Author: roymorgansocial

Alleged victims fear public flak

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Original article by Miki Perkins, Clay Lucas
The Age – Page: 2 : 23-Jan-18

At least four women have made sexual harassment allegations against Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle. They include former City of Melbourne councillor Tessa Sullivan, current councillor Cathy Oke and Melbourne photographer Dianne Mallas. However, it is understood that a number of other women claim to have been harassed by Doyle, but they do not wish to make formal complaints due to fears that their identities will be made public. Some of the alleged incidents are said to have occurred during Doyle’s career as a teacher and when he was Victoria’s opposition leader.

CORPORATES
CITY OF MELBOURNE, MELBOURNE HEALTH SERVICE, VICTORIA. DEPT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, PRESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, VICTORIA. EQUAL OPPORTUNITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION

AEC criticised over election security

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 23-Jan-18

Auditor-General Grant Hehir has accused the Australian Electoral Commission of misleading voters about the level of polling security at the 2016 federal election. Hehir also found that the amount that the AEC paid contractors to transport voters’ ballot papers was higher than it had budgeted for, and that it had made a last-minute decision to manually count more than 14 million large Senate ballot papers. The AEC had spent $A27.2 million on scanning systems, but it determined that they were not accurate enough.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE AUDITOR-GENERAL, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE, AUSTRALIAN SIGNALS DIRECTORATE

Domain dives as Catalano quits

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 15 & 24 : 23-Jan-18

The market capitalisation of property listings group Domain Holdings was slashed by $A420m on 22 January, after the sudden resignation of CEO Antony Catalano sparked a sharp fall in its share price. The stock closed 17.2 per cent lower at $A2.75 as investors pondered the reason for Catalano’s departure just two months after Domain was spun off by Fairfax Media. Independent director Greg Ellis has been touted as a potential successor to Catalano. He currently heads Scout24 in Germany and he is a former CEO of Domain rival REA Group.

CORPORATES
DOMAIN HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX DHA, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, SCOUT24 HOLDING GMBH, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, TPG CAPITAL LP, HELLMAN AND FRIEDMAN, ONTARIO TEACHERS’ PENSION PLAN

Rio speeds up plan for driverless ore trains

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 15 & 24 : 23-Jan-18

Rio Tinto’s AutoHaul project to fully automate its iron ore trains in the Pilbara is slated for completion by the end of 2018. The project was first mooted in 2008 and it was initially expected to be completed in 2015, while it is likely to cost significantly more than the $US518m that had originally been budgeted. However, Rio Tinto expects the move to driverless trains will allow it to ship an additional 20 million tonnes of iron ore each year, which will in turn significantly increase its profits.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Insurers admit avoiding cover for risky areas

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Original article by Alice Uribe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 23-Jan-18

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission is investigating the level of competition within the general insurance sector in northern Australia, along with premium increases in that part of the country. The ACCC is due to make its final report to the Treasurer by late 2020. Insurance companies have conceded that they avoid covering some properties in the region, which is prone to cyclones, but have denied suggestions that they have engaged in "premium price-gouging".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, QBE INSURANCE GROUP LIMITED – ASX QBE, INSURANCE COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN

AFIC left behind on rising resources

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 18 : 23-Jan-18

The Australian Foundation Investment Company has posted a 2017-18 interim profit of $A136.4m, which is 15.6 per higher than previously. Its investment portfolio achieved a return of 6.9 per cent for the half-year, while the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 gained 8.4 per cent. AFIC failed to benefit from a rally in small and mid-cap resources stocks, as its focus in the sector is on large-cap stocks. AFIC CEO Mark Freeman notes that elevated share price means it is hard to find stocks that are fairly valued at present.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN FOUNDATION INVESTMENT COMPANY LIMITED – ASX AFI, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, TREASURY WINE ESTATES LIMITED – ASX TWE, TRANSURBAN GROUP LIMITED – ASX TCL, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD, CSL LIMITED – ASX CSL, INCITEC PIVOT LIMITED – ASX IPL, COCA-COLA AMATIL LIMITED – ASX CCL, QBE INSURANCE GROUP LIMITED – ASX QBE

Win for employers over casuals

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 23-Jan-18

The Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union has failed to have a Fair Work Commission ruling on casual workers overturned on appeal. The AMWU had contended that two labour-hire employees who had worked for Visy continuously for three months were entitled to become permanent employees under a clause in the packaging group’s enterprise agreement. The full bench of the FWC upheld the ruling that the clause was not a "permitted matter" under the Fair Work Act. ACTU secretary Sally McManus says the ruling highlights the need for changes to workplace laws.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING WORKERS’ UNION, VISY INDUSTRIES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, ACTU, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP

Former insiders cast doubt on company trading update

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Original article by Su-Lin Tan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 23-Jan-18

Listed real estate firm McGrath advised the ASX of an earnings downgrade on 22 January. McGrath reported that it expects to make a loss of $A50,000 for the first half of 2017-18, although internal documents provided to a newspaper suggested that the figure might be a lot higher. Past employees of McGrath suggest that the figures it provided to the ASX were somewhat optimistic. It is also understood that Peter Malouf recently resigned as head of training at McGrath, as did Michael Conolly as head of network property management.

CORPORATES
McGRATH LIMITED – ASX MEA

Trump tax cuts lift world economy

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 23-Jan-18

The International Monetary Fund forecasts that the global economy will grow by 3.9 per cent in 2018 and at a similar pace in 2019. The global economy grew by 3.7 per cent in 2017. The IMF has also used its latest world economic outlook report to upgrade its forecast for US economic growth in 2018 by 0.4 per cent, to 2.7 per cent, citing the likely impact of the Trump administration’s company tax reforms. Treasurer Scott Morrison says the IMF’s forecasts emphasise the need for Australia’s company tax rate to be reduced to ensure that the nation remains internationally competitive.

CORPORATES
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH

Indonesian Consumer Confidence highest in Bali, Sulawesi & Maluku Islands

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 22-Jan-18

Roy Morgan Indonesian Consumer Confidence rose 0.5pts to 154.3 in November 2017, to its highest since November 2014 (161.4). Consumer Confidence is now 5.4pts higher than in November 2016 (148.9) and 19.9pts above the long-run average (2005-2017) of 134.4. Now 69% (up 1ppt) of Indonesians expect their family to be "better off" financially this time next year, and just 4% (down 1ppt) expect to be "worse off" financially. In regard to the Indonesian economy, now 87% (unchanged) of Indonesians expect Indonesia will have "good times" financially during the next 12 months (the equal highest for this indicator since February 2015), and just 13% (down 1ppt) say Indonesia will have "bad times" financially (the lowest for this indicator since February 2015).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED