• Read my latest article for the Australian titled, Why the onward march of AI and the tech titans demands change READ NOW

Companies

  • Are we ready for Netflix and who might benefit?

    Scott Shuttleworth
    November 27, 2014

    Just the other day we met with two executives from Village Roadshow Limited (ASX: VRL), Graham Burke, Managing Director and Adrian Fernando from investor relations, to discuss some of the trends in their business. It was quite an interesting meeting.

    Although it was a bit of speed date – trying to fit in six company meetings in a day – we did spend a reasonable amount of time understanding not only their opportunities for development of theme/water parks in South East Asia, but also on the future of content delivery in Australia. continue…

    by Scott Shuttleworth Posted in Companies, Media Companies, Technology & Telecommunications.

  • Is Aldi a real threat to Woolworths & Coles?

    Russell Muldoon
    November 26, 2014

    In recent weeks you have probably noticed a dramatic increase in the volatility of Woolworths Limited (ASX:WOW) share price and wondered: what has changed recently?  The answer is that something has caused the market to re-think the longer-term prospects of the business.

    The detail is found in a very insightful conference call we had recently with the former head of Aldi UK, Paul Foley. continue…

    by Russell Muldoon Posted in Companies, Consumer discretionary, Insightful Insights, Investing Education.

  • Joining the NAB Class Action?

    Roger Montgomery
    November 25, 2014

    Because the Federal Court has ruled that NAB is not required to email every account holder, you may not know that you may be entitled to compensation if you have been charged exception fees and join the class action.   NAB customers who have been charged exception fees are entitled to join the class action. The window to join re-opens today at www.financialredress.com.au.

    continue…

    by Roger Montgomery Posted in Companies, Financial Services.

  • What is happening in the retail sector?

    Russell Muldoon
    November 20, 2014

    Asset prices are well-up on just a few years ago. No matter which way you cut the data, both the property and share markets have performed strongly.  And so the economic theory goes: that if you feel wealthy, you’ll act wealthy and go out and spend. Exactly what a low interest rate envrionment – the one we are in now – is supposed to encourage.

    But unlike past economic cycles, where the wealth effect has translated into the withdrawal of equity to be used on consumption of new furniture or a stereo for example, our listed retailers tell a different picture about the health of the Australian economy.

    continue…

    by Russell Muldoon Posted in Companies, Consumer discretionary, Insightful Insights, Investing Education.

  • Expensive Pizza

    Tim Kelley
    November 19, 2014

    Domino’s Pizza (ASX:DMP) has been one of the standout success stories on the ASX in recent years. The business has achieved excellent financial metrics with good earnings growth, and shareholders have enjoyed exceptional returns over many years, with a +60 per cent share price gain in the past 12 months alone.

    However, while we applaud the management of the business for excellent financial performance over this period, we wonder whether the share market might have pushed Dominos beyond a sensible valuation range. continue…

    by Tim Kelley Posted in Companies, Consumer discretionary, Insightful Insights, Investing Education.

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    INTEREST RATES, THE BEST IT GETS. IT’S TIME TO DEPLOY CASH

    Curious about the investment landscape in 2024? It appears that the current market offers a plethora of enticing opportunities for investors, a rarity not experienced since pre-pandemic times. This unique scenario stems from a confluence of factors, including elevated yields and comparatively rational equity valuations.

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  • AFR: Just how good are our banks

    David Buckland
    November 13, 2014

    The Australian Financial Review’s Jeremy Chunn published an excellent piece this week taking a look at the major banks. With full-year results for three of the four major banks delivered in the past two weeks, Jeremy asked five professional investors for their outlook on the sector. This included a London-based analyst for perspective on the value of Australian banks ­relative to international peers.

    The Montgomery team has generated meaningful insights from our research and analysis of the banking space and the impact of the changes emanating from the Financial System Inquiry.  Read the article to below to find out which bank is the stand out pick in an industry facing increasing challenges.

     Click here to read the article on the AFR’s site.

    Please note, you may need to be an AFR subscriber to view this article.

    by David Buckland Posted in Companies, Financial Services, Insightful Insights, Montgomery News and Updates.

  • Stress Testing The Banks

    David Buckland
    November 12, 2014

    Wayne Byres, Chairman of Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) recently made a mockery of the Banks’ self-administered stress tests. continue…

    by David Buckland Posted in Companies, Financial Services, Insightful Insights, Montgomery News and Updates.

  • Darth Veda

    Russell Muldoon
    November 7, 2014

    Veda Group Limited (VED) is one of the more successful IPO’s we have participated in recently. Listing in early December 2013 at $1.25 the stock went on to subsequently double in price hitting a high of $2.55 just a few months later.

    Adding to this success was the exceptional 2014 full year results that came in ahead of the prospectus guidance, producing one of the best reports over the August reporting season. continue…

    by Russell Muldoon Posted in Companies, Insightful Insights, Market Valuation.

  • The Financial System Inquiry

    David Buckland
    November 5, 2014

    I sat next to David Murray AO, Chairman of the Financial Services Inquiry (FSI), at a breakfast meeting yesterday and I understand his final report is scheduled for presentation to Treasurer Hockey before the end of the month.

    David is a quiet and very thoughtful guy and with a chuckle he said, “I have been trying to leak the recommendations of the FSI but no one seems to be listening”. continue…

    by David Buckland Posted in Companies, Financial Services, Insightful Insights, Value.able.

  • Sirtex: A bright future

    Russell Muldoon
    October 29, 2014

    Yesterday, Sirtex (ASX: SRX) held their AGM, where CEO Gilman Wong provided an excellent address containing a lot of quality information for investors. We thought it was worth sharing some of his insights here.

    Among other things, he provided an update on how the business is travelling year-to-date (YTD). Given they are no longer providing quarterly updates, this was a nice-to-have – especially when others speak of key trials, management expectations and future business prospects.

    Also, for the first time Gilman presented some information surrounding completely new treatments SRX has been developing in conjunction with universities (some of which we, even after following the business closely for many years) were unaware of.

    From the 26-page presentation, these are the comments and slides that caught our attention.

    • The 2014 financial year was a highly productive period for Sirtex, as we recorded our 40th consecutive quarter of growth in sales of SIR-Spheres microspheres. We are proud of our growth record and I am pleased to say this trend is continuing and at close of business yesterday YTD dose sales were up 28.7 per cent on the same period last year. Our goal now is to launch our business higher into new levels of growth.
    • More and more medical professionals around the world are beginning to realise the enormous potential of our targeted liver cancer therapy to treat a wide range of patients and are hence making the decision to use SIR-Spheres microspheres.
    • It is worth noting the news announced a few weeks ago that ESMO, the European Society for Medical Oncology, has identified SIR-Spheres Y90 resin microspheres as an appropriate treatment for patients with colorectal liver metastases that have failed to respond to chemotherapy. We believe the new ESMO clinical guidelines will have a positive effect on improving patient access to SIR-Spheres microspheres across Europe.
    • Sirtex’s business in the Asia Pacific is still very much in its infancy but has enormous potential and we continue to create a foothold in new markets.
    • Sirtex believes the SIRFLOX result should be positive. This is an evidence based view, founded on the results of six previously completed, albeit smaller clinical studies and the results of two large scale retrospective analyses which were all positive. Indeed, to date there has not been a failed study of SIR-Spheres microspheres.
    • A positive result however, should see an acceleration in dose sales growth rates, and potentially a step change in growth in terms of multiples of our current dose sales. Growth is not expected to be instantaneous, but rather a ramp up over ensuing years.
    • Several years ago we initiated a clinical study strategy involving five major studies. Unlike many companies that rely on one study, Sirtex has covered many bases and the results of each of our studies can provide significant impact. As our large global studies in metastatic colorectal cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma progress towards completion, we are broadening our focus beyond the liver towards the potential use of SIR-Spheres microspheres to treat cancers in other organs. Leading this program is our RESIRT study investigating the use of SIR-Spheres microspheres in kidney cancer patients. Other studies are planned and we will be providing details once these are confirmed.
    • During the year, two new hot cells have been installed in our expanded US facility in Wilmington and the fit-out of our new German manufacturing plant in Frankfurt is on time and on budget. We are well prepared to meet the anticipated sales growth in our current market and new markets.
    • Looking to the future, we are working on some highly promising technologies. A good example is the Carbon Cage Nanotechnology that we are developing with the Australian National University. Carbon Cage Nanoparticles can carry a high internal payload of radioactive material which is encapsulated in an outer carbon shell. This carbon shell is chemically inert and possesses ideal properties for the attachment of coatings for a variety of purposes, for example to target specific cancers or to impart stealth-like properties, thereby enhancing their ability to evade detection by the immune system. Carbon Cage Technology could be used in a range of new diagnostic or therapeutic agents with unique characteristics compared to the current state of the art. Our collaboration with the National Cancer Centre of Singapore is to investigate the application of the Carbon Cage Nanotechnology to prevent spread of metastasis after surgery to treat ovarian cancer.
    • All of our research programs have the potential to equal or exceed the market potential for SIR-Spheres microspheres.

     

    And perhaps the most important of all of these is the following:

    • Together with our customers and collaborators in the medical community, Sirtex shares a common vision where cancer is a treatable chronic condition that patients can successfully live with or be cured from. It is an ambitious goal but one for which there are many precedents. Diseases like HIV, diabetes and heart disease were all considered terminal conditions a few decades ago. Advances in medicine have seen these conditions become chronic conditions people can successfully live with. With liver cancer, we are witnessing a growing body of independent medical evidence that indicates an increasing number of patients are now able to live with their disease. These good outcomes are due to a number of medical innovations which includes SIR-Spheres microspheres.
    • To date we have supplied more than 45,000 doses of SIR-Spheres microspheres globally. One of the people to have been treated with SIR-Spheres microspheres is a woman in Melbourne, Elizabeth Deylen. In 2012, Elizabeth was told she had stage four bowel cancer with metastases to her liver and that she had only a few months to live. She was treated with SIR-Spheres microspheres prescribed by medical oncologist Professor Peter Gibbs and his team at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. Two years on and Elizabeth no longer has signs of cancer in her liver and she recently celebrated her 50th birthday in Bali with her family.

    What an exciting, Australian-made medical device.

    2910_srx

    by Russell Muldoon Posted in Companies, Health Care, Insightful Insights.