The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) went up 0.6% to 6,729 points today.
Here are some of the highlights from the ASX today:
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA)
CBA announced an update about its divestments today.
The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) has granted approval for the divestment of CBA's 37.5% equity interest in BoCommLife to MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings.
The final sales proceeds expected to be received by CBA are $886 million. The divestment of the equity interest in BoCommLife is expected to be completed by 31 December 2020.
CBA also said that it has revised the calculation of non-cash gains and losses on the disposal of previously announced divestments including BoCommLife, CFS, CFSGAM, CommInsure Life and Ausiex. The revisions include the finalisation of accounting adjustments for goodwill, foreign currency translation reverse recycling and updated estimates for transaction and separation costs.
The total increase in unaudited post-tax statutory earnings related to the completion of BoCommLife and other divestments is expected to be approximately $840 million, which will be recognised as a non-cash item in the FY21 first half result.
The capital impact of the divestments is a pro-forma uplift to the common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 29 basis points.
Infratil Ltd (ASX: IFT)
The New Zealand infrastructure business announced today that it had knocked back the latest takeover offer from AustralianSuper to buy the whole Infratil business.
Infratil said that the latest offer implied a total value offer of NZ$7.43 per Infratil share, which represented a 22.2% premium to the 8 December 2020 closing share price for Infratil.
The company said that its board reviewed the valuation and the proposed structure and unanimously rejected AustralianSuper's offer because it materially undervalued Infratil's high quality and unique portfolio of assets on a control basis.
The Infratil board said it would consider any proposal to maximise shareholder value, but given the significant deficiencies in the proposal, no further engagement is planned right now.
Infratil's Chair Mark Tume said: "The board regularly assesses portfolio construction and return expectations. We have had a long and successful track record as active managers of the Infratil platform, and recent examples include the ongoing success of CDC Data Centres, the proposed acquisition of Qscan and the strategic review of Tilt Renewables. As at 8 December 2020, Infratil had delivered total shareholder returns of 18% per annum since listing in 1994 and has a stated annual targeted for our shareholders of 11% to 15% over the long term."
The Infratil share price went up 1.5%.
Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL) AGM
Soul Patts held its annual general meeting (AGM) meeting today. The Soul Patts share price finished the day higher by 2.4%.
One of the main takeaways was relating to its resources assets. Thermal coal prices are up 33% in the first four months of FY21. This affects its New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC) shares as one of the biggest coal miners in Australia. Soul Patts decided to sell down its holding of New Hope from 50% to 44%.
Copper and zinc prices have also gone up in the first four months of FY21, rising by 20% and 21% respectively. This relates to Soul Patts' private Round Oak business.
Soul Patts also said that that first quarter building products performance from Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW) was well above the same period last year.
The financial services portfolio has risen 16% and the pharmaceutical portfolio has gone up 10% in the first four months of FY21.
In terms of an outlook, Soul Patts said that cash generation from the portfolio remains strong to support dividends. It also said that liquidity is available for new investments, where Soul Patts is looking across a range of industries.
