceiling stand-off added to worries about the prospect of a recession (AFR)

• The futures market is betting whole milk powder prices will rise at the Global Dairy Trade auction this week (Stuff)

• International investors look poised to reverse a decade of disinvestment from Italian government bonds, as high yields and encouraging economic reports spur demand for the debt, latest data shows and analysts say. (RT)

• New Zealand will avoid a recession as more tourist arrivals, cyclone recovery and government spending support growth, according to Treasury Department forecasts (BBG)

• Big European companies have delivered significantly stronger than expected first-quarter results, defying a challenging economic backdrop that includes surging inflation and rising interest rates (RT)

Earnings & Data

• Auckland-based space-tech company Zenno Astronautics has exceeded $75 million in sales, as the company aims to rapidly expand and support its mission to build life in space. (NBR)

• Serko reported revenue of $48m (NZD), a 154% YoY increase and 79% higher than its previous record year. It also improved its earnings and net losses by 23% and 15% (NBR)

• Beef giant AACo has warned mass slaughters of US and South Korean cattle could result in a short-term glut of meat in some markets, but long-term rewards (AFR)

• KMD chief executive Michael Daly revealed group sales in the three months to April 30 were 15.6 per cent higher, while revenue was up 27.7 per cent over the nine months year-to-date (AFR)

• Trans-Tasman retirement village operator Ryman Healthcare made an after-tax profit of $257.8​ million in the financial year ending March 31 (Stuff)

• My Food Bag has reported a net profit of $7.9 million for its 2023 financial year, compared to $20m the year earlier, as customers adjusted to a cost-of-living crunch. The business has advised of its plans to delist from the ASX to save money (Stuff)

• Ryman profit drops, but result reveals Aussies paying less to live in retirement villages than New Zealanders (Stuff)

• My Food Bag is reducing staff, suspending its dividend and stepping up promotion of its most affordable Bargain Box meal kit as a cost of living crisis dents demand, pushing down annual profit 61% (Stuff)

News Summary

Monday

• A powerful cyclone has hit the coastlines of Bangladesh and Myanmar after intensifying into the equivalent of a category-five storm (BBC)

• The former heads of two failed banks in the United States look set to be grilled this week, as politicians assess the collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank (NBR)

• Apple has begun testing speedy new M3 chips as it pursues a Mac comeback (BBG)

Tuesday

• A resident of a Wellington hostel where a fatal fire occurred in the early hours of Tuesday morning said the fire alarms often went off, but not when they were most needed. (RNZ)

• Stats NZ said gross domestic product (GDP) fell a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent in the three months ended December, after a revised gain of 1.7 percent in the previous quarter. (RNZ)

• Britain’s economy lost another half a million working days to strikes in March amid the most severe round of industrial action in nearly four decades. (BBG)

Wednesday

• A homicide investigation has been launched around the suspected arson of Loafers Lodge (Stuff)

• The NZ government has announced plans to improve competition in the building supplies industry (Stuff)

• Australian worker’s wages have risen by the highest amount in 10 years (9 News)

Thursday

• Small caps investment house Eley Griffiths Group is so saddened to see its star stock picks sail away to bigger indices that it’s setting up a new fund to tag along for a ride (AFR)

• Forestry industry figures are “delighted” at the resumption of trade with China, but timber processors say Australia should only export what cannot be used locally as the country faces a housing shortage (AFR)

• Xero’s $77.9 million impairment of its Planday business is “disappointing”, according to new CEO Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, who described the recently-acquired workforce management platform as having gone through a year of transition (NBR)

Friday

• Switched-on Crusaders crush Moana Pasifika to continue Super Rugby charge (Stuff)

• Air China Ltd. has swamped an Australian flight school with a request for commercial pilots, a sudden demand that points to a looming rebound as the vast Chinese market resumes international travel (BBG)

• AMP fined $24 million AUD for charging dead people insurance premiums, financial advice fees (9 News)

Weekend

• Ukraine confirms its still fighting for control of the eastern city of Bakhmut (RT)

• Kiwi sprint star Zoe Hobbs wins the women’s 100m sprint final at the Seiko Golden Prix in Yokohama (Stuff)

• Buy now pay later is going to be regulated under credit laws, and companies operating in the sector will be required to ensure that products are suitable for their users in accordance with responsible lending responsibilities (AFR)

Deal Flow

Investments / M&A

Australia & New Zealand

• Newcrest Mining’s board said it plans to accept Newmont Mining’s $26.2 billion takeover bid, with junior gold miner Genesis Mining also sweetening its bid for St Barabara’s Gwalia mine in Western Australia (AFR)

• Two of Australia’s leading food and restaurant technology start-ups are looking at merging, with Melbourne-based Mr Yum and Sydney’s me&u engaged in negotiations about creating one company (AFR)

• TPG Capital has returned with an improved A$1.9 billion bid for InvoCare, Australia’s largest funeral provider (AFR)

• Suncorp and ANZ will point to the difficulties regional banks face in competing against larger rivals – specifically persistently higher funding costs – as part of a last ditch effort to be given approval for a $3.5 billion sale of the former’s banking division to the latter. (AFR)

• PEP, Igneo power up $400m LMS Energy auction (AFR)

• ANZ’s proposed $4.9 billion acquisition of Suncorp’s bank faced Senate suspicion on Thursday about whether regional bank branches could be closed soon after the merger (AFR)

• The national kapa haka organisation, Te Matatini,has received a $17 million per year increase in funding in the Budget (Stuff)

Key Global

• Microsoft Corp.’s $69 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard Inc. won European Union approval, putting the bloc at odds with its UK and US counterparts. (BBG)

• Elon Musk’s X Corp., the parent company of Twitter, has made its first acquisition: a tech talent recruiting service called Laskie, according to a person familiar with the matter. (BBG)

• European Biotech firm Argenx is a potential target for many biotechs with a price of around $23B (USD)

• Taurus Funds Management are debating exiting its 70% stake in Queensland’s Foxleight metallurgical coal mine (AFR)

• Executive search group Profusion Group has acquired trade player Kennedy Reid (AFR)

• Korean Air Lines Co. was handed a warning from European Union regulators that its plan to acquire smaller South Korean rival Asiana Airlines Inc. for 1.8 trillion won ($1.4 billion) would harm competition unless the firms allay antitrust concerns (BBG)

• Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX is seeking to claw back more than $240 million USD it paid for stock trading platform Embed, saying former FTX insiders did no investigation before buying the essentially worthless bug-ridden software platform (RT)

• Brookfield Asset Management will sell two commercial properties in India to a partnership of its locally listed REIT Brookfield India and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC in a deal with an enterprise value of $1.4 billion USD (RT)

• Yandex NV has received bids from billionaires Vladimir Potanin and Vagit Alekperov to buy a controlling stake in Russia’s dominant search engine that value the company’s Russian assets at about $7 billion USD, according to people familiar with the matter (BBG)

VC & Fundraising

• Appen seeks $60m to recast itself for the ChatGPTera (AFR)

• Tyndall AM is starting a small caps fund and wants to raise $800m (AUD) (AFR)

• Crypto investment firm Hashkey Group plans to raise funds at a valuation above $1 billion USD, taking advantage of Hong Kong’s digital asset push to try and entice potential investors (BBG)

Equity Raises

Australia & New Zealand

• Cuscal Limited, the end-to-end payments outfit owned by MasterCard, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank and most of the big credit unions, is eyeing an ASX float which would value the business at up to A$500 million (AFR)

• Fund managers are evaluating two capital raisings on Tuesday as Nuchev and Intra Energy chase equity. (AFR)

• Galan Lithium is preparing for a $25m + (AUD) capital raise. It has broker Canaccord Genuity helping (AFR)

Key Global

• Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. will explore initial public offerings for its logistics and grocery arms while hiving off its $12 billion cloud business, kicking off the first phase of a much-anticipated breakup to try and revive anemic revenue growth (BBG)

• Pfizer In is planning to raise $31 billion through its largest debt offering to finance its proposed acquisition of Seagen Inc (SGEN.O), the drugmaker said late on Tuesday (RT)

• Planisware is working with investment bankers on strategic options, including a stock market listing of the French software group, four people familiar with the matter told Reuters (RT)

• Syngenta Group is preparing to move forward with plans for its initial public offering, less than two months after the Shanghai stock exchange abruptly canceled the firm’s hearing to join the Nasdaq-like Star board (BBG)

Debt, Restructuring & Bankruptcy

• Vice Media Group, popular for websites such as Vice and Motherboard, filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday to engineer its sale to a group of lenders, capping years of financial difficulties and top-executive departures. (RT)

• The parent company of failed controversial payday lender, Moola, has been placed into liquidation. (NBR)

• Pfizer have sold $31B (USD) of bonds (BBG)

• Billionaire Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta Group is looking to free up cash and raise funds, possibly via a loan, as its $500 million junk-rated bond matures at the end of this month (BBG)

• Wall Street Fears $1 Trillion Aftershock From Debt Deal (BBG)

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

The Daily Deck is sponsored by Industrial Equity, LLC