Retail spend drops 0.7% in December, Pratt heirs to float company: Economy roundup

In an unexpected development, retail turnover decreased by 0.7% in seasonally adjusted terms during December following a 1.5% increase in November, according to the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

In trend terms, spending for cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services increased by 1.4%, with household good retailing also increasing by 0.3%.

Food retailing grew by 0.2%, clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing by 0.2% and department stores by 0.1%. However, “other retailing” fell by 0.1%.

New South Wales spending increased by 0.7%, with Australian Capital Territory spending increasing by 0.4%. Spending increased by 0.4% in Northern Territory, 0.2% in Victoria, Western Australia by 0.2%, Tasmania by 0.1%, South Australia by 0.1%, while spending remained flat in Queensland.

Meanwhile, official figures show the seasonally adjusted estimate for the total number of dwelling units approved in December rose by 2.2% to 14,869.

For private sector houses, approvals rose by 3.1% after a decline in November, while the number of private sector “other dwellings” approved rose by 9.1%.

The seasonally adjusted estimate for the value of total building approvals fell by 3.7%, with the estimate for the value of new residential building increasing 3%. However, the estimate for the value of non-residential building declined by 9.4%.

Richard Pratt’s daughter to float company

As reported by the Australian Financial Review, Richard Pratt’s daughter and son-in-law are now planning to float their interest in their late father’s packaging company in order to expand.

The IPO is now expected to raise $1 billion, while Fiona and Raphael Geminder are now expected to sell about 50% of their share in the group, with the offering to occur in the middle of this year.

Billionaire Clive Palmer is hoping to raise $US3 billion for his Resourcehouse company through a Hong King listing along with gaining a number of seed investors, The Australian has reported.

Palmer reportedly hopes to list the company as part of a plan to raise money from Asian markets to fund several new mines. It is understood he is flaying to Hong Kong and China in order to meet with investors.

“I can’t say what we are raising in the IPO, but we may expand the capital of the company by more than $US3 billion, and not necessarily (all) by the IPO,” Palmer told the paper.

Department store giant Myer has said it expects earnings before interest and tax for the first half of the 2010 financial year to rise by over 10%, with the company recording a 2% increase in revenue to $1.8 billion.

“Against a backdrop of unprecedented early and deep discounting in the retail sector in the run up to Christmas, we now expect to achieve growth in EBIT in excess of 10 per cent for the first half, and a continuing improvement in EBIT to sales margin,” chief executive Bernie Brookes said in a statement to the ASX.

“Following a solid performance in the first half, we remain confident of delivering EBIT of $261 million for the full year.”

Brookes said this result comes after the company has embarked on a number of cost control and inventory management measures.

Shares fall due to Wall Street declines

The Australian share market has opened lower today due to falls on Wall Street after the US service businesses recorded lower-than-expected growth.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 38 points or 0.82% to 4609.6 at 12.00 AEST, while the Australian dollar opened slightly higher to US88c.

Commonwealth Bank shares fell 0.3% to $53.32, while NAB shares also fell 0.6% to $25.74. ANZ dropped 0.8% to $21.59, as Westpac lost 0.4% to $23.38.

CSR shares have dropped over 8% to $1.69 after the Federal Court blocked its plans for demerging the company, separating its sugar business as a separate entity.

The company has said it will examine the judgement and will “advise the market when it has further considered all legal and commercial aspects of the matter”.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has said it will appeal a Federal Court ruling which has cleared iron ore giant Fortescue Metals of deceptive and misleading conduct.

“It is part of ASIC’s regulatory role to ensure that the laws which impose obligations on listed companies and their executives to keep the market properly informed, are properly enforced, including by the exercise of its appeal rights,” ASIC said in a statement.

“ASIC considers that the findings of Justice Gilmour raise important issues as to the proper interpretation and application of provisions of the Corporations Act that govern company announcements such as the misleading and deceptive conduct provisions, the continuous disclosure provisions, and directors’ duties.”

Obama plays tough with Toyota

In the US, president Barack Obama has taken a hard stance on automaker Toyota, with the White House saying the company must address its latest safety issues after a number of customers have complained of serious brake issues. 

“Our … people will hold Toyota’s feet to the fire to make sure they are going to do everything they said they were going to do to make the vehicles safe,” US transportation secretary Ray LaHood has told reporters.

He also emphasised he would be calling Toyota president Akio Toyoda to show him how seriously the administration is taking the safety concerns.

 On Wall Street, stocks have dropped due to a decline in health-related stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 21.91 points or 0.21% to 10,274.93.