THE NEWS WRAP: iiNet founder Michael Malone resigns

The founder of iiNet, Michael Malone, has stood aside from the internet and telecommunications company he launched 20 years ago.

According to a report in SmartCompany, iiNet’s acting chief executive and chief financial officer, David Buckingham, has taken over Malone’s role, with the move potentially being announced as early as today.

The move would potentially pave the way for a merger between iiNet and low-cost rival TPG.

Myer chief says no need for merger despite half-year profit slide

Myer has reported an 8.1% half-year slide in net profits to $81 million, with aggressive discounting before Christmas eating into the department store chain’s bottom line.

Despite the result, Myer chief Bernie Brookes says the company doesn’t necessarily need a $3.2 billion merger with rival David Jones to achieve growth.

“If it [the merger] doesn’t go ahead, if nothing happens in the next six months, ideally we have two new stores opening, an extension to Myer Melbourne, we’ve got three refurbishments finished and an exceptional opportunity to really drive the department store business and we have got a robust and growing online business.

“I think our top-line growth is certainly on track for 2015 to harvest a lot of the benefits of the money that we have spent.”

Federal Treasury job cuts on the cards

Outgoing Treasury Secretary Martin Parkinson has said the department would need to slash its workforce by one-third in order to meet budget cuts, despite having already cut staff numbers from a 2011 peak of over 1000.

“Clearly, since we don’t control the responsibilities given to us by government, change of this magnitude means delivering similar outcomes in a very different manner.

“In the past, our response to increased demands was to increase our efforts: by working harder and longer.

“Needless to say, this is not sustainable, and it also crowds out any attempts to think differently – and smarter – about prioritising our resources.”

Overnight

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up to 16331.0. The Aussie dollar is up to US90.43 cents.