NewsBite

Simon Evans

Yesterday

InfraBuild crashes to a loss of $81 million in the December half. It is the biggest customer of the Whyalla steelworks (pictured) which went into administration on February 19, with creditors owed $1.35 billion.

Gupta’s InfraBuild sinks to $81m half-year loss as debts balloon

Documents circulated to lenders show the company, which runs furnaces in Sydney and Melbourne, bought $140 million in steel from the collapsed Whyalla plant.

This Month

BYD Shark 6 EV ute test drive

Tradies, ‘weekend warriors’ send BYD’s hybrid ute to No.6 in Australia

The $57,900 Chinese-made Shark 6 only began selling here in January and has already leapfrogged one of the diesel-powered mainstays in the market, the Isuzu D-Max ute.

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Whyalla Steelworks administrator Mark Mentha.

Whyalla steelworks sought $144m cash for steel that did not exist yet

Administrator Mark Mentha says the first week of stabilising the company, including unravelling millions in prepayments, was like “drinking out of a fire hose”.

The Whyalla steelworks entered administration last month after the South Australian government seized control.

Whyalla’s administrators say steelworks was ‘hard-wired’ for losses

The South Australian government expects KordaMentha to run the plant until mid-2026, after the mill was seized from British industrialist Sanjeev Gupta.

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February

SPC Global managing director Robert Iervasi says the group will be expanding further into ‘wellness’ products, building on its core range of fruit, vegetable and juice products.

SPC turns to ‘wellness’ products to revive sagging fortunes

The fruit, vegetable and juice group has lost $130 million in market value since relisting in December, and says new healthy products are on the way.

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The Whyalla steelworks collapsed after the South Australian government called in administrators last week.

Creditors of collapsed Whyalla steelworks owed $1b

Sanjeev Gupta, the British industrialist who acquired the South Australian plant in 2017, has told staff his GFG business is owed $500 million.

Eagers Automotive, Australia’s largest car dealership group, says the potential upside from its retail joint venture with Chinese group BYD is up to $38 million annually in profit before tax. Orders for the BYD plug-in hybrid Shark ute are strong.

Hybrid car sales save Eagers from investor ire despite profit fall

The country’s largest dealership reported a 25 per cent fall in profits, but pointed to surging demand for BYD, a Chinese carmaker it is in partnership with.

Maggie Beer has been one of the most recognised cooks in the country for decades. But her food products business has struggled to replicate that success.

Maggie Beer Holdings crashes to $4.4m loss

The gourmet food producer where celebrity chef Maggie Beer is a director is chasing $4 million in savings from a cost-cutting blitz.

A Domino’s pizza.

Domino’s Pizza posts first loss in 20 years as it shuts stores

The restaurant chain’s new chief executive, Mark van Dyck, said there were good foundations to rebuild after a four-year share price slump and weak sales.

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The SA government put Sanjeev Gupta’s Whyalla steelworks into administration on February 19 with emergency legislation, declaring it was fed up with unpaid bills and the damage to the town of 22,000 was simply too great for the Gupta ownership to continue.

December phone call led to Whyalla steelworks bust

A call to administrator Mark Mentha two days before Christmas culminated in the dramatic seizure of Sanjeev Gupta’s steel plant two months later.

Sanjeev Gupta’s Whyalla steelworks.

Whyalla steelworks fallout trips up $1.5b mining contractor

NRW Holdings must hastily redo its half-year result because its Golding business is owed up to $120 million in the collapse of part of Sanjeev Gupta’s empire.

The South Australian government put Sanjeev Gupta’s Whyalla steelworks into administration on Feb 19 with emergency legislation, declaring it was fed up with unpaid bills.

Gupta’s ‘ringfenced’ InfraBuild bought $430m of Whyalla steel

KordaMentha will scrutinise the sizeable related-party transactions in the administration of the stricken steelworks.

Ryan Skinner, a steelworker at the Whyalla plant for the past seven years.

A nerve-settler for Whyalla locals wary of a re-run

Steelworkers like Ryan Skinner are overjoyed about the $2.4b rescue package, while publican Darren Beare is thrilled to see the back of Gupta.

PM Anthony Albanese in Whyalla steelwork.s.

Labor open to equity stake in Whyalla steelworks

Part government ownership of the Whyalla steelworks is one option not being ruled out to help lure a buyer.

Anthony Albanese in Whyalla in 2023. The prime minister is expected to announce a major rescue package with his South Australian counterpart on Thursday.

Labor prepares rescue plan after Gupta’s Whyalla steelworks collapses

The massive South Australian manufacturing operation is being run by KordaMentha, with the federal and state governments signing off on a major support package.

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Beston Global Foods found the going very tough for most of its nine years as a listed entity, competing in the cheese category. It processed about 12 per cent of SA’s milk at plants south of Adelaide.

NAB takes hit in sorry tale of Beston dairy bust

A KPMG report found the ASX-listed cheese producer may have traded insolvent for five months.

BlueScope chief executive Mark Vassella.

BlueScope set for higher profits from Trump steel tariffs

CEO Mark Vassella says demand for US-made steel is on the rise and extra profits will flow, with $1.3 billion added to the group’s market value.

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The gates are still open at Tahmoor Colliery, despite GFG Alliance telling most of its workers to stop working for four weeks.

‘We were scrounging for stuff’: Home of the faltering GFG empire

At the Hotel Bargo (lunch special: $15) on a 30-degree day, mine workers say a cashed-up new owner for Tahmoor Colliery would be best for the town.

Sanjeev Gupta at one of InfraBuild’s Melbourne plants in 2017. The collapse of his main financier has sent the industrialist scrambling to pay down big debts.

Gupta poised for $800m sale of Tahmoor coal mine, debt deal nears

Sanjeev Gupta says selling the NSW mine will aid the Whyalla steelworks, but a sceptical SA premier thinks the steel entrepreneur is running out of time.

Tim Ford with bottles of Penfolds. Treasury Wine has focused on its luxury wine business and wanted to sell its cheaper brands.

Treasury scraps Lindeman’s sale but doubles down on Penfolds

The country’s biggest winemaker had put the prominent low-cost brand on the block along with Wolf Blass and Yellowglen. It couldn’t find buyers.

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Original URL: https://www.afr.com/by/simon-evans-j7gbc