The Northern Territory news Sat 16 Apr 2022
NT news
The Northern Territory news; NewspaperNT
2022-04-16
English
Community newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin.; Australian newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin.
News Corp Australia
Darwin
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News Corp Australia
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00042
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/869965
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/870141
52 BUSINESS Saturday April 16 2022 NTNE01Z01MA - V1 Our point of difference is really that intersection between suncare and skincare Bec Jefferd AUSTRALIAS largest construction company has reported a lift in first quarter revenue and net profit just days after settling a $492m legal dispute, and on the eve of its expected takeover. Cimic announced Thursday it had generated a $108m net profit on the back of growth in its building and services businesses in the three months to March 31. The result was up from a $100m profit in the same period last year. Revenues climbed 7 per cent to $2.3bn. The company also restated its guidance for the full-year, tipping a net profit of between $425m and $460m based on a strong level of work in hand and positive outlook across the groups core markets. We are looking at a strong pipeline of opportunities ahead driven by government investment in infrastructure, chief executive Juan Santamaria said. Earlier this week, Cimic agreed to pay $492m to resolve an LNG deal that had gone bad due to work on a power plant which suffered from cost blowouts, delays and construction problems. Meanwhile, a $1.5bn takeover bid from Cimics major shareholder, German construction group Hochtief AG, is set to close on April 26. Hochtief, which is owned by Spanish firm ACS, already controls nearly 95 per cent of the stock. Cimic shares closed on Thursday at Hochtiefs $22 offer price. Buoyant Cimic lifts profit co n s t r u c t i o n Anthony Marx and management level turnover rates are also normal and healthy: 4 per cent voluntary turnover and 2 per cent involuntary turnover this financial year, Ms Burquest wrote. A recent survey of leaders in the business shows 90 per cent feel supported by leaders. Jayne Hrdlicka vious experience in the cosmetics industry led to a desire to launch a range which integrated strong sun protection, but also had more of a skincare feel, with the company describing its products as a skinscreen solution. Our point of difference is really that intersection between suncare and skincare, Ms Jefferd said. We say that our products are actually skinscreens, not sunscreens, so they have that combination of skincare actives as well as SPF filters. That really takes you away from the beach, away from the slip, slop, slap message, and puts your whole family into a daily skincare routine. What were seeing not just in Aus tralia but globally is the rise of the educated consumer. Theyre playing around a lot more with active cosmeceuticals theres a lot of interest in all types of treatments, and any skincare expert will tell you that the number one ingredient that you should be using on your skin is a sunscreen to prevent damage. Its not just an Australian beach product, it really is a beauty product thats part of a skincare regimen, and we are seeing globally that the trends are towards sun protection as an antiageing ingredient, its quite consistent. That meant the trend towards using sun protection regularly was also being de-seasonalised and trending towards year-round use. Ultra Violettes previous brand expansions have met with strong success, with the companys launch with UKbased beauty retailer Space NK leading to them shipping their forecast annual sales on that platform in seven weeks, before stores had even started to stock the range. Beauty brand has global ambitions AUSTRALIAN skincare brand Ultra Violette is launching into 18 new markets including France and Italy this year, as the SPF 2.0 phenomenon continues to gain pace. The Melbourne-based business, founded by Ava Chandler-Matthews and Bec Jefferd in early 2019, is already turning over more than $10m a year, with its locally developed and manufactured skinscreen range a hit with popular global skincare retailers such as Sephora. The new markets are spread across Europe and South East Asia with Sephora carrying their lines in those regions. We are also bolstering our UK distribution, Ms Jefferd says. We launched into the UK about this time last year, weve got a number of retailers there weve just added Harrods, were about to add Liberty and Beauty Bay which is another online retailer. Across Europe the line will be carried by Sephora online while it will also be in-store in South East Asia. Its a big year for our little brand, we just turned three in January were coming out of Melbourne lockdown with a bang, getting the team back into the office, expanding the team and adding lots of infrastructure to support those new markets, Ms Jefferd said. It definitely feels like theres been a step up in terms of operating Ultra Violette this year. Ms Chandler-Matthews said Australian consumers had long been aware of the need to use sun protection regularly, however the market was still developing in other geographies. The Ultra Violette founders pre B e au t y Cameron England Bec Jefferd (left) and Ava Matthews of Ultra Violette. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Daniel Pockett Virgin defends culture after exits VIRGIN Australia says the airlines culture has not changed since the 2020 sale to US private equity firm Bain Capital and employees continue to enjoy a fun-loving and irreverent challenger workplace. The statement, issued by the airlines chief people officer Lisa Burquest, followed a string of high-level departures. Ms Burquest said Virgin employed 6300 staff, of whom 38 per cent had been with the airline for over 10 years. Annualised voluntary turnover is 8.5 per cent, well within what is considered normal and healthy; and executive Among staff to leave in the last year were chief medical officer Sara Souter, chief pilot Michael Fitzgerald, head of crew culture Ryan Bradshaw, people safety and wellbeing manager Liv Hewitt, two heads of revenue, team travel leader Kerri Homann and customer experience manager Caitlin Malone. Almost the entire corporate affairs team had turned over since November 2020, and out of 40 staff in the workplace relations and human resources team, only four pre-Bain employees remained. In a further blow, Mr Fitzgerald lodged an unfair dismissal claim in the Federal Circuit Court on Tuesday, citing bullying by chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka. Ms Burquest said Virgin Australia had engaged an external party to investigate allegations made against Ms Hrdlicka in December 2021, and they were found to be unsubstantiated. Ms Burquest said everyone who was an employee of Virgin Australia at the start of 2020 had experienced a very difficult and emotional time due to factors such as staff standdowns and the companys voluntary administration. It is natural that some managers will not enjoy this much change in their work practices and choose to leave, despite the fact the culture has not changed, she said. av i at i o n Robyn Ironside Uniti seals $3.62bn deal with Morrison THE bidding war for Uniti Group appears to be over with the broadband and communications company sealing a $3.62bn deal with the consortium led by the Morrison and Co Infrastructure Partnership. Unitis shares were trading at $3.15 per share on March 14 when news broke it was in talks with HRL Morrison and Co about a highly conditional and uncertain $4.50 per share bid. Just more than a week later the Connect Consortium, led by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets Holdings lobbed a $5 per share cash bid, prompting Uniti to terminate the exclusivity arrangements it had with Morrison. The Morrison Consortium, which now includes Brookfield Australia and Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation, came back with its own $5 bid in late March, on the basis that Uniti agree to no longer deal with the Connect Consortium. Unitis board said on Thursday that they would unanimously recommend the Morrison bid in the absence of a superior proposal and subject to an independent experts report. Uniti shares closed up 2.9 per cent at $4.96 on Thursday. ta k eov e r s Cameron England