Author: roymorgansocial

Seven post-Games Spartan bet hits the skids

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Original article by Stephen Brook
The Australian – Page: 19 : 27-Feb-18

Data from OzTAM shows that the debut episode of the Seven Network’s "Australian Spartan" boasted just 816,000 viewers on 25 February. This compares with 1.54 million viewers for the Nine Network’s "Married at First Sight", and 1.12 million viewers for Seven’s "My Kitchen Rules" in the same timeslot a week earlier. Seven had been hoping to capitalise on the strong ratings for its coverage of the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games by scheduling "Australian Spartan" earlier in the year than it had originally intended.

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, CBS CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), OZTAM PTY LTD

Media chiefs hail digital inquiry

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 19 : 27-Feb-18

Media industry executives are supportive of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s inquiry into the digital media sector. News Corp Australia executive chairman Michael Miller says it looks forward to actively participating in the inquiry, while Seven West Media CEO Tim Worner says the company is keen to express its views. Miller says the inquiry represents an opportunity to reform the digital media sector into one that offers the opportunity for all participants to compete on a "more even playing field"

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, NEWS CONNECT PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, TWITTER INCORPORATED, SNAPCHAT INCORPORATED, APPLE INCORPORATED

Judge slams union’s deplorable record

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 27-Feb-18

The Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union has been fined $A95,000 over a "closed shop" policy at a Melbourne construction site. CFMEU delegate Godwin Farrugia has in turn been fined $A10,000 after advising workers that they could not access the site unless their union dues had been paid. The Federal Court’s Justice Richard Tracey ruled that the CFMEU’s frequent breaches of workplace laws meant that a significant financial penalty was justified.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, QUEST APARTMENTS PTY LTD, ARTEAM, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION

Andrews delivers for his union movement mates

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Original article by Robert Gottliebsen
The Australian – Page: 29 : 27-Feb-18

Victorian Government legislation could give unions unprecedented power to decide the future of many businesses. The Victorian Labour Hire Licensing Bill 2017 will require all labour hire firms in the state to renew their registration every three years. However, a range of interested parties will be able to oppose re-registration – including unions and rival labour hire firms. The legislation would enable a union to demand that a firm agrees to become fully unionised in return for supporting the renewal of their registration; unions could potentially target each firm in turn until they are all unionised. Significantly, the bill – which has been passed by the lower house – also covers large consulting firms.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, HAYS PERSONNEL SERVICES (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, ADECCO AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CHANDLER MACLEOD GROUP LIMITED, MANPOWER AUSTRALIA, PAXUS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, PROGRAMMED MAINTENANCE SERVICES LIMITED, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD, ACCENTURE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Shorten’s IR promise to militant CFMEU

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 27-Feb-18

Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and employment spokesman Brendan O’Connor visited Glencore’s Oaky North coal mine in October 2017. Shorten told Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union members who were engaged in a long-running strike at the site that Labor will overhaul workplace laws if it wins the next federal election. Employment Minister Craig Laundy says Shorten’s speech demonstrates that Labor intends to pursue industrial relations reforms that would give unions greater power in the workplace.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, GLENCORE PLC, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, ACTU

Price doubts over Forrest LNG plan

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 : 27-Feb-18

BlueScope CEO Mark Vasella is supportive of plans by a venture backed by Andrew Forrest to import LNG into the New South Wales market. Port Kembla is one of three sites envisaged for the project, and Vasella says this would be the best choice, as it is close to customers and infrastructure. Energy Users Association of Australia head Andrew Richards has also welcomed news of the project, while a spokesperson for AGL, which is considering a similar import project in Victoria, said it backs the idea of new supply.

CORPORATES
BLUESCOPE STEEL LIMITED – ASX BSL, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ENERGY USERS ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA, JERA, WOOD MACKENZIE, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, GLENCORE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

ASIC expands rate-rigging case at CBA

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Original article by Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 27-Feb-18

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission is now alleging that Commonwealth Bank traders tried to manipulate the interbank lending rate on six occasions. It had previously only contended that such manipulation had occurred on three dates. National Australia Bank and the ANZ Bank have already paid fines to settle their cases with ASIC, while Federal Court Justice Jonathan Beach is expected to soon hand down his decision in regard to ASIC’s case against Westpac.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Unlisted funds beat market in 2017

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Original article by Nick Lenaghan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 32 : 27-Feb-18

Australian unlisted property funds delivered average total returns of 23.4 per cent in 2017, compared with a return of just 7.7 per cent for Australian equities. Maarten Broek of MCSI stated that the strong performance of unlisted property funds was aided by factors such as rental growth and investor demand, while he noted that yields had contracted in recent years. Australian direct property also performed well in 2017, with a total return of 11.9 per cent.

CORPORATES
MSCI INCORPORATED, ZENITH INVESTMENT PARTNERS PTY LTD, PROPERTY FUNDS ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN UNITY LIMITED

Newcrest buys stake in Lundin Gold

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 : 27-Feb-18

Newcrest Mining will acquire a 27.1 per cent stake in Canada’s Lundin Gold at a cost of $US250m ($A319m). However, the deal imposes restrictions on Newcrest’s ability to lift its stake above 32 per cent, making a takeover bid difficult in the near-term. Lundin’s assets include the Fruta Del Norte gold project in Ecuador, a country to which Newcrest already has exposure via its stake in Solgold. The Fruta Del Norte mine is slated to commence production in late 2019.

CORPORATES
NEWCREST MINING LIMITED – ASX NCM, LUNDIN GOLD INCORPORATED, SOLGOLD PLC, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS, NEWMONT MINING CORPORATION, BARRICK GOLD CORPORATION, GOLDCORP INCORPORATED

Indonesians and New Zealanders more confident than Australians

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 26-Feb-18

In early 2018 Consumer Confidence in Indonesia and New Zealand is higher than mutual neighbour Australia. Indonesian Consumer Confidence ended 2017 at 155.4, and it is almost 30pts above the latest ANZ-Roy Morgan New Zealand Consumer Confidence Rating of 126.9 in January, and more than 40pts higher than the latest ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence Rating of 115.3. Indonesian Consumer Confidence soared following the Global Financial Crisis in 2008-09 and has been consistently higher than either Australia or NZ since late 2010. In fact, Indonesian Consumer Confidence has not dipped below 140 since April 2012 (139.6) and it reached a high of 161.4 in August and November 2014, when current President Joko Widodo was elected (July 2014) and inaugurated three months later. New Zealand Consumer Confidence has also been consistently higher than in Australia in the last four years. Since September 2013 New Zealand Consumer Confidence has been higher than in Australia in 50 out of 52 months and more than 10pts higher for two long periods in particular: November 2013 to June 2015 and November 2016 to the present. New Zealand Consumer Confidence reached a recent high of 129.9 in September 2017 as New Zealanders went to the polls. In contrast, Australian Consumer Confidence has lagged its neighbours for much of the past half-decade after an initially strong recovery from the Global Financial Crisis of 2008-09 with the impact of the "Mining Boom" peaking in 2010-2011.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED