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Celtics host Pistons looking to avoid first back-to-back lossesThe world’s economic reckoning with the incoming Trump administration kicked off in earnest this week, with the U.S. Federal Reserve flagging fewer rate cuts, a resignation in Canada over budgeting for tariffs and heightened focus on cryptocurrencies. The Fed cut rates as expected on Wednesday amid a busy year-end run of central bank meetings from Ottawa and Frankfurt to Tokyo and London that showed heightened uncertainty ahead of Donald Trump entering the White House in the new year. Indeed, Fed officials not only dialed back projections for rate cuts in the face of stubborn inflation, Chair Jerome Powell said some in the bank were also trying to judge how Trump’s planned tariffs, lower taxes and immigration curbs might affect policy. The upshot was U.S. central bankers penciled in estimates for higher growth next year than previously estimated, but also notably higher inflation. That left Powell repeatedly urging “caution” around additional rate cuts from here, which triggered a slide in stock prices and a recalibration of market estimates for further easing. Just a single Fed rate cut is now priced in for 2025. “Some people did take a very preliminary step and start to incorporate highly conditional estimates of economic effects of policies into their forecasts at this meeting,” Powell said when asked if Trump’s policies factoredinto officials’ thinking. “Some people said they didn’t do so, and some people didn’t say whether they did or not. So we have people making a bunch of different approaches to that but some did identify policy uncertainty as one of the reasons for their writing down more uncertainty around inflation.” In Asia, The Bank of Japan on Thursday kept ultra-low interest rates as the threat of Trump’s policies cast a shadow over the export-reliant economy. “Uncertainty surrounding Japan’s economy and prices remains high,” the BOJ said in a statement announcing the decision. A Reuters survey of Japanese businesses published last week showed nearly three-quarters expect Trump to have a negative effect on their operating environment, something BOJ officials may have to reckon with as the world’s lone developed central bank still trying to tighten policy. Ahead of the Fed decision, rates had already been lowered last week by the European Central Bank and Bank of Canada, with both expected to deliver some additional easing in 2025 amid weakening outlooks. While ECB President Christine Lagarde was vague about further rate cuts, she went out of her way to emphasize downside risks to growth, including from prospective trade tensions with the United States under Trump. Rate decisions are still due in the coming hours from central banks in Sweden, Norway and the United Kingdom. Although Trump may have been just at the periphery of officials’ thinking at the Fed, he was a central focus in Ottawa when Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland quit after clashing with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on how to handle possible U.S. tariffs under the next U.S. administration. Freeland said the threat of new U.S. tariffs represented a grave danger after Trump last month warned he would issue levies on goods imported from Canada and Mexico of 25% unless the two neighbors limit the flow of migrants and fentanyl into the U.S. “That means keeping our fiscal powder dry today, so we have the reserves we may need for a tariff war. That means eschewing costly political gimmicks, which we can ill afford,” she wrote in a letter to Trudeau posted on X. Meanwhile, crypto market enthusiasm for Trump’s notion of establishing a strategic reserve of bitcoin was dealt a setback when Powell said the Fed had no legal authority to hold it, adding declaratively that it had no plan to seek a change in the law so that it could. “That’s the kind of thing for Congress to consider, but we are not looking for a law change at the Fed,” Powell said. The remark contributed to a broad slide in crypto-related assets, including a 5% drop in bitcoin itself, its largest decline in more than three months. Source: Reuters (Reporting by Dan Burns and Howard Schneider; additional reporting by Leika Kihara in Tokyo; Editing by Andrea Ricci and Sam Holmes)What Hilarious Thing Did Knicks' Leaders Say After Career Night?
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The UN General Assembly on Wednesday overwhelmingly adopted a resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza, a symbolic gesture rejected by the United States and Israel. The resolution -- adopted by a vote of 158-9, with 13 abstentions -- urges "an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire," and "the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages" -- wording similar to a text vetoed by Washington in the Security Council last month. At that time, Washington used its veto power on the Council -- as it has before -- to protect its ally Israel, which has been at war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip since the Palestinian militant group's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. It has insisted on the idea of making a ceasefire conditional on the release of all hostages in Gaza, saying otherwise that Hamas has no incentive to free those in captivity. Deputy US Ambassador Robert Wood repeated that position Wednesday, saying it would be "shameful and wrong" to adopt the text. Ahead of the vote, Israel's UN envoy Danny Danon said: "The resolutions before the assembly today are beyond logic. (...) The vote today is not a vote for compassion. It is a vote for complicity." The General Assembly often finds itself taking up measures that cannot get through the Security Council, which has been largely paralyzed on hot-button issues such as Gaza and Ukraine due to internal politics, and this time is no different. The resolution, which is non-binding, demands "immediate access" to widespread humanitarian aid for the citizens of Gaza, especially in the besieged north of the territory. Dozens of representatives of UN member states addressed the Assembly before the vote to offer their support to the Palestinians. "Gaza doesn't exist anymore. It is destroyed," said Slovenia's UN envoy Samuel Zbogar. "History is the harshest critic of inaction." That criticism was echoed by Algeria's deputy UN ambassador Nacim Gaouaoui, who said: "The price of silence and failure in the face of the Palestinian tragedy is a very heavy price, and it will be heavier tomorrow." Hamas's October 2023 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,208 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. That count includes hostages who died or were killed while being held in Gaza. Militants abducted 251 hostages, 96 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead. Israel's retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed at least 44,805 people, a majority of them civilians, according to data from the Hamas-run health ministry that is considered reliable by the United Nations. "Gaza today is the bleeding heart of Palestine," Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour said last week during the first day of debate in the Assembly's special session on the issue. "The images of our children burning in tents, with no food in their bellies and no hopes and no horizon for the future, and after having endured pain and loss for more than a year, should haunt the conscience of the world and prompt action to end this nightmare," he said, calling for an end to the "impunity." The Gaza resolution calls on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to present "proposals on how the United Nations could help to advance accountability" by using existing mechanisms or creating new ones based on past experience. The Assembly, for example, created an international mechanism to gather evidence of crimes committed in Syria starting from the outbreak of civil war in 2011. A second resolution calling on Israel to respect the mandate of the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) and allow it to continue its operations was passed Wednesday by a vote of 159-9 with 11 abstentions. Israel has voted to ban the organization starting January 28, after accusing some UNRWA employees of taking part in Hamas's devastating attack. abd/sst/jgc Get any of our free email newsletters — news headlines, sports, arts & entertainment, state legislature, CFD news, and more.Kroger and Albertsons' plan for the largest U.S. supermarket merger in history crumbled Wednesday, with Albertsons pulling out of the $24.6 billion deal and the two companies accusing each other of not doing enough to push their proposed alliance through. Albertsons said it had filed a lawsuit against Kroger, seeking a $600 million termination fee as well as billions of dollars in legal fees and lost shareholder value. Kroger said the claims were “baseless” and that Albertsons was not entitled to the fee. “After reviewing options, the company determined it is no longer in its best interests to pursue the merger,” Kroger said in a statement Wednesday. The bitter breakup came the day after two judges halted the proposed merger in separate court cases. U.S. District Court Judge Adrienne Nelson in Oregon issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday blocking the merger until an in-house judge at the Federal Trade Commission could consider the matter. An hour later, Superior Court Judge Marshall Ferguson in Seattle issued a permanent injunction barring the merger . Ferguson ruled that combining Albertsons and Kroger would lessen competition and violate consumer-protection laws. The companies could have appealed the rulings or proceeded to the in-house FTC hearings. Albertsons' decision to pull out of deal instead surprised some industry experts. “I’m in a state of professional and commercial shock that they would take this scorched earth approach,” said Burt Flickinger, a longtime analyst and owner of retail consulting firm Strategic Resource Group. “The logical thing would have been for Albertsons to let the decision sink in for a day and then meet and see what could be done. But the lawsuit seems to make that a moot issue.” Albertsons is unlikely to find another merger partner because it has significant debt and underperforming stores in most of its markets., Flickinger said. Consumers will feel the most immediate impact of the deal's demise, he said, since Albertsons charges 12% to 14% more than Kroger and other grocery rivals. “They had so much debt they had to pay it off it's reflected in their pricing and promotional structure,” Flickinger said. Albertsons CEO Vivek Sankaran testified during the federal hearing in September that his company might consider “structural options” like laying off employees, closing stores and exiting certain markets if the merger with Kroger didn’t go through. “I would have to consider that,” he said. “It’s a dramatically different picture with the merger than without it.” But in a statement Wednesday, Sankaran said Albertsons would “start this next chapter in strong financial condition with a track record of positive business performance." In the company's most recent quarter, Albertsons' revenue rose 1% to $18.5 billion and it reported $7.9 billion in debt. Kroger said it would also move forward in a strong financial position, with revenue down slightly to $33.6 billion in its most recent quarter. The company announced a $7.5 billion share buyback program Wednesday after a two-year pause. Kroger and Albertsons first proposed the merger in 2022 . They argued that combining would help them better compete with big retailers like Walmart, Costco and Amazon, which are gaining an increasing share of U.S. grocery sales. Together, Kroger and Albertsons would control around 13% of the U.S. grocery market. Walmart controls around 22%. Under the merger agreement, Kroger and Albertsons — who compete in 22 states — agreed to sell 579 stores in places where their locations overlap to C&S Wholesale Grocers , a New Hampshire-based supplier to independent supermarkets that also owns the Grand Union and Piggly Wiggly store brands. But the Federal Trade Commission and two states — Washington and Colorado — sued to block the merger earlier this year, saying it would raise prices and lower workers' wages by eliminating competition. It also said the divestiture plan was inadequate and that C&S was ill-equipped to take on so many stores. On Wednesday, Albertsons said that Kroger failed to exercise “best efforts” and to take “any and all actions” to secure regulatory approval of the companies’ agreed merger transaction. Albertsons said Kroger refused to divest the assets necessary for antitrust approval, ignored regulators' feedback and rejected divestiture buyers that would have been stronger than C&S. “Kroger’s self-serving conduct, taken at the expense of Albertsons and the agreed transaction, has harmed Albertsons’ shareholders, associates and consumers,” said Tom Moriarty, Albertsons’ general counsel, in a statement. Kroger said that it disagrees with Albertsons “in the strongest possible terms.” It said early Wednesday that Albertsons was responsible for “repeated intentional material breaches and interference throughout the merger process.” Kroger , based in Cincinnati, Ohio, operates 2,800 stores in 35 states, including brands like Ralphs, Smith’s and Harris Teeter. Albertsons , based in Boise, Idaho, operates 2,273 stores in 34 states, including brands like Safeway, Jewel Osco and Shaw’s. Together, the companies employ around 710,000 people. Kroger sued the FTC in August in federal court in Ohio, claiming that the federal agency’s in-house administrative hearings were unlawful because the FTC was also able to challenge the merger in federal court in Oregon. In paperwork filed Wednesday, the FTC said it expected to update the court on its next steps in that case by Dec. 17. In Colorado, which also sued to block the merger, Attorney General Phil Weiser said Tuesday that he still was awaiting a decision from a state judge. In that case, Colorado also was challenging an allegedly illegal no-poach agreement Kroger and Albertsons made during a 2022 strike. Shares of Albertsons fell 1.5% Wednesday, while Kroger's stock was up 1%.
UN General Assembly calls for 'unconditional' ceasefire in Gaza
DETROIT (AP) — If Donald Trump makes good on his threat to slap 25% tariffs on everything imported from Mexico and Canada, the price increases that could follow will collide with his campaign promise to give American families a break from inflation. Economists say companies would have little choice but to pass along the added costs, dramatically raising prices for food, clothing, automobiles, booze and other goods. The president-elect floated the tariff idea, including additional 10% taxes on goods from China, as a way to force the countries to halt the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs into the U.S. But his posts Monday on Truth Social threatening the tariffs on his first day in office could just be a negotiating ploy to get the countries to change behavior. High food prices were a major issue in voters picking Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris, but tariffs almost certainly would push those costs up even further. For instance, the Produce Distributors Association, a Washington trade group, said Tuesday that tariffs will raise prices for fresh fruit and vegetables and hurt U.S. farmers when other countries retaliate. “Tariffs distort the marketplace and will raise prices along the supply chain, resulting in the consumer paying more at the checkout line,” said Alan Siger, association president. Mexico and Canada are two of the biggest exporters of fresh fruit and vegetables to the U.S. In 2022, Mexico supplied 51% of fresh fruit and 69% of fresh vegetables imported by value into the U.S., while Canada supplied 2% of fresh fruit and 20% of fresh vegetables. Before the election, about 7 in 10 voters said they were very concerned about the cost of food, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 voters. “We’ll get them down,” Trump told shoppers during a September visit to a Pennsylvania grocery store. The U.S. is the largest importer of goods in the world, with Mexico, China and Canada its top three suppliers, according to the most recent U.S. Census data. People looking to buy a new vehicle likely would see big price increases as well, at a time when costs have gone up so much they are out of reach for many. The average price of a new vehicle now runs around $48,000. About 15% of the 15.6 million new vehicles sold in the U.S. last year came from Mexico, while 8% crossed the border from Canada, according to Global Data. Much of the tariffs would get passed along to consumers, unless automakers can somehow quickly find productivity improvements to offset them, said C.J. Finn, U.S. automotive sector leader for PwC. That means even more consumers “would potentially get priced out,” Finn said. Hardest hit would be Volkswagen, Stellantis, General Motors and Ford, Bernstein analyst Daniel Roeska wrote Tuesday in a note to investors. “A 25% tariff on Mexico and Canada would severely cripple the U.S. auto industry,” he said. The tariffs would hurt U.S. industrial production so much that “we expect this is unlikely to happen in practice,” Roeska said. The tariff threat hit auto stocks on Tuesday, particularly shares of GM, which imports about 30% of the vehicles it sells in the U.S. from Canada and Mexico, and Stellantis, which imports about 40% from the two countries. For both, about 55% of their lucrative pickup trucks come from Mexico and Canada. GM stock lost almost 9% of its value, while Stellantis dropped nearly 6%. It's not clear how long the tariffs would last if implemented, but they could force auto executives to move production to the U.S., which could create more jobs in the long run. However, Morningstar analyst David Whiston said automakers probably won't make any immediate moves because they can't quickly change where they build vehicles. Millions of dollars worth of auto parts flow across the borders with Mexico and Canada, and that could raise prices for already costly automobile repairs, Finn said. The Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. said tariffs on tequila or Canadian whisky won’t boost American jobs because they are distinctive products that can only be made in their country of origin. In 2023, the U.S. imported $4.6 billion worth of tequila and $108 million worth of mezcal from Mexico and $537 million worth of spirits from Canada, it said. “Tariffs on spirits products from our neighbors to the north and south are going to hurt U.S. consumers and lead to job losses across the U.S. hospitality industry,” it added. Electronics retailer Best Buy said on its third-quarter earnings conference call that it runs on thin profit margins, so while vendors and the company will shoulder some increases, Best Buy will have to pass tariffs to customers. “These are goods that people need, and higher prices are not helpful,” CEO Corie Barry said. Walmart also warned last week that tariffs could force it to raise prices. Tariffs could trigger supply chain disruptions as people buy goods before they are imposed and companies seek alternate sources of parts, said Rob Handfield, a professor of supply chain management at North Carolina State University. Some businesses might not be able to pass on the costs. “It could actually shut down a lot of industries in the United States. It could actually put a lot of U.S. businesses out of business,” he said. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who talked with Trump after his call for tariffs, said they had a good conversation about working together. "This is a relationship that we know takes a certain amount of working on and that’s what we’ll do,” Trudeau said. Trump's threats come as arrests for illegally crossing the border from Mexico have been falling . But arrests for illegally crossing the border from Canada have been rising over the past two years. Much of America’s fentanyl is smuggled from Mexico, and seizures have increased. Trump has sound legal justification to impose tariffs, even though they conflict with a 2020 trade deal brokered in large part by Trump with Canada and Mexico, said William Reinsch, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former Clinton administration trade official. The treaty, known as the USMCA, is up for review in 2026. In China’s case, he could simply declare Beijing hasn't met obligations under an agreement he negotiated in his first term. For Canada and Mexico, he could say the influx of migrants and drugs are a national security threat, and turn to a section of trade law he used in his first term to slap tariffs on steel and aluminum. The law he would most likely use for Canada and Mexico has a legal process that often takes up to nine months, giving Trump time to seek a deal. If talks failed and the duties were imposed, all three countries would likely retaliate with tariffs on U.S. exports, said Reinsch, who believes Trump's tariffs threat is a negotiating ploy. U.S. companies would lobby intensively against tariffs, and would seek to have products exempted. Some of the biggest exporters from Mexico are U.S. firms that make parts there, Reinsch said. Longer term, Mary Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said the threat of tariffs could make the U.S. an “unstable partner” in international trade. “It is an incentive to move activity outside the United States to avoid all this uncertainty,” she said. Trump transition team officials did not immediately respond to questions about what he would need to see to prevent the tariffs from being implemented and how they would impact prices in the U.S. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum suggested Tuesday that Mexico could retaliate with tariffs of its own. Sheinbaum said she was willing to talk about the issues, but said drugs were a U.S. problem. ___ Rugaber reported from Washington. AP reporters Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit, Stan Choe and Anne D'Innocenzio in New York, and Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.
If you find yourself with a bit of extra cash in your Christmas stocking this year, you might be thinking about some undervalued ASX stocks to add to your portfolio. Here are two of my current favourites. One is a leading Aussie tapping into emerging AI trends by providing data storage solutions. The other is a former market darling down on its luck after releasing an underwhelming outlook for FY25. NextDC has been one of my favourite ASX tech shares to own for years now. However, as more companies incorporate (AI) technology into their everyday operations, the for NextDC only becomes more compelling. NextDC is one of Australia's leading operators of data centres, which are physical facilities that store companies' data and other digital assets. NextDC's data centres are colocation facilities, which means multiple clients can rent space in the data centre at once. This allows companies to outsource their data storage needs so that they don't have to spend a fortune building their own technology infrastructure. I think NextDC is a great share to buy right now because of how rapidly AI, automation, and digitisation are being adopted by large corporations. All this new data needs to be stored somewhere, which could drive a massive surge in demand for data centre space. This is already starting to play out in the . Revenues were up 12% year-on-year to $404.3 million for the financial year ended 30 June 2024, while underlying came in above the company's guidance at $204.3 million. After surging to a 52-week high of $23.51 back in March, Audinate shares have since plunged almost 70% to just $7.31 at the time of writing. However, I think the market has unfairly punished Audinate shares, and they could offer investors an excellent buying opportunity at these prices. Audinate is a aiming to disrupt the audiovisual (AV) technology industry. Its flagship product, called Dante, is designed to replace all the complicated audio and video connections of outdated analogue systems with a digital computer network. It simplifies complex AV systems without compromising sound or image quality, making them far easier to manage. Its customers include hospitality venues, sports and entertainment events, and even churches and other places of worship. There are several good reasons to invest in Audinate. The company is an industry leader with significant intellectual property (IP) behind it, which makes it very difficult for new entrants to take away any of its market share. This gives it a considerable – something investors normally go gaga for. Plus, Audinate's FY24 results (for the year ended 30 June 2024) . Revenues were up 28.4% year-on-year to $91.5 million, and EBITDA was a record $20.4 million. However, investors were concerned about Audinate's near-term outlook. The company identified a number of headwinds that could negatively impact revenues in FY25, including shorter order lead times, higher inventory levels, and a slowdown in demand after the post-COVID recovery. While the company did flag that it expected things to rebound in FY26, many investors decided they didn't want to wait that long and dumped their shares. But this mass sell-off could be a great buying opportunity for those who are still bullish about Audinate's long-term growth potential. Speaking at the time of the results, Audinate CEO Aidan Williams said: Whilst we expect FY25 to be a transitional year, the long-term strategic thesis for Audinate remains unchanged. With the challenges of the last few years behind us, we will redouble our efforts to drive audio & video unit growth, a key building block in our long-term strategy.Joe Bartolo has ridden the wave of insatiable government appetites for major infrastructure projects. Symal, the civil construction company he founded more than two decades ago, has worked on Snowy Hydro, helped remove level crossings in Melbourne and built flood relief centres after the 2022 disasters. But even Bartolo thinks that diverting tradies from building much-needed homes to help governments (in all tiers) deliver on infrastructure agendas has caused problems. Symal’s Ray Dando, Andrew Fairbairn and Joe Bartolo ring the famed ASX bell. Credit: Dion Georgopoulos “I feel there was a bit too much everyone was trying to deliver at once, and if it is spread out a little bit more, it would have been much easier to deliver with the skilled people,” Bartolo says. “There’s definitely been a correction to the industry, and in a way, almost a welcome correction to some extent.” Australia is in the middle of a housing crisis, and the federal government is already struggling to deliver on its promise of building 1.2 million new homes by 2029 to keep pace with population growth. Many factors are slowing the process – including planning restrictions and the cost of building – but in September, the NSW Productivity Commission called on governments to stop spending money on infrastructure to enable the building of more homes. “A major reason the construction sector is struggling to deliver homes across Australia is because governments are diverting resources from home building to public infrastructure projects,” its report said. Bartolo says about three-quarters of Symal’s revenue comes from the private sector, so he doesn’t believe it will be affected by any significant changes to governments’ infrastructure agendas. The Melbourne-based founder and managing director was in Sydney last week, standing in the Exchange Sector to ring the famed bell, marking the debut listing of his business. Loading Symal began trading on the ASX on Thursday, under the SYL ticket, with a $437 million market capitalisation, after raising $136 million from institutional and retail investors at $1.85 a share. “For us, listing was about growth, it was about legacy and creating something that we never want to lose,” Bartolo says. “Being listed lets us continue on that journey, continue to grow and outlive us.” It has become one of only about 20 companies floated on the stock exchange so far in 2024, but hopes are rising that a three-year drought in initial public offerings is finally nearing an end as the Australian market rides the wave of a strong Wall Street and awaits cuts to the cash rate next year. Bartolo cites the performance of Guzman y Gomez, which listed in June, as evidence that this was the right time for his business to float on the ASX. “There was also a lack of construction or material supply businesses in the IPO market as well, so we felt that we could really fill that void that was there, but in addition, we still own 70 per cent of the business, so for us it didn’t really matter what the outcome was in terms of valuation because we didn’t get the benefit upside anyway,” he says. Loading “The timing was perfect in terms of work flow as well ... somebody needs to do something to open the market back. If you continue to wait, there was always that question, ‘could we be the first ones that spark it, and we get the benefit of that as well?’” It has been a challenging time for Australia’s IPOs, which is at the weakest pace in 15 years, amid elevated global inflation (which has just started easing) and high-interest rates dampening economic sentiment, as well as companies finding it easier than ever to gain private credit. The US, Britain and Canada are also experiencing low listing numbers since peaking in 2021. EY capital markets leader Paul Murphy says there were signs of market stability in the second half of this year, with a number of IPO candidates dusting off prospectuses. Up to a dozen companies are expected to float on the ASX over the next six weeks. “We do expect to see investor sentiment improve, subject to the geopolitical situation and better macroeconomic conditions, with lower inflation and potentially the beginning of easing of monetary policy, which should create the right conditions for business growth, consumer demand and stable cost inflation,” Murphy said. Joe Bartolo wonders “could Symal be the first ones to spark” a flurry of listings. Credit: Dion Georgopoulos “This will perhaps benefit a number of sectors and IPOs of smaller businesses.” Symal, which has about 1000 employees, generated $770 million in revenue and recorded net profit of $33 million in the 2024 financial year, according to its prospectus. It has $1.3 billion of work-in-hand, with 90 per cent of that from existing clients, on 200 projects. A quarter of the group’s revenue is from the public sector, including government departments and agencies at the three levels of government. Current projects include upgrades to Eastern Freeway in Melbourne’s east and a gas power plant in Kurri Kurri, NSW. Bartolo credits the rise of his company to Andrew Fairburn and Ray Dando, the directors of strategy, growth and delivery, who joined him 15 years ago. Fairburn and Dando own 15 per cent of Symal shares, while Bartolo is the largest shareholder with 30 per cent. The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning . Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. License this article Capital raising ASX Limited Shares Sumeyya Ilanbey is a business journalist for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald Connect via Twitter or email . Most Viewed in Business Loading