It’s Wednesday the 30th of April 2025 and Woodside greenlights a $27 billion LNG plant in Louisiana, the former Virgin boss takes on Endeavour Group, and James Packer sells his Beverly Hills mansion. Plus three days till the federal election, and Donald Trump celebrates 100 days in office.

Listen to today's episode 🎧 

News in brief

Woodside Energy has given the green light to a $27 billion LNG plant in the United States, pushing the group into the legion of global gas giants. Once producing gas in Louisiana, Woodside could provide more than five per cent of the world’s LNG supply.

Former Virgin Australia boss Jayne Hrdlicka will be the new CEO of Endeavour Group, the struggling pubs and liquor store business that has failed to deliver for shareholders since being spun out of Woolworths in 2021.

James Packer, who has pretty much withdrawn from the public eye, has sold his Beverly Hills mansion for $93m, in what is reportedly the most expensive property deal in the suburb this year.

The election campaign continues with the respective leaders nursing babies and dogs, protestors disrupting both sides of politics, and an attack on Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s electoral office.

Donald Trump is celebrating 100 days in office. It has been quite a whirlwind, releasing rioters, attacking DEI initiatives and universities, claiming to cut government spending, and redefining global relations and the international economy.  

Fear-o-meter

Woodside’s decision to push the go button on a $US17 billion ($A27 billion) LNG project in Louisiana is courageous, risky and a bet that Donald Trump has changed the world forever.

CEO Meg O’Neill says the deal is transformational for Australia’s biggest oil and gas player. On completion, Woodside could provide five per cent of the world’s LNG.

To make it work, O'Neill needs customers wanting to buy energy from the United States – something that Donald Trump has pushed.

She also needs the sluggish pace of the energy transition to continue. The Louisiana field has a 40-year life span. That’s 2070. LNG is not green power. It is a transition energy. O’Neill is betting that gas is needed for many decades and renewables only slowly replace ageing power sources.

Who's talking today?

On the appointment of Jayne Hrdlicka as the new CEO of Endeavour Group, the challenges facing the liquor business, and the broader state of retail in Australia.

 

"Dan Murphy's and BWS - together, they dominate the Australian at-home liquor consumption. Around half of all we drink at home we have purchased at other Dan Murphy's or BWS. So it's the biggest Australian liquor business. It's huge. And what they've been experiencing after massive bonanza during COVID when we were all locked up at home is that all that that demand actually unwound again when pubs reopened. 

 

But then there's a second factor and that's what are people drinking? What kind of alcohol volumes? And people are drinking cheaper options and that's obviously hurting the top line but it's also hurting margins. So that's happening in the retail business of Endeavour. What happened in hotels is almost a flip side if you think going from the de-merger during COVID the pubs did very poorly because they couldn't be frequented. So it's almost a mirror image what we saw with liquor retailing. Hotels is a smaller part of this group, though."

Greed-o-meter

The Virgin Australia-Qatar Airways tie-up might have increased capacity to Europe, but it hasn't done much for airfares yet. Demand for a European summer has seen airfares hold up strongly. 

Period: June 23-July 1. Source: The Australian / Webjet

Can you help us out?

Sean Aylmer and Adam Lang from the Fear & Greed team are taking part in Royal Far West's Ride For Country Kids - a 380km ride through western NSW. The goal is to raise as much money as possible to improve life options for kids from rural communities.

Neither Sean or Adam are cyclists - so this is well outside their comfort zone (although they do seem to be taking to the lycra a little too keenly). 

If you can help raise a few dollars for the Fear & Greed team, it will be gratefully appreciated. You can donate here. And we'll be giving supporters a shout-out on the podcast too!

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