Author: roymorgansocial

UBS warning on household debt

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Original article by Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 19-Jan-18

New figures show that Australia’s household debt-to-income ratio has risen by three per cent to a record 199.7 per cent, which UBS notes is one of the world’s highest. The increase is largely due to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ decision to include the debt of self-managed superannuation funds in the key indicator for the first time. UBS has forecast that the debt-to-income ratio will peak at around 205 per cent, and it has warned that rising household debt may affect demand for housing credit and the earnings of major banks. However, UBS is upbeat about the outlook for non-bank lenders.

CORPORATES
UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY

Dastyari poised for union PR job

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Original article by Andrew Clennell, Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 2 : 19-Jan-18

Australian Labor Party senator Sam Dastyari has advised that he will formally resign from the upper house in late January, more than a month after announcing his resignation. There is speculation that Dastyari is holding talks about taking up a role at Essential Media Communications, which undertakes public relations campaigns on behalf of many unions in New South Wales. Meanwhile, Labor Leader Bill Shorten has praised the performance of Kristina Keneally – Dastyari’s likely replacement in the Senate – in the recent Bennelong by-election.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ESSENTIAL MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS PTY LTD, UNIONS NSW, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, COMMUNIST PARTY (CHINA)

ABS to slash 150 staff by middle of next year

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Original article by Doug Dingwall
The Canberra Times – Page: 9 : 19-Jan-18

The Australian Bureau of Statistics will respond to budget cuts by further reducing its workforce over the next several years. The ABS employs about 2,800 people in total, and it intends to shed 150 jobs by mid-2019. The ABS previously cut 100 jobs in 2017 and 120 in 2016. However, the ABS has advised a Senate committee that the latest job cuts will be focused on office-based employees, and its 400-strong team of field workers who undertake interviews with householders will not be affected.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Victoria lags amid jobs boom

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Original article by Eryk Bagshaw
The Age – Page: 1 : 19-Jan-18

Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that 393,000 jobs were created during 2017, including 35,000 in December. The economy has recorded 15 successive months of jobs growth, and 2017 was the first calendar year in which the number of jobs increased each month since the ABS began releasing monthly data in 1978. The labour force participation rate rose to 65.7 per cent in December, but the unemployment rate increased from 5.4 per cent to 5.5 per cent. Victoria’s unemployment rate rose to 6.1 per cent, and just 87,000 jobs were created in the state during 2017, compared with 140,000 in New South Wales.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, VICTORIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE, NEW SOUTH WALES. THE TREASURY, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

PM deepens Japan defence ties

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Original article by Primrose Riordan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 19-Jan-18

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull met with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on 18 January, with trade and defence at the top of the agenda. They have announced plans to hold a joint military exercise for the two nations’ air forces in Japan later in 2018. They also agreed to a range of other measures aimed at strengthening defence relations, while their respective trade ministers will establish a ministerial economic dialogue. Meanwhile, Turnbull said signs of improved relations between South Korea and North Korea will not necessarily lead to denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, JAPAN. OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE, JAPAN. AIR SELF-DEFENCE FORCE, TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP, UNITED STATES. DEPT OF STATE

Woodside revs up China gas push

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 19-Jan-18

Woodside Petroleum has advised that it produced 21.9 million barrels of oil equivalent during the December 2017 quarter, which is 7.9 per cent lower than the previous corresponding period. Revenue fell by 6.9 per cent year-on-year to $US939m ($A1.2bn). Meanwhile, some analysts say Woodside’s production guidance of 85 million to 90 million boe for 2018 is lower than expected. CEO Peter Coleman has indicated that Woodside will expand its LNG marketing office in China amid growing Chinese demand for gas.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, PETROCHINA COMPANY LIMITED, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BERNSTEIN INVESTMENT RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET

Producers cut Hollywood deal

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Original article by Michael Bodey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 19-Jan-18

Australian film and TV production company See-Saw Films has secured a production deal with New Regency. The "first look" deal with the Hollywood studio will allow See-Saw to make films with much bigger budgets than at present, and enable its films to reach a larger audience worldwide. See-Saw was among the major winners at the recent Australian Academy of Cinema & Television Arts awards, for productions such as "Lion" and "Top of The Lake: China Girl".

CORPORATES
SEE-SAW FILMS PTY LTD, NEW REGENCY PICTURES, AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY OF CINEMA AND TELEVISION ARTS, REGENCY ENTERPRISES, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, WALT DISNEY COMPANY

Cyclical stocks back in play as bulls charge on

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 22 : 19-Jan-18

Analysis by Hasan Tevfik of Credit Suisse shows that stocks with the lowest volatility have traded at an average price-earnings premium of nearly 10 per cent over the last decade. In contrast, stocks with the highest volatility have traded on an average PE discount of nearly 20 per cent. Tevfik says investors should rebalance their portfolios in favour of higher-volatility cyclical stocks rather than so-called bond proxies. Stocks he favours include BHP Billiton, Whitehaven Coal, Qantas and Harvey Norman.

CORPORATES
CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX HVN, BLUESCOPE STEEL LIMITED – ASX BSL, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, STOCKLAND – ASX SGP, MAGELLAN FINANCIAL GROUP LIMITED – ASX MFG, STANDARD AND POOR’S 500 INDEX, CHICAGO BOARD OPTIONS EXCHANGE VOLATILITY INDEX, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX

Coking coal headaches prompt BHP to cut production guidance

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 15 & 16 : 19-Jan-18

BHP Billiton has advised that its overall production for 2017-18 is expected to be six per cent higher than previously. It had forecast seven per cent growth in production in October. Meanwhile, BHP’s coking coal production fell by eight per cent during the second quarter, to 10 million tonnes, but its iron ore output in the Pilbara increased by 11 per cent to a record 72 million tonnes. BHP will report its half-year results in February, with analysts expecting a underlying interim net profit of $US4.5bn ($5.6bn), compared with $US3.2bn previously.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP

Veteran McGrath quits REA Group board

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Original article by Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: 13 & 18 : 18-Jan-18

REA Group has advised that real estate agent John McGrath has stepped down as a director of the online property listings group. McGrath is said to have resigned from REA’s board for personal reasons, and Gareth James of Morningstar says it would not be a surprise if McGrath chose to focus on his real estate business. McGrath Limited’s profits and share price fell sharply in 2017, prompting speculation that it could delist from the stock exchange. John McGrath was on the REA board for almost 19 years, and he owns $A10.9m worth of shares in the group.

CORPORATES
REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, McGRATH LIMITED – ASX MEA, REALESTATE.COM.AU, MORNINGSTAR PTY LTD, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD