Executive Summary: July 08, 2010
By SCOTT ROCHFORT | smh.com.au | 08 July
CBD
Rupert and prince chase an Arabian fox
Freedom has finally come to the people of the Arab world. News Corp's main Saudi Arabian shareholder, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, on Tuesday announced plans - in partnership with Rupert Murdoch- to launch a 24-hour news channel to rival Al Jazeera, which is based in Qatar.
''We no longer have a void in the Arab world as it is now heavily occupied, therefore the new news channel is going to become an addition and an alternative for viewers,'' explained the prince in a statement issued by the Kingdom Holding Company.
The move comes four months after News Corp - which owns the ''fair and balanced'' Fox News network - took a 9 per cent stake in Prince Alwaleed's Rotana media group.
Arab-speaking people will finally have the chance to ''decide'' when a 24-hour TV news channel ''reports''. Possible suggestions for segments on the new channel could include The King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Factor and Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz & Friends.
WAYNE'S WORD
Cudeco shareholders will have to continue to rely on the description by their chairman, Wayne McCrae (given in 2007), of the copper explorer's main deposit as being as good as a ''dog with two dicks''.
Yesterday the Gold Coast-domiciled company again delayed the release of its much anticipated Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC) compliant resource statement on its Rocklands deposit.
''To shareholders I can only apologise, but having said that, we have waited 3½ years for the new resource, so a little longer is what we have. I can't do much more than apologise, but these things happen. It is better to find out now rather than later,'' explained McCrae in an update.
Cudeco blamed the delay on the independent consultants assessing the deposit being unable to ''recommence the resource estimation'' on the latest set of cobalt samples from Rocklands until after July 19.
The apology came after Cudeco stated last week: ''We have had no advise [sic] from our consultants indicating that the date for receipt of the updated resource is going to be later than the 7th July 2010.''
In January McCrae said the independent JORC statement would be available later that month in its quarterly review. But when the review was released on January 28, McCrae explained: ''Given the size and complexity of the Rocklands project, completing a resource statement in the given timeframe was always going to be a difficult task, but one we fully intended to achieve.''
At the annual shareholder meeting in November 2007, McCrae had promised Cudeco would release its JORC statement in early 2008.
In late 2007 the company also signalled its intention to start mining in November last year. Shares in the company surged in mid-2006 when Cudeco said it was sitting on 59 million tonnes of copper ore. This figure was more than halved in 2008. No firm update has been provided since.
SUPER NEEDS
McCrae, who saw the value of his Cudeco stake slip more than $8 million after yesterday's share plunge, also appears to be laying the groundwork for his retirement.
Last month McCrae and his wife, Cheryl, registered the business McCrae Super Pty Ltd.
GREEK NEWS
The local Greek media has belatedly expressed dismay over the collapse of Storm Financial.
''A Greek rich man lost the money of 14,000 investors,'' read a headline on the English-language Greek Reporter website earlier this week.
''Emmanuel Cassimatis and his wife, Julie, were the jetsetting founders of this firm which had 14,000 clients when it went bankrupt,'' explained the story.
''The Storm investors borrowed money to buy shares but when the worldwide financial crisis bursted [sic], they lost $3 billion in Australia,'' it went on. ''Apart from Storm, they also put the blame on the Commonwealth Bank.''
Seems a fairly reasonable summary of the past year's events. The Greek Reporter is also carrying the story: ''Hottest Greek mum shares her beauty secrets.''
SKILL UPGRADE
Corporate undertakers have been placed under even more pressure to hone their skills in the current rocky financial climate. Thankfully, the Insolvency Practitioners Association has put on some extra training sessions. Later this month the association will hold a wine tasting in Sydney for young professionals in need of gaining a better understanding of their expensive wines.
''What is the difference between pinot grigio and pinot gris, and just how do they get the bubbles in sparkling wine?'' asks the registration form for the training session.
WHITE FLAG
The technology company chaired by the former Howard government minister Jim Short has finally raised the white flag.
Eight years and $15.9 million of losses since its listing, Iatia Limited is seeking the support of its shareholders for a plan to sell its core imaging business (and key imaging algorithm patent) in return for a 5.17 per cent stake in the John Fick-headed Sydney IT firm Thorsol.
Iatia, whose shares have been suspended from trading since January, says the stake will be worth $3.68 million.
Once Thorsol completes its proposed reverse takeover of the ASX-listed dog Azurn International, Iatia says it then plans to sell $200,000 worth of Thorsol shares to help pay down its debts.
''In this way, shareholders can continue to participate in the continued growth of Iatia Imaging Pty Ltd as well as the Thorsol Group and its technology portfolio,'' Iatia said in the notice of meeting sent to its long-suffering shareholders yesterday.
Iatia said it planned to remain a listed shell and ''until such time as a suitable business can be found to inject into Iatia Ltd via a reverse takeover''. Sounds promising. Iatia shareholders will also be asked to support the issue of 10.2 million shares (at 1¢ each) to the directors who have lent money to the company.
At least Short is still standing, unlike many of his colleagues from the conservative side of politics who have been stuck in the middle of several embarrassing corporate collapses. These include the former MFS chairman and ex-Liberal Party leader Andrew Peacock, the Asset Loans chairman and ex-Queensland Premier Rob Borbidge and the City Pacific director and ex-federal treasurer of the Liberal Party Shane Stone. The former Liberal leader John Hewson also chaired the failed Elderslie Finance.
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First published by Smh.com.au on July 08 2010
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