Chicken franchise with 200 stores reported to be up for sale: Midday roundup

Australian chicken shop franchise Lenard’s is rumoured to be up for sale with reports it’s assessing its sale options with Ernst and Young.

The Australian Financial Review‘s Street Talk reported this morning Lenard’s is considering selling the business.

Founder of Lenard’s, Lenard Poulter, has a 58% stake in the business and there are 200 franchises nationally.

The Australian Financial Review reported it could be valued at up to $50 million.

Business credit up in April

Total credit to the private sector has increased by 0.3% in April, bringing the year-to-date total to a rise of 3.1%, according to the latest Reserve Bank of Australia figures.

Business credit has risen by 0.2% in April, after a minor decrease in March, with the total for year so far up 1.4%.

Housing credit is also on the up, rising 0.4% in April, with a total housing credit for the first four months of the year up 4.5%.

Other personal credit was also up with a comparatively smaller increase of 0.2% in April, but the year-to-date total so far remains in the negative, down 0.2%

Mining sector productivity declining, Productivity Commission report

In the latest blow to the mining sector, a new report has found a serious decline in productivity of the sector, giving extra weight to forecasts the end of the mining boom is here.

A draft report from the commission has called for the streamlining of regulations between the states, territories and the Commonwealth to help reduce costs.

“Operating costs are rising, rates of discovery are falling and Australia is becoming relatively less attractive to international firms as an exploration destination,” the report says.

The report found the number of new discovering has been declining for the past decade, despite an increase in exploration expenditure.

With the current decline in discoveries, the commission found nearly half of the largest mineral mines would exhaust their supply of resource deposits by 2025.

Shares flat on weak offshore leads

The Australian sharemarket has opened flat today following a weak lead from offshore markets. Mining companies have recorded some gains, offsetting falls among banks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 2.4 points or 0% to 4,933.1 at 12.05 AEST, while in the United States the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 21.7 points or 0.1% to 15,324.5.

The Australian dollar gained some ground to US96 cents.