Macquarie chairman Kevin McCann has attacked casino mogul James Packer during his company’s annual general meeting over accusations made in the book Killing Fairfax that the funds management giant puts its own interest ahead of its client’s.
“My reality as I look back is that Macquarie did not give me good advice… I just don’t trust Macquarie. I believe they solve for themselves, not their clients,” Packer said.
“I don’t understand the context as well. It doesn’t ring true in terms of our experience,” McCann said.
Virgin to look at cost-cutting measures
Virgin Australia chief financial officer Sankar Narayan has reportedly issued a memo to senior management urging them to keep an eye on costs, including “off-site entertainment”, following a profit downgrade in May.
“We should continue to look across our business for cost savings opportunities and start pushing savings down the line. Furthermore, we should investigate areas that have previously been ‘politically unfeasible’ or consider ‘sacred cows’,” Narayan says.
Online advertising bosses attack Fairfax’s business model
The chief executives of REA Group, Seek and Carsales have attacked Fairfax for failing to prevent lucrative classified ads being lost to online competitors.
“They saw the internet as a threat instead of seeing it as where everything was going. That is something that has been one of their major downfalls, they haven’t been able to handle the traditional business on the internet [and instead] they have tried to protect their core business,” REA Group chief executive Greg Ellis said.
“Fairfax and the big end of town had the view they were unassailable. They weren’t prepared to cannibalise themselves as a result. But we haven’t been afraid to do that… to continue innovating to survive. That’s very much part of our culture,” Carsales chief Greg Roebuck said.
Overnight
The Dow Jones Industrial Average 0.09% to 15555.61. The Aussie dollar is up to US92.41 cents.
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
