Quote of the day, Woodside's way
What do all these immortals share in common? They have been privileged enough to share space with two even greater leaders, Woodside executives Peter Coleman and Vince Santostefano, on giant banners dominating the foyer of the gas producer's headquarters in Perth.
Each enormous placard features an inspirational quote designed, no doubt, to provoke Woodside's employees to ever higher peaks of achievement. For example, Curie's poster quotes her as saying: "The way of progress is neither swift nor easy." That's something those working on Woodside's gargantuan Browse project, or its pantagruelian Sunrise field, would already know.
There are murmurs abroad that Browse, Australia's second-biggest LNG project (after the ginormous Gorgon) might not go ahead, while Sunrise has long been mired in disputes with the East Timorese government.
The North Korean-style display apparently formed part something called the Woodside Compass, a little blue book of maxims to live by that includes such catchy aphorisms as: "We make and execute decisions in line with our business priorities and our values." On Saturday, alas, the banners came down, leaving Woodside's worker ants to struggle on as best they can without the inspirational words of their glorious, yet modest, leaders to inspire and correct them.
Flight fright
During Senate estimates hearings last week, the competition czar Rod Sims was asked by the Victorian Liberal Senator Scott Ryan if new laws against unfair contract terms have had any impact yet. Ryan was particularly interested to know if the ACCC had turned its eagle eye to refunds by large airlines.
It turns out that airlines' ticketing policies are not a major area of focus. This is unfortunate because one of CBD's colleagues is still reeling from the news that it would cost $667.11 to redeem a Qantas voucher worth $475. Yes, $667.11 on top of the fare paid.
The problem is that the ticket was originally booked in the spouse's name. Here's how one of chief Qantas pilot Alan Joyce's helpful staff broke it down: a $65 change fee, plus a $40 local service fee, plus an $80 name-change fee, plus $482.11 to upgrade the original saver-fare to a fare that can be changed. No. No unfairness here.
Glory, hallelujah
It's not just the Australian Federal Police who have taken a shine to Perth Glory's owner Tony Sage.
Readers may recall that the boys in blue dropped in to Sage's Perth offices for a cup of tea and a bikkie before Christmas as part of an acronym soup operation involving ASIC, the ATO and the ACCC.
A raid of a different kind on Thursday probably presented more welcome news: an unknown party piled into the market to snap up more than 5 million shares, worth about $1.1 million, in Sage's Cape Lambert Resources.
The unexpected buying spree, believed to be run through Commsec's institutional desk, sent shares in the mining explorer skyrocketing, climbing from 23¢ to touch a dizzying peak of 27¢.
Alas, the stock has since fallen back, closing on Monday at 22.5¢.
Gold diggers
The veteran company director Sue Thomas has quit the board of the mining explorer Inca Minerals and sold down her stake in the company after the rest of the board refused to let her load up on shares at a steep discount to the market price.
Inca stock usually changes hands for 2¢ or 3¢, but the announcement of very positive drilling results at its Chanape project in Peru on February 6 pushed the asking price up to as much as 17¢.
At the AGM on the same day, shareholders unsurprisingly approved the issue of up to 50 million new shares, of which Thomas was entitled to buy up to 20 million. After the meeting Thomas asked the company to issue her the 20 million shares - at 5.44¢ each.
CBD goes to the dryly magnificent statement the company secretary Justin Walawski issued to the exchange the next day: "The board did not agree to Ms Thomas's request and noted that, with the company's share price trading as high as 17¢ and closing at 14¢ on February 6, 2013, it was not in the interests of shareholders to do so.
"Ms Thomas has today notified the company she has resigned as a director of the company."
Thomas, who also sits on the boards of Clearview and Grant Thornton, also sold 13.5 million of her 40.3 million shares, reaping $1.68 million.
CBD would hesitate to call this a dummy spit, but the pacifier has definitely exited the mouth.
Inca's managing director Ross Brown didn't want to expand on the circumstances surrounding Thomas's departure beyond saying that "the board decided not to take up her offer; we thought the best thing for the company was to turn her down".
However, he did let on that the Chanape result was "exciting", even if a lot more work is needed to stand it up.
"We think we have a copper-gold deposit," he said.
Got a tip?
bbutler@fairfaxmedia.com.au
Frequently Asked Questions about this Article…
The article notes there are murmurs that Woodside's Browse project — Australia's second‑biggest LNG project after Gorgon — might not proceed, while the Sunrise field has long been mired in disputes with the East Timorese government. For everyday investors, that signals project uncertainty at a major gas producer which can affect future production plans, costs and sentiment around the company.
The Woodside Compass is described as a little blue book of maxims and inspirational mottos used internally. The article also reports that giant banners featuring executives and inspirational quotes in Woodside's Perth foyer were taken down over the weekend.
The article gave a concrete example where redeeming a Qantas voucher worth $475 would cost an extra $667.11 due to multiple fees (a $65 change fee, $40 local service fee, $80 name‑change fee and $482.11 to upgrade the fare). It also noted that the ACCC (through competition chief Rod Sims) was not focusing heavily on airline ticketing policies under the new unfair contract terms laws at that time.
An unknown party reportedly bought more than 5 million Cape Lambert Resources shares (about $1.1 million), believed to have been routed through CommSec's institutional desk. The sudden buying pushed the stock from 23¢ to a peak of 27¢ before it later fell back to close at 22.5¢, highlighting a short‑lived spike driven by concentrated buying.
Sue Thomas resigned after the Inca Minerals board refused her request to buy up to 20 million newly approved shares at a discounted price of 5.44¢ each. Following the decision she sold 13.5 million of her 40.3 million shares, realizing about $1.68 million.
Positive drilling results at the Chanape project in Peru briefly pushed Inca Minerals' share price up to as much as 17¢ from a usual trading band of 2¢–3¢. The managing director described the result as 'exciting' and said the company believes it has a copper‑gold deposit, but cautioned that much more work is needed to confirm and develop the prospect.
The article illustrates a sudden buying spree in Cape Lambert that briefly lifted the share price before it fell back. For everyday investors, such spikes can be transient — driven by a single large order — so it's important to watch for follow‑through volume, news that supports the move, and whether the buying appears sustained or temporary.
The Inca Minerals example shows that board decisions on share issues and insider requests (like a director asking to buy discounted new shares) can lead to resignations and significant share transactions that move prices. Small investors should be aware that approvals for new share issues can dilute holdings and that insider activity and board dynamics may influence both price volatility and long‑term prospects.
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