PRESS DIGEST-Australian Business News - Oct 30

Compiled for Reuters by Media Monitors. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW (www.afr.com)

Jan Cameron, co-founder of outdoor clothing retailer Kathmandu, yesterday continued her criticism of the companys float, saying that Kathmandu's high retail prices are not realistic in today's climate. The company was purchased by Quadrant Private Equity and Goldman Sachs JBWere in 2006 for A$223 million, and this week launched the retail section of its proposed A$375 million initial public offering. Page 43.

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Betfair Australasia Pty Ltd, the holding company for online betting exchange Betfair, has recorded a net loss of around A$11.8 million for the year to the end of April 2009, according to accounts filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Betfair's marketing costs increased to A$7.7 million for the year, up from A$1.3 million. Chief executive Andrew Twaits said the increased marketing costs followed the lifting of bans on interstate advertising. Page 43.

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Mining company Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) is relying on consultancies to gather data on Chinese steel and iron ore production growth rather than sending its own research and analysis team into the field. The change follows the arrest of Stern Hu in July, the Australian citizen who was in charge of Rio's Shanghai office where much of the data on China's steel industry was previously gathered. Rio's Chinese sales and marketing team have been relocated from Shanghai to Singapore following Mr Hu's arrest. Page 44.

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Power company AGL Energy's AGL.AX chief executive Michael Fraser yesterday said that the group had taken note of recent criticism of dilutionary institutional share placements. "We need to make sure we look after the interests of all shareholders," Mr Fraser said, noting that AGL has a large proportion of retail shareholders. AGL, which may require funds to pay for the acquisition of power assets in New South Wales, is likely to instead raise equity through a rights issue. Page 45.

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THE AUSTRALIAN (www.theaustralian.news.com.au)

The Australian sharemarket yesterday fell 2.4 percent, wiping A$30 billion off the value of stocks as fears grow that the equities market may have out-paced the global economic recovery. Investors switched to defensive investments on the news of weak economic data from the United States. The Australian dollar also fell to close at US89.92 cents as currency investors favoured the Japanese yen and the United States dollar. Page 21.

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The two-day bookbuild process has been completed for department store Myer's initial public offering, priced at A$4.10 after being offered at a range of between A$3.90 and A$4.90. The discounted price means Myer's private equity owners will miss out on as much as A$310 million in sale proceeds. Myer will publicly list on the Australian sharemarket on Monday, 2 November, becoming the sixth-largest float in Australian history at A$2.2 billion. Page 21.

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Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ.AX) chief executive Mike Smith has warned Australia's prudential regulator not to try and fix something that does not need fixing. Mr Smith made the comments after Australian Prudential Regulation Authority chairman John Laker said that despite surviving the ravages of the economic crisis, local banks will need to comply with tighter global standards. "We have to say our piece on this; there's not one size fits all," said Mr Smith. Page 21.