TPG founder and chairman resigns: Aus shares 0.5% higher at noon

The Australian share market rose at the open following positive leads from Wall Street and is tracking 0.5 per cent higher coming into the middle of the session. Communications and Energy stocks are buoying the market this morning. All of the sectors except Utilities and Healthcare have managed to advance.

The S&P/ASX 200 index is 31 points or 0.5 per cent higher at 6,822. On the futures market the SPI is 37 points higher.

Broker moves

Morgan Stanley rates Temple & Webster (ASX:TPW) as Overweight, retaining its $14.00 price target. The broker believes the company is cheaper on a growth adjusted basis versus its e-commerce peers. Shares in Temple & Webster (ASX:TPW) are 2.6 per cent higher but just missing the $10 mark at $9.99.

Company news

Sky New Zealand (ASX:SKT) has commenced a process to sell 2 of the 3 buildings at its Mount Wellington site. It plans to retain the primary and largest facility, known as Studio One at 10 Panorama Road, and is considering options to lease new space for its more than 900-strong workforce. Chief executive Sophie Moloney says “in the past year, [its] use of premises has changed significantly, with many employees working flexibly between home and office, and teams collaborating in new ways”. Shares in Sky New Zealand (ASX:SKT) are trading 3.1 per cent higher at $0.17.

Shares in TPG Telecom (ASX:TPG) slid this morning after the surprising announcement that its founder David Teoh has resigned as a director and chairman of the board effective from yesterday. The ex-chairman’s son, Shane Teoh has also resigned from the board. The follows a conviction against Shane Teoh for assaulting an Uber driver. The board has appointed David Teoh's other son, Jack Teoh and Antony Moffatt to fill the casual vacancies left by the resignations. After 20 years with the company, Canning Fok stepped into the chairman role today. All these leadership changes are of course occurring in the context of the company’s recent merger with Vodafone Hutchison Australia. Shares in TPG Telecom (ASX:TPG) are trading 7.6 per cent lower at $6.35.

IPOs

Pet care minding marketplace, Mad Paws (ASX:MPA) started trading today. It issued shares at 20 cents, started trading on the ASX at 28.5 and is currently trading at 23.8 cents.

Best and worst performers

The best-performing sector is Communications, adding 1.5 per cent, while the worst performing sector is Healthcare, shedding 1.2 per cent.

The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS), rising 6.9 per cent to $1.01, followed by shares in Lynas Rare Earth (ASX:LYC) and Bluescope Steel (ASX:BSL).

The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is TPG Telecom (ASX:TPG),dropping 7.6 per cent to $6.35, followed by shares in Auckland International (ASX:AIA) and Polynovo (ASX:PNV).

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1,727 an ounce.
Iron ore price fell 0.2 per cent to US$167.05.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a rise of 0.6 per cent.
One Australian dollar is buying 75.92 US cents.

Source: Finance News Network