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ABC News
3 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
Two Canadians among multiple arrested in Sydney over massive illegal tobacco, drugs bust
A multi-agency taskforce has uncovered a huge illegal tobacco and drugs ring, seizing millions of cigarettes and more than 300kg of cocaine and liquid meth. For almost two years the law enforcement agencies have been investigating a 42-year-old Sydney man they allege is the ringleader. NSW Police, Australian Federal Police, Border Force and other agencies believe the group had been using "trusted insiders" at ports of entry into Australia to smuggle drugs. The "MAST" — or Multi Agency Strike Team — in July 2024 intercepted 280kg of liquid methamphetamine coming from Vancouver, Canada. The team kept an eye on the shipment but did not intervene, with the aim to track down alleged culprits. By August 4, 2024, police said they observed two men attempting to cool and extract the liquid methamphetamine in Riverstone. A 43-year-old man was arrested later that night at a fast-food restaurant in Londonderry, which police say led them to find a "methamphetamine cookbook". The man was charged with several serious drug importation offences. The same day, police said they arrested a 31-year-old man and charged him with participating in a criminal group. The 42-year-old who police allege is a ringleader, they also accuse of being behind the July 2024 consignment. He was allegedly using a freight forwarding company in Punchbowl to import the shipments into the country. The taskforce continued to investigate the 42-year-old, who they accuse of continuing to use the freight company to import cigarettes from the United Arab Emirates. Police will allege when they intercepted the shipments they located 20 million illegal cigarettes. In May this year, police allege they established the same man was behind a plot to import 50kg of cocaine concealed in cement blocks from Panama. Police will allege in court the ringleader enlisted the help of two men, who flew in from Canada, to retrieve the drugs from the cement blocks and sell it to organised crime networks in Sydney. The culmination of their investigation came last Friday when they swarmed on a Wetherill Park property and arrested the 42-year-old ringleader, the two Canadians and another 42-year-old man. They have all been charged with a raft of serious drug importation, proceeds of crime and criminal group offences and appeared at Parramatta Bail Court on Sunday. All were refused bail and had their cases adjourned to be heard again at the Downing Centre on different dates across June and July. It came as NSW Premier Chris Minns on Monday called for the federal government to reassess the tobacco excise to stop the lucrative black market funding organised crime. Mr Minns again doubled down on his calls to the federal government during a press conference on Tuesday, telling reporters it was a policy that was "just not working". "This is another element of federal policy we believe needs to change," Mr Minns said. "This will be the only tax in the history of the world that has doubled and revenue has declined by 33 per cent. "Where is all that money going … into the illegal tobacco sector." Speaking to ABC Radio Sydney, former federal police officer Rohan Pike said the federal government's tobacco excise had created an opportunity for organised crime networks to undercut the legal trade. Mr Pike helped set up Australian Border Force's illegal tobacco taskforce. "Clearly the exponential rise in the excise has allowed criminal syndicates an opportunity to undercut that legal market and now that the cigarettes are about a third of the price its obviously attractive to consumers," he said. "It's definitely something that should be considered … the rate needs to be reviewed. "One of the problems they're facing now is the market is entrenched, people are used ot the illicit product."
Business Times
08-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Stocks to watch: DBS, Riverstone, Lendlease Global Reit, Amara, Ban Leong
[SINGAPORE] The following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their securities on Thursday (May 8). DBS : The bank's net profit for its first quarter fell due to higher tax expenses from the implementation of the 15 per cent global minimum tax, it said on Thursday. Net profit for the three months ended Mar 31, 2025, stood at S$2.9 billion, 2 per cent lower than the S$2.95 billion from the year-ago period. The earnings beat the S$2.87 billion consensus forecast in a Bloomberg survey of eight analysts. Shares of DBS closed 0.5 per cent or S$0.23 lower at S$42.76 on Wednesday. Riverstone : The glove manufacturer on Wednesday posted a profit of RM56.4 million (S$17.2 million) for the quarter ended Mar 31, 2025, sliding 21.8 per cent from RM72.2 million in the corresponding year-ago period. This resulted in an earnings per share of RM0.0381, compared with RM0.0487 a year ago. The lower profit is despite revenue rising 1.1 per cent to RM252.3 million, from RM249.5 million, said the company. The group's top line for the quarter rose due to higher sales volume for healthcare gloves and stable contribution from the cleanroom gloves segment. However, higher raw material costs and the depreciation of the US dollar against the Malaysian ringgit contributed to gross profit margin dropping 6.5 percentage points to 32.6 per cent in this quarter, said Riverstone. Shares of Riverstone closed at S$0.935 on Wednesday, up S$0.005 or 0.5 per cent, before the announcement. Lendlease Global Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust (LReit) : The trust on Wednesday posted a positive retail rental reversion of 10.4 per cent for the third quarter ended Mar 31, 2025, despite a 'softer' retail landscape. The performance came even as it recorded a 0.2 per cent decline in visitation and a 5.1 per cent drop in tenant sales year-to-date. Both were affected by softer retail conditions, outbound tourism and weakness in sectors including shoes and bags, and fashion and accessories. However, LReit's retail portfolio achieved a strong occupancy rate of 99.5 per cent and a healthy tenant retention rate by net lettable area of 87.9 per cent, the manager said. Units of Lendlease Global Commercial Reit closed unchanged at S$0.515 on Wednesday, before the release of the business update. Amara , Ban Leong Technologies : Hotel group Amara and technology products distributor Ban Leong Technologies on Wednesday separately announced that they have appointed independent financial advisers (IFAs) as they mull offers to be taken private. Amara has appointed W Capital Markets as its IFA for a voluntary conditional general offer from a consortium led by property company Hwa Hong. The offeror, a special-purpose vehicle called DRC Investments, launched the offer on Apr 28 at S$0.895 a share. The offer is final and values Amara at S$514.6 million. Meanwhile, Ban Leong has chosen Asian Corporate Advisors as its IFA as it considers a cash offer from video game distributor Epicsoft Asia, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Nasdaq-listed GCL Global. The offer of S$0.6029 per share to Ban Leong's shareholders comes as GCL Global 'seeks to integrate Ban Leong's distribution and vendor network with (its) digital capabilities and software portfolio', GCL Global chief executive Sebastian Toke told The Business Times in a recent interview. Amara's shares were flat at S$0.885 on Wednesday and Ban Leong shares added S$0.005 or 0.8 per cent to close at S$0.595 on Wednesday.
Business Times
08-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Stocks to watch: DBS, Great Eastern, Riverstone, Lendlease Global Reit, Amara, Ban Leong
[SINGAPORE] The following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their securities on Thursday (May 8). DBS : The bank's net profit for its first quarter fell due to higher tax expenses from the implementation of the 15 per cent global minimum tax, it said on Thursday. Net profit for the three months ended Mar 31, 2025, stood at S$2.9 billion, 2 per cent lower than the S$2.95 billion from the year-ago period. The earnings beat the S$2.87 billion consensus forecast in a Bloomberg survey of eight analysts. Shares of DBS closed 0.5 per cent or S$0.23 lower at S$42.76 on Wednesday. Great Eastern : The life insurance company on Thursday posted a 13 per cent year-on-year increase in profit to S$345.5 million for the first quarter ended March, versus S$306.7 million in the same period the year before. This was driven by higher profit from the insurance business, which was at S$246.8 million, up 4 per cent year on year. Moreover, there was favourable investment performance in the group's shareholders fund which rose 40 per cent year on year to reach S$98.7 million this quarter. Shares of Great Eastern closed flat on Wednesday at S$25.80. Riverstone : The glove manufacturer on Wednesday posted a profit of RM56.4 million (S$17.2 million) for the quarter ended Mar 31, 2025, sliding 21.8 per cent from RM72.2 million in the corresponding year-ago period. This resulted in an earnings per share of RM0.0381, compared with RM0.0487 a year ago. The lower profit is despite revenue rising 1.1 per cent to RM252.3 million, from RM249.5 million, said the company. The group's top line for the quarter rose due to higher sales volume for healthcare gloves and stable contribution from the cleanroom gloves segment. However, higher raw material costs and the depreciation of the US dollar against the Malaysian ringgit contributed to gross profit margin dropping 6.5 percentage points to 32.6 per cent in this quarter, said Riverstone. Shares of Riverstone closed at S$0.935 on Wednesday, up S$0.005 or 0.5 per cent, before the announcement. Lendlease Global Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust (LReit) : The trust on Wednesday posted a positive retail rental reversion of 10.4 per cent for the third quarter ended Mar 31, 2025, despite a 'softer' retail landscape. The performance came even as it recorded a 0.2 per cent decline in visitation and a 5.1 per cent drop in tenant sales year-to-date. Both were affected by softer retail conditions, outbound tourism and weakness in sectors including shoes and bags, and fashion and accessories. However, LReit's retail portfolio achieved a strong occupancy rate of 99.5 per cent and a healthy tenant retention rate by net lettable area of 87.9 per cent, the manager said. Units of Lendlease Global Commercial Reit closed unchanged at S$0.515 on Wednesday, before the release of the business update. Amara , Ban Leong Technologies : Hotel group Amara and technology products distributor Ban Leong Technologies on Wednesday separately announced that they have appointed independent financial advisers (IFAs) as they mull offers to be taken private. Amara has appointed W Capital Markets as its IFA for a voluntary conditional general offer from a consortium led by property company Hwa Hong. The offeror, a special-purpose vehicle called DRC Investments, launched the offer on Apr 28 at S$0.895 a share. The offer is final and values Amara at S$514.6 million. Meanwhile, Ban Leong has chosen Asian Corporate Advisors as its IFA as it considers a cash offer from video game distributor Epicsoft Asia, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Nasdaq-listed GCL Global. The offer of S$0.6029 per share to Ban Leong's shareholders comes as GCL Global 'seeks to integrate Ban Leong's distribution and vendor network with (its) digital capabilities and software portfolio', GCL Global chief executive Sebastian Toke told The Business Times in a recent interview. Amara's shares were flat at S$0.885 on Wednesday and Ban Leong shares added S$0.005 or 0.8 per cent to close at S$0.595 on Wednesday.
Business Times
07-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Riverstone Q1 profit slides 21.8% to RM56.4 million despite higher revenue
[SINGAPORE] Glove manufacturer Riverstone on Wednesday (May 7) posted a profit of RM56.4 million (S$17.2 million) for the quarter ended Mar 31, 2025, sliding 21.8 per cent from RM72.2 million in the corresponding year-ago period. This resulted in an earnings per share of RM0.0381, compared with RM0.0487 a year ago. The lower profit is despite revenue rising 1.1 per cent to RM252.3 million, from RM249.5 million, said the company in a bourse filing. The group's top line for the quarter rose due to higher sales volume for healthcare gloves and stable contribution from the cleanroom gloves segment. However, higher raw material costs and the depreciation of the US dollar against the Malaysian ringgit contributed to gross profit margin dropping 6.5 percentage points to 32.6 per cent in this quarter, said Riverstone. A product mix shift towards generic healthcare gloves in response to market demand dynamics also resulted in the lower gross profit margin. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up The group has declared an interim dividend of RM0.03 per share for the period under review, RM0.01 lower than the interim dividend per share of the corresponding year-ago period. Executive chair and chief executive Wong Teek Son said: 'We are seeing growing demand for generic healthcare gloves, in line with customer needs from the US. 'In response to the dynamic market environment, we have been adjusting our product mix since Q4 FY2024, and remain on track to commission three new healthcare production lines by the second half of FY2025 to support capacity needs.' He added: 'While the shift in product mix has led to near-term margin compression, we are committed to pushing out customised products in both business segments.' Shares of Riverstone closed at S$0.935 on Wednesday, up S$0.005 or 0.5 per cent, before the announcement.
