Myer opens retail share offer, Trade deficit falls during August, Shares climb: Economy Roundup

Myer is set to open the retail component of its initial public offering today, with only holders of its Myer One loyalty card able to take part in the float.

But the demand is set to be big, with a spokesperson telling The Age that over 11,000 members have joined within the last week. Members are entitled to a maximum share worth $25,000, with the offer to close on 23 October.

“There was substantial demand from brokers for the broker firm offer, which had to be heavily scaled back,” chief executive Bernie Brookes said in a statement yesterday.

The company has said stock will be split evenly between retail and institutional investors.

Myer is offering up to 499.5 million shares worth between $3.90 and $4.90. The final draft of the prospectus is to be mailed to investors today, with trading expected to commence on the ASX on 2 November.

New figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that in seasonally adjusted terms, the balance on goods and services was a deficit of $1.5 billion in August, down 15% from a revised deficit during July.

In seasonally adjusted terms for exports, goods and services credits fell $357 million to $19 billion. Non-rural goods fell $318 million, rural goods fell $62 million and non-monetary gold fell $6 million. Services credits rose $29 million.

In seasonally adjusted imports, goods and services debits fell $615 million to $20 billion. Intermediate and other merchandise goods fell $729 million with the fuels and lubricants component down $592 million and consumption goods fell $305 million.

VHA makes 320 staff redundant

Meanwhile, Vodafone Hutchison Australia has made 320 staff redundant during the first phase of the company’s merger, a spokesperson has told ZDNet.com.au.

The redundancies, which were forecast by the company earlier this year, saw head and state office workers reapply for roles and were completed by the end of September.

The company is also looking to consolidate many of it business operations, including merging two Sydney office locations and dropping an out-sourced call centre in Melbourne.

The Australian sharemarket has opened higher today after positive results on Wall Street, where optimistic economic data helped erase some of the past week’s losses.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 42.7 points or 0.93% to 4616 at 12.00 AEST. The Australian dollar also gained some ground to US87c.

ANZ shares rose 0.7% to $23.27, while Commonwealth Bank shares also grew 0.9% to $50.15. Westpac shares gained 2.3% to $25.24, as NAB gained 0.7% to $29.40.

Energy retailer Origin has posted an underlying profit of $530 million for the year ending 30 June, with the company also predicting earnings growth of up to 15% of the 2010 financial year. Net profit was $6.94 billion.

“A number of projects Origin has been developing are expected to make initial or significantly increased contributions to financial performance in the coming financial year,” Origin said in a statement on Tuesday.

Earth-moving equipment manufacturer Caterpillar has said it will raise prices by up to 2% on most of its machinery next year.

The company said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that the decision would reflect “current industry factors and current and expected general economic conditions”.

Murdoch says newspaper advertising recovering

Also in the US, News Corporation chief executive Rupert Murdoch told The Australian that he believes the newspaper and television advertising markets are beginning to rebound.

“It may be that (internet advertising) has become something of a secular trend, but we are seeing newspaper advertising coming back, though not yet to its previous levels,” he said.

On Wall Street, stocks rose overnight due to positive comments from brokerage firms regarding the health of the banks, while data from the US Conference Board showed positive activity in the job market. The Institute of Supply Management also gave indications the US services sector has improved.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 112.08 points or 1.18% to 9599.75 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 15.24 points or 1.49% to 1040.45.