From stopping thieves in the GFC to running a $1b company, via The Star
Scott Wharton remembers the chaos vividly. He had been working for Lehman Bros for five months in Hong Kong, reporting to the chief financial officer of the US investment bank's Asia-Pacific business.
Wharton, who is the chief executive of ASX-listed car leasing and salary packaging company Smartgroup, was fulfilling a lifelong dream. He took the advice of mentors, such as Ilana Atlas, now an Origin Energy director and chair of Scentre Group, and sought overseas experience to build his corporate career after an unusual background studying genetics, biochemistry and law at university in Australia.
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News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
DXN's Hawaii deal backs the rise of modular data centres
ASX-listed DXN lands Hawaii deal Modular data centre is becoming default option From Pilbara to defence, demand is booming An Aussie company just scored a job in Hawaii, and no, it's not a surfing gig. Last Monday DXN (ASX:DXN), a Sydney-based manufacturer of modular data centres, landed a $4.6 million contract with US satellite communications group, Globalstar. By the end of next year, DXN will ship three prefabricated data centres to Maui. These are high-performance, tailor-made data units designed to handle the unique demands of satellite comms in a remote, high-pressure environment. It's a big moment for DXN. The company beat out international contenders in a competitive bid and came out on top because it could do something not everyone can – build complex, custom-built data infrastructure fast and get it exactly right. The reason that matters is because the world is in a data arms race. And building traditional data centres the old-fashioned way – brick by brick – just isn't going to cut it anymore. This is where modular comes in. Box, ship, plug in Modular data centres are like prefab homes for the digital world. Instead of building from scratch on-site, everything – including the cooling, power, server racks, security systems – is constructed offsite inside a factory, then shipped as a complete unit to wherever it's needed. The result is a fully functional data centre that can be dropped into place and switched on in a fraction of the time it takes to build a traditional facility. Whether it's out in the Pilbara mining belt or at a satellite uplink in Maui, these things are designed to handle rough conditions. In the case of DXN's Hawaii deal, that means building three state-of-the-art modules that can support satellite communications. The fact that Globalstar, a US telco with a fleet of LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellites, picked DXN says a lot about where this Aussie company is headed. But it also says something bigger about where the industry is going. Right now, demand for data is exploding. Think AI, cloud computing, self-driving cars, remote operations. All of that needs massive processing power, and it needs it close to where the data is being generated. That means no more waiting two years to build a shiny new data centre in a CBD. We're talking weeks, not months. Remote, not centralised. Flexible, not fixed. That's the problem modular data centres solve. They get built fast, cost less, and scale easily. If you need more computing power, just add another unit. They also make financial sense. Traditional data centres cost between $10 and $25 million per megawatt of IT capacity. Modular designs can cut that to around $5 million. That's a big saving, especially when you're trying to scale up quickly in ten different locations at once. Gaining fast traction The Australian Department of Defence recognised these advantages back in 2020 when it awarded a $20 million contract to Canberra-based company Datapod to provide portable, containerised data systems. These systems could be rapidly deployed by sea, air or road, ensuring the department had the agility to respond to evolving threats. In regional Australia, where mining and energy drive the economy, modular centres are quickly becoming the default option. In 2024, the remote town of Newman in WA's Pilbara region received a modular unit, called NE1 Newman, from NEXTDC to support edge computing for nearby mine sites. There's no way a traditional build would've made it there in time or on budget. Big tech firms like Google, Microsoft and Tencent are also investing heavily in modular builds. And private investors, too, are taking notice. Data centres are now seen as some of the best-performing assets in the property market, outpacing even industrial warehouses. ASX stocks in this space DXN can lay claim to being the only pure-play modular data centre stock on the ASX. But other players are also in the game, just playing different versions of it. NextDC (ASX:NXT) runs the big, purpose-built data centres in major cities. Then there's Macquarie Telecom Group (ASX:MAQ), which offers enterprise-grade data centres. Global Data Centre Group (ASX:GDC) is more of an investor; it holds a portfolio of data centre assets around the world. In the big end of town, Megaport (ASX:MP1) is a heavyweight in cloud connectivity, offering networking software that links over 950 data centres worldwide. Dicker Data (ASX:DDR), on the other hand, is Australia's leading IT distributor, supplying cloud solutions from top-tier vendors to over 8200 reseller partners across ANZ. In the REITs space, DigiCo Infrastructure REIT (ASX:DGT) owns and manages digital infrastructure real estate, including towers, fibre, and data centre buildings. Companies like Adisyn (ASX:AI1), meanwhile, are playing in an adjacent but related space – developing graphene-powered tech to help cool the next generation of data-hungry chips. At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While Adisyn is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.
The Advertiser
2 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Path to going public on markets sped up for companies
Companies wanting to list on the stock market will be given a fast track by the corporate watchdog to go public. Changes put forward by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission will mean companies could reduce the time needed in order to take a company public by one week. The watchdog will now work with companies two weeks before documents laying out details about an initial public offering are made available to the public. ASIC says it will lessen the risk of potential investors being scared off by volatile markets. The changes are being rolled out as part of a two-year trial to reverse a decline in companies going public on the Australian market. The number of companies going public hit a 20-year low in 2024, with just 29 initial public offerings on the ASX. That compares with the 240 new listings on the ASX in 2021. Commission chair Joe Longo said the changes would provide greater confidence in the stock market. "Creating a more streamlined IPO process underscores our commitment to ensuring our public markets remain attractive to companies and investors," he said. "Greater deal certainty for companies should help deliver more IPOs, which means more investment opportunities so companies can expand, increase jobs and ultimately economic growth." The changes are being announced ahead of a symposium being held by the commission on Tuesday in Sydney about the future of Australia's markets. A discussion paper put out by the commission in February said the number of publicly listed companies had been declining in many developed markets over decades. "The Australian market is concentrated, with most companies in the financials and mining sectors, and less represented in sectors that will drive growth in our increasingly digital future," the paper said. "Many companies are choosing to stay private where new funding and sell downs are now more accessible, while others are choosing to list in the United States." Mr Longo said further reforms were being considered to boost the number of new listings. "While we do not see regulatory settings as the silver bullet, we have received lots of ideas and are considering further regulatory adjustments to support a strong and well-functioning market," he said. Companies wanting to list on the stock market will be given a fast track by the corporate watchdog to go public. Changes put forward by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission will mean companies could reduce the time needed in order to take a company public by one week. The watchdog will now work with companies two weeks before documents laying out details about an initial public offering are made available to the public. ASIC says it will lessen the risk of potential investors being scared off by volatile markets. The changes are being rolled out as part of a two-year trial to reverse a decline in companies going public on the Australian market. The number of companies going public hit a 20-year low in 2024, with just 29 initial public offerings on the ASX. That compares with the 240 new listings on the ASX in 2021. Commission chair Joe Longo said the changes would provide greater confidence in the stock market. "Creating a more streamlined IPO process underscores our commitment to ensuring our public markets remain attractive to companies and investors," he said. "Greater deal certainty for companies should help deliver more IPOs, which means more investment opportunities so companies can expand, increase jobs and ultimately economic growth." The changes are being announced ahead of a symposium being held by the commission on Tuesday in Sydney about the future of Australia's markets. A discussion paper put out by the commission in February said the number of publicly listed companies had been declining in many developed markets over decades. "The Australian market is concentrated, with most companies in the financials and mining sectors, and less represented in sectors that will drive growth in our increasingly digital future," the paper said. "Many companies are choosing to stay private where new funding and sell downs are now more accessible, while others are choosing to list in the United States." Mr Longo said further reforms were being considered to boost the number of new listings. "While we do not see regulatory settings as the silver bullet, we have received lots of ideas and are considering further regulatory adjustments to support a strong and well-functioning market," he said. Companies wanting to list on the stock market will be given a fast track by the corporate watchdog to go public. Changes put forward by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission will mean companies could reduce the time needed in order to take a company public by one week. The watchdog will now work with companies two weeks before documents laying out details about an initial public offering are made available to the public. ASIC says it will lessen the risk of potential investors being scared off by volatile markets. The changes are being rolled out as part of a two-year trial to reverse a decline in companies going public on the Australian market. The number of companies going public hit a 20-year low in 2024, with just 29 initial public offerings on the ASX. That compares with the 240 new listings on the ASX in 2021. Commission chair Joe Longo said the changes would provide greater confidence in the stock market. "Creating a more streamlined IPO process underscores our commitment to ensuring our public markets remain attractive to companies and investors," he said. "Greater deal certainty for companies should help deliver more IPOs, which means more investment opportunities so companies can expand, increase jobs and ultimately economic growth." The changes are being announced ahead of a symposium being held by the commission on Tuesday in Sydney about the future of Australia's markets. A discussion paper put out by the commission in February said the number of publicly listed companies had been declining in many developed markets over decades. "The Australian market is concentrated, with most companies in the financials and mining sectors, and less represented in sectors that will drive growth in our increasingly digital future," the paper said. "Many companies are choosing to stay private where new funding and sell downs are now more accessible, while others are choosing to list in the United States." Mr Longo said further reforms were being considered to boost the number of new listings. "While we do not see regulatory settings as the silver bullet, we have received lots of ideas and are considering further regulatory adjustments to support a strong and well-functioning market," he said. Companies wanting to list on the stock market will be given a fast track by the corporate watchdog to go public. Changes put forward by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission will mean companies could reduce the time needed in order to take a company public by one week. The watchdog will now work with companies two weeks before documents laying out details about an initial public offering are made available to the public. ASIC says it will lessen the risk of potential investors being scared off by volatile markets. The changes are being rolled out as part of a two-year trial to reverse a decline in companies going public on the Australian market. The number of companies going public hit a 20-year low in 2024, with just 29 initial public offerings on the ASX. That compares with the 240 new listings on the ASX in 2021. Commission chair Joe Longo said the changes would provide greater confidence in the stock market. "Creating a more streamlined IPO process underscores our commitment to ensuring our public markets remain attractive to companies and investors," he said. "Greater deal certainty for companies should help deliver more IPOs, which means more investment opportunities so companies can expand, increase jobs and ultimately economic growth." The changes are being announced ahead of a symposium being held by the commission on Tuesday in Sydney about the future of Australia's markets. A discussion paper put out by the commission in February said the number of publicly listed companies had been declining in many developed markets over decades. "The Australian market is concentrated, with most companies in the financials and mining sectors, and less represented in sectors that will drive growth in our increasingly digital future," the paper said. "Many companies are choosing to stay private where new funding and sell downs are now more accessible, while others are choosing to list in the United States." Mr Longo said further reforms were being considered to boost the number of new listings. "While we do not see regulatory settings as the silver bullet, we have received lots of ideas and are considering further regulatory adjustments to support a strong and well-functioning market," he said.
The Age
3 hours ago
- The Age
ASX set to rise, Wall Street boosted by US-China talks; $A stronger
US stocks are drifting closer to their records as the world's two largest economies begin talks on trade that could help avoid a recession. The S&P 500 was 0.3 per cent higher in late trading. The Dow Jones was up 93 points, or 0.2 per cent, with an hour remaining in trading, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.5 per cent higher. The Australian sharemarket is set to advance, with futures at 5am AEST pointing to a gain of 16 points, or 0.2 per cent, at the open. The ASX was closed on Monday for the King's birthday public holiday. The Australian dollar strengthened. It was 0.3 per cent higher at 65.25 US cents at 5.13am AEST. Officials from the United States and China are meeting in London to talk about a range of different disputes that are separating them. The hope is that they can eventually reach a deal that will lower each's punishing level of tariffs against the other, which are currently on pause, so that the flow of everything from tiny tech gadgets to enormous machinery can continue. Hopes that President Donald Trump will lower his tariffs after reaching such trade deals with countries around the world have been among the main reasons the S&P 500 has rallied so furiously since dropping roughly 20 per cent from its record two months ago. It's back within 2 per cent of its all-time high, which was set in February, and it's higher than it was before Trump shocked financial markets in April with his wide-ranging tariff announcement on what he called 'Liberation Day.' This may be the shortest sell-off following a shock of heightened volatility on record, according to Parag Thatte, Binky Chadha and other strategists at Deutsche Bank. Typically, stocks take around two months to bottom following a spike in volatility and then another four to five months to recover their losses. This time around, stocks have basically made a round trip in less than two months. But nothing is assured, of course, and that helped keep trading relatively quiet on Wall Street Monday. Loading Some of the market's biggest moves came from the announcement of big buyout deals. Qualcomm rallied 4.4 per cent after saying it agreed to buy Alphawave Semi in a deal valued at $2.4 billion. IonQ, meanwhile, rose 1.6 per cent after the quantum computing and networking company said it agreed to purchase Oxford Ionics for nearly $1.08 billion.
