Author: roymorgansocial

Threat to strike as union job axed

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 29-Mar-18

Alcoa and the Australian Workers’ Union are negotiating a new enterprise agreement for workers at the Portland aluminium smelter in Victoria. However, the AWU is resisting Alcoa’s push to abolish the full-time position of union convener, which boasts an annual salary of $A123,000. The convener solely undertakes union-related duties at the smelter, and Alcoa contends that the position is not necessary given that the AWU already has a full-time organiser at the site. The AWU has warned of the potential for strike action over the issue.

CORPORATES
ALCOA OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES

ALP links: 189-vote senator blocks $36bn tax cuts

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Original article by Michael Owen, Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 29-Mar-18

The Federal Government still hopes to secure the two Senate votes that are required to pass its corporate tax cuts package. The Government is continuing to negotiate with Derryn Hinch, but fellow crossbencher Tim Storer says he cannot support the bill in its current form. He argues that the forgone revenue from the company tax cuts should instead be used to finance social and economic programs. Storer gained just 189 votes as a Nick Xenophon Team candidate at the 2016 election, and he was elevated to the Senate after Skye Kakoschke-Moore was ruled ineligible due to dual citizenship. He had resigned from the Australian Labor Party in 2015.

CORPORATES
NICK XENOPHON TEAM, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN REPUBLICAN MOVEMENT

Seven West sells 50pc stake in Yahoo7

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Original article by Dana McCauley
The Australian – Page: 26 : 29-Mar-18

Yahoo7 is expected to be rebranded following Oath’s deal buy Seven West Media’s stake in the digital joint venture. However, Seven will retain all of its branded news and TV portals, while it may continue to provide non-exclusive content to Oath once the joint venture is formally unwound. Seven West Media CEO Tim Worner notes that Yahoo7 has an audience reach of about nine million and is upbeat about its outlook under the ownership of Oath.

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, YAHOO!7 COMMUNICATIONS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, OATH INCORPORATED, YAHOO! INCORPORATED, VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INCORPORATED

Bounced out: Smith, Warner unfit to lead

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Original article by Peter Lalor
The Australian – Page: 1 & 8 : 29-Mar-18

Cricket Australia has banned Steve Smith and David Warner from all forms of cricket for 12 months, while Cameron Bancroft has been banned for nine months. In addition, Smith will be barred from the captaincy role for an additional year after his ban is lifted, while Warner faces a life-time ban from leading his country. Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland has told a press conference that Smith, Warner and Bancroft were the only members of the Test team who had any knowledge of the ball-tampering strategy. It has also been revealed that Bancroft had used sandpaper rather than adhesive tape to alter the condition of the ball.

CORPORATES
CRICKET AUSTRALIA

Health insurance industry distrusted by Australians

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Mar-18

Healthcare professions consistently rank as the most respected in Australia and have done so since 1994, when Roy Morgan started measuring honesty and ethics. Nurses, doctors, pharmacists and dentists are consistently at the top of the list. Yet the private health insurance industry, with its member touchpoints embedded in this trusted health ecosystem, is itself distrusted. According to a new landmark survey, private health insurance is more distrusted than it is trusted by Australians. In Net Trust Score (NTS) surveys conducted by the Roy Morgan Research Institute between Oct 2017 and Feb 2018, the health insurance industry recorded a negative NTS of -2.6%. In relation to other industries, it is lower than retail and travel, sitting between gambling, real estate and FMCG. The Roy Morgan Private Health Insurance Tracker survey reveals that while the most trusted funds are BUPA and Medibank Private, they are also the most distrusted, with BUPA being more distrusted than it is trusted.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, BUPA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL

Facebook fallout hits technology stocks

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Original article by Supratim Adhikari
The Australian – Page: 17 & 26 : 29-Mar-18

Investor sentiment toward Australian-listed technology companies turned bearish on 28 March, in the wake of a similar sell-down on Wall Street. WiseTech Global was among the hardest hit, shedding 4.6 per cent to close at $A10.11, while Altium, Appen and Xero all fell by at least two per cent. Julia Lee of Bell Direct stresses that Australian technology stocks do not use large volumes of data so they are not exposed to the same risks as US peers such as Facebook. She does note that many local tech stocks are overvalued.

CORPORATES
WISETECH GLOBAL LIMITED – ASX WTC, ALTIUM CAPITAL LIMITED, APPEN LIMITED – ASX APX, XERO LIMITED – ASX XRO, BELL DIRECT, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA LLC, NASDAQ, LINCOLN INDICATORS PTY LTD, GENTRACK GROUP LIMITED – ASX GTK, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX

Coking coal’s future bright

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 17 & 26 : 29-Mar-18

Rio Tinto has completed its exit from the coal sector with the sale of its 80 per cent stake in the Kestrel coking coal mine in Queensland for $US2.5bn ($A3.2bn). The stake was sold to a consortium of EMR Capital and Indonesia-based Adaro Energy, and follows the recent sale of Rio Tinto’s Hail Creek and ­Valeria coal projects. EMR Capital CEO Jason Cheng is upbeat about the outlook for coking coal, arguing that demand will remain strong as there is no alternative to it for the steel industry.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, EMR CAPITAL PTY LTD, PT ADARO INDONESIA, SOUTH32 LIMITED – ASX S32, GLENCORE PLC

Regional banks seek level playing field

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 45 & 50 : 29-Mar-18

The Productivity Commission has received a joint submission from six regional banks in which they call for regulatory reforms to ensure that they remain competitive against larger rivals. Amongst other things, they have argued that the Federal Government’s implicit guarantee to bail out the "big four" in the event of a financial crisis gives them a competitive advantage when seeking funding via wholesale debt markets. The regional banks have also called for changes to the policy that requires them to have higher levels of capital for loans that have an equivalent risk.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, AMP BANK LIMITED, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, ME BANK, MYSTATE LIMITED – ASX MYS, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Shopper Media Group launches smarter audience targeting with integration of Roy Morgan Helix Personas

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Mar-18

Shopper Media Group, Australia’s fastest-growing retail digital out-of-home business, has announced a partnership with Roy Morgan and Helix Personas that will allow brands the most efficient audience targeting across Shopper Media Group’s shopping communities. Shopper Media Group CEO Ben Walker, says the new partnership will equip Shopper Media Group with the capabilities to offer media agencies and marketers more effective and targeted media buys and will allow our shopping centre partners to better customise their marketing communication based on a better understanding of their local shopping audience catchment. Roy Morgan Helix Personas is a unique and powerful consumer segmentation methodology that combines sophisticated psychographic and behavioural data to classify the Australian population into 56 Personas and 7 Communities. This allows Shopper Media Group to understand in depth the types of personas and communities that shop in their centres.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, SHOPPER MEDIA GROUP PTY LTD

Company tax cut delayed by two holdout senators

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 28-Mar-18

The Federal Government will put its corporate tax cuts package on hold until May after failing to secure the support of Senate crossbenchers Derryn Hinch and Tim Storer. The Government had gained the support of seven crossbenchers and had hoped to pass the legislation before Easter. Meanwhile, the Business Council of Australia has launched a cross-platform campaign in support of the proposed company tax cuts, while Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has called upon the business sector to lobby crossbenchers to back the tax cuts.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS