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Seven Group

This Month

Robin Khuda, Julie Coates, Shayne Elliott, Chris Ellison, Richard White,  Mike Sneesby.

The good, the bad and the ugly of corporate Australia in 2024

Big deals, big names, big disasters. From AirTrunk to Woolies to our own Nine Entertainment, here are the biggest moments of the year.

  • James Thomson
Cement Australia has bought BGC’s cement division after trumping competitors including Seven Group

Stokes’ Seven misses out on BGC cement deal

Kerry Stokes’ Seven Group was the underbidder in the auction for the cement business owned by the late Len Buckeridge.

  • Mark Wembridge
Macquarie’s Shemara Wikramanayake has topped the AFR’s CEO pay ranks for the fourth year running.

Australia’s 50 highest-paid CEOs in 2024 revealed

Macquarie Group’s Shemara Wikramanayake is Australia’s best-paid CEO for the fourth year in a row.

  • Patrick Durkin
SGH’s Ryan Stokes has deleted the “Seven” from the group’s name, reflecting just how small its media business is relative to its mining, infrastructure and construction materials interests.

Ryan Stokes out-works, out-earns rivals to take SGH to new highs

The SGH chief, one of The Australian Financial Review Business People of the Year for 2024, is renowned as one of the hardest-working CEOs in Australian big business.

  • Anthony Macdonald

November

Wes Maas at the Maas Group’s company headquarters in Dubbo. It announced on November 28 the acquisition of three businesses - Cleary Bros in NSW, Capital Asphalt in the ACT and a quarry and land holding just outside of Melbourne.

One of the few remaining building groups on the ASX hits the gas

Maas Group was founded by former Rabbitohs player Wes Maas two decades ago. With three acquisitions in one day, it is turbocharging its expansion plans.

  • Simon Evans
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Chris Ellison and Richard White have put a spotlight on ESG.

Founder problems? Pull the other one. Founder stocks are flying

Look at the companies whose shares have hit all-time highs this week and what do you see?

  • Anthony Macdonald

October

Irish giant CRH has been a major player in the wave of consolidation sweeping Australian construction and building groups.

Irish giant CRH to buy CPE Capital-backed concrete infrastructure biz

Civilmart is the country’s No.2 manufacturer of concrete pipes and precast products, backed by John Haddock’s buyout firm CPE Capital. 

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Seven Group Holdings Ryan Stokes says Australia must consider the role of nuclear in bolstering baseload power.

Stokes backs nuclear, and free electricity for those who live near it

Chief executive of Seven Group Holdings Ryan Stokes says the nation must consider nuclear energy as a baseload power source.

  • Tom Rabe

September

Ryan Stokes’ frustration at Seven West Media’s headlines has grown.

Seven West Media stokes tension behind the scenes at Seven Group

The broadcasting and publishing empire accounts for just 0.6 per cent of the broader conglomerate’s total assets. It accounts for much more of its problems.

  • Sam Buckingham-Jones
Martin Conlon sees imbalances in the Australian economy.

Why this fundie is watching the ‘housing Ponzi scheme’ so closely

From banks to healthcare stocks, the pain of poor housing affordability – and an uneven economy – is shaping Martin Conlon’s thinking.

  • James Thomson

August

Geoff Wilson is in the same boat as everyone else at the end of this exhausting profit season – trying to pinpoint exactly where we are in this cycle.

What I learnt from 30 CEOs in 30 days

The profit season has delivered a confusing picture of an economy stuck between cycles. Here are 30 nuggets to help investors navigate this tricky environment. 

  • Updated
  • James Thomson
Seven West Media’s head of news and current affairs, Anthony De Ceglie, left, and new CEO Jeff Howard.

Loose ends at Seven’s ‘second chance’ saloon

Fresh allegations plague the Kerry Stokes-controlled media organisation as it tries to turn the page.

  • Mark Di Stefano
Seven West Media boss Jeff Howard.

Advertising slump kills Seven West buyback, keeps dividends paused

Commercial broadcasters have lost $650 million over the past two years. Seven’s new chief executive is preparing the company for it never to come back.

  • Sam Buckingham-Jones and Brad Thompson
Seven Group managing director Ryan Stokes is confident up demand in the residential housing sector.

Stokes’ vision for Seven’s Boral comes to life

Seven Group boss Ryan Stokes says the company is interested in buying the BGC cement division left behind by the late WA entrepreneur Len Buckeridge.

  • Brad Thompson
Ryan Stokes has the Seven Group sailing ahead.

Winners from profit season’s big Wednesday

All eyes were on CBA’s monster numbers, but Seven Group Holdings and AGL also delivered nice profit growth – and Pro Medicus impressed yet again.

  • James Thomson and Anthony Macdonald
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Beach Energy CEO Brett Woods has had to break bad news to investors in his first full-year earnings call.

Beach Energy shares plummet as Enterprise gas field reserves slashed

The downgrade of the size of the gas field on Victoria’s coast has shaken the market, with analysts worried about other new projects.

  • Angela Macdonald-Smith
Bankers and lawyers are good at taking investors for a ride.

Bidders having it both ways with ‘best and final’ threats

You’ve got to give it to the top investment bankers and lawyers – they’ve perfected the art of driving a truck through a two-inch gap. 

  • Anthony Macdonald

July

The chairman and his CEO: Ryan Stokes, Boral’s chairman, has retained CEO Vik Bansal for the company’s next chapter inside Seven Group.

To back Vik Bansal, you have to buy into the Seven dream

Boral’s gone from the ASX, but not forgotten. It’s tucked up inside Seven Group’s portfolio and still one of Australia’s turnaround stories to watch.

  • Anthony Macdonald

June

‘I don’t think you can trust me at this point’: CEO’s startling call

Brett Woods has a new plan from the Stokes family playbook and some solid market tailwinds at his back. But it will take time to win Beach Energy investors back.  

  • James Thomson
Beach CEO Brett Woods is looking to turn around Beach Energy in the same way as occurred at Santos last decade.

Beach looks to power generation, gas storage in turnaround plot

The Stokes-backed oil and gas producer’s new chief executive, Brett Woods, said he would sell non-core assets and reduce headcount by up to 30 per cent.

  • Angela Macdonald-Smith

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/company/svw-1dz