CAPITAL IDEA WITH A TEA Aurizon outlines prospects for coal
TWO Melbourne best friends who were stood down from their jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic have bounced back in style, breaking Australia’s record for the highest number of expressions of interest for a crowd-funding campaign for their DIY bubble tea business.
Bubble Tea Club on
Tuesday broke Australia’s record for the highest number of expressions of interest for a crowd-funding campaign, notching almost 3000 pledged investors before its launch on the Birchal platform on Wednesday.
The company was started by Melbourne friends marketer Pam Yip and optometrist Jenny Le amid the Covid-19 pandemic last year, along with fellow cofounders Justin Huang, 16year-old Tim Huang and Yi Ong, Justin’s co-worker who was stood down during the pandemic but was ineligible for Jobkeeper.
The start-up has become a $2m company within 12 months, thanks to their idea of selling DIY at-home bubble tea-making kits, which have been sold to more than 30,000 people.
AUSTRALIAN coal exports could halve in two decades if major Asian nations rapidly decarbonise their energy networks, according to rail hauler Aurizon.
Aurizon sketched out the worst-case scenario for Australian coal in an investors’ presentation on Wednesday, telling analysts and shareholders it had modelled the impact of a range of scenarios on its Australian rail haulage business, as the company looks to expand its business of hauling lithium, rare earths and other battery-making commodities.
Despite acknowledging the impact of China’s bans on Australian metallurgical and thermal coal, which have hit the company’s rail haulage volumes this financial year, chief executive Andrew Harding (pictured) confirmed Aurizon was on track to hit guidance of $870m to $910m in earnings before interest and tax this financial year, and generate free cash flow of about $700m.
Chief financial officer George Lippiatt used Aurizon’s investor day to outline the range of scenarios used by the hauler to try to plan for the future, saying Australian coal export volumes – traditionally the predictor of Aurizon’s likely profits and returns to shareholders – could vary widely over the next decade.
Mr Lippiatt noted Aurizon’s scenario analysis was not designed to predict the shifting coal market, but to inform the company’s decision-making as trends emerged.
The most optimistic scenario, in which Asian economic growth accelerates with little or no change in current climate change policies, would see Australian coal exports – both metallurgical and thermal – grow to more than 500 million tonnes by 2040.
The worst-case scenario for the coal industry would see exports fall to about 200 million tonnes, of mostly metallurgical coal.