Author: roymorgansocial

Mr Melbourne loses his cancer battle

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by John Ferguson, Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 31-Jan-18

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten are among the current and former politicians who have paid tribute to businessman Ron Walker, who has passed away at the age of 78. Walker’s career included a stint as Melbourne’s Lord Mayor and treasurer of the Liberal Party of Australia. Walker is a former chairman of Fairfax Media, while he developed Melbourne’s Crown Casino in partnership with Lloyd Williams. He also played a key role in securing the 2006 Commonwealth Games and the Formula One Grand Prix for Melbourne.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, LIBERAL PARTY OF VICTORIA, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, CROWN MELBOURNE LIMITED, CROWN RESORTS LIMITED – ASX CWN

Banks watch as capital city unit crisis unfolds

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Robert Gottliebsen
The Australian – Page: 21 : 31-Jan-18

The yield on US 10-year government bonds peaked at 2.73 per cent in late January, and the policies of President Donald Trump could see yields rise further. This would have major implications for Australia’s banks, which source 30-40 per cent of their funding from offshore. Australian banks are in turn heavily exposed to the residential and retail property markets, and a sharp rise in global interest rates would put downward pressure on asset values in these sectors. This would be of particular concern for the inner city apartment markets in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, where there are already fears of an oversupply.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

Shorten war on business

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 31-Jan-18

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has committed to establishing a national anti-corruption commission if Labor wins the next federal election. He has also signalled plans to either increase the minimum wage or replace it with a so-called "living wage". Meanwhile, business groups have expressed concern over Shorten’s proposal to rebalance enterprise bargaining laws in favour of workers. Private health insurance companies will also be targeted by Shorten, while he has ruled out supporting the Federal Government’s company tax cuts package.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Glencore ends $700pw strike bonus

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 31-Jan-18

Glencore will seek to terminate the enterprise agreement at its Oaky Creek coal mine in Queensland in a bid to end a long-running union dispute. Some 175 union members have been locked out of the site for more than 200 days, but a clause in the enterprise agreement requires them to receive the productivity bonuses that are paid to employees and contractors who have defied the picket line. It is believed that some picketers have been paid up to $A700m per week in productivity bonuses.

CORPORATES
GLENCORE PLC, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Cycle turning on discounts, says Fortescue

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 31-Jan-18

Fortescue Metals Group CEO Nev Power expects the price gap between lower-grade iron ore and the benchmark price to narrow in coming months. He says the December 2017 quarter is likely to represent the low-point for the price discount. Fortescue sold its iron ore at just 66 per cent of the benchmark price during the quarter, compared with 86-88 per cent between 2014 and 2016. Meanwhile, Citigroup has forecast that Fortescue will reduce its net debt to $US2.4bn by mid-2018, after it rose to $US3.3bn at the end of 2017.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, SHAW AND PARTNERS LIMITED, CLEVELAND-CLIFFS INCORPORATED, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, VALE SA

Smaller end of town to buoy ASX

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Glenda Korporaal
The Australian – Page: 25 : 31-Jan-18

A report by HLB Mann Judd notes that 37 companies have plans to list on the Australian sharemarket at present, compared with 23 at the same time in 2017. Third Party Technologies heads the list of prospective floats, with plans to raise $A123m from investors. HLB Mann Judd expects small and medium-sized companies to continue to dominate the IPO market in 2018. There were no IPOs worth more than $A1bn in 2017, and no IPOs of this size are currently in the works.

CORPORATES
HLB MANN JUDD, THIRD PARTY TECHNOLOGIES INCORPORATED – ASX 3PT, INDIA FUND LIMITED – ASX INF, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GROUP LIMITED, INGHAMS GROUP LIMITED – ASX ING, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, OFFICEWORKS SUPERSTORES PTY LTD, ARCHER CAPITAL PTY LTD, CRAVEABLE BRANDS LIMITED, OPORTO PTY LTD, RED ROOSTER FOODS, ZIP INDUSTRIES AUSTRALIA, QUADRANT PRIVATE EQUITY PTY LTD, CHAMP PRIVATE EQUITY PTY LTD, ACCOLADE WINES LIMITED

AWE expected to hand MinRes rejection notice

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 20 : 31-Jan-18

AWE Limited’s board is tipped to declare its support for Mitsui’s cash offer of $A0.95 per share on 31 January. Rival suitor Mineral Resources will then have three days to lift its cash and scrip bid of $A0.83 per share. AWE shares closed at $A0.975 on 30 January, after rising to $A0.99 on the previous day. The third bidder for AWE, China Energy Reserve & Chemicals Group, is not expected to increase its offer.

CORPORATES
AWE LIMITED – ASX AWE, MITSUI AND COMPANY LIMITED, MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN, CHINA ENERGY RESERVE AND CHEMICAL GROUP COMPANY LIMITED, CANACCORD GENUITY (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence returns to uptrend, up 1.3% to 120.9

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 31-Jan-18

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rose 1.3% to 120.9 in the week ended 28 January. Results were mixed at a disaggregated level, with three out of five sub-components showing an increase. Consumers grew more optimistic about both current and future economic conditions, with the indices rising by 4.0% and 4.2% respectively. Both series reversed losses from the previous week and are sitting comfortably above their long-term averages. Indeed, sentiment toward future economic conditions is the highest since late 2013. Views towards financial conditions were mixed, with the current sub-index extending its losses from the previous week, falling a further 1.6% to 103, while future finances rose slightly by 0.5% to 126.8 after two consecutive weekly falls.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Satisfaction with banks up in December

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 31-Jan-18

New research from Roy Morgan shows that customer satisfaction with banks in the six months to December 2017 was 80.8%, up from 80.6% in November. Despite many fluctuations in satisfaction over the last two decades, the current result represents a continuation of the generally positive trend that we have seen since 2001, when satisfaction with banks was only 58.5%. The Commonwealth Bank had the highest customer satisfaction rating of the big four in December (unchanged at 79.6%), followed by NAB (up 0.3% to 78.6%). However, Bendigo Bank (up 0.7% to 88.8%) had the highest customer satisfaction rating among the 10 largest consumer banks.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, BENDIGO BANK, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ, ING BANK (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, BANK OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ST GEORGE BANK LIMITED, SUNCORP BANK

Weatherill shift on nuke dump

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Michael Owen
The Australian – Page: 6 : 30-Jan-18

South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill has threatened High Court action against the federal government if it tries to set up a nuclear waste dump in the state. This is despite Weatherill having put forward a proposal to import nuclear waste in 2017, only to later back down on the idea. Federal Resources Minister Matt Canavan notes that three SA landowners have put forward their properties as possible sites for a waste dump, and that the communities near the properties are broadly supportive of the idea.

CORPORATES
SOUTH AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY