Author: roymorgansocial

Oligopolies aren’t that bad: Grattan

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 4-Dec-17

Research conducted by the Grattan Institute suggests that concerns that Australia’s economy has too many oligopolies are over-stated. Jim Minifie of the Grattan Institute says it found that Australian companies which dominate their markets only account for around 15 per cent of the economy, and that Australia is not really any different to other comparable economies when it comes to the number of oligopolies. He notes that the supermarket sector has become less concentrated since the global financial crisis, although the banking sector has become more so.

CORPORATES
GRATTAN INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, COSTCO WHOLESALE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, HIH INSURANCE LIMITED

Developers told GST changes out of left field despite talks

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Original article by Duncan Hughes
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 4-Dec-17

Changes to the goods and services tax treatment of property transactions are due to take effect on 1 July 2018, although they must first be passed by parliament. They are aimed at preventing a practice known as "phoenixing", whereby developers close their business before they have settled their GST obligations, and start up another entity under a different name. The changes are tipped to boost GST collection by $A660 million over four years, but developers are concerned that they will face more red tape and greater compliance costs.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, FEHILY ADVISORY

New vehicle buying intentions up in September for the fourth consecutive month

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 4-Dec-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that 2.491 million Australians aged 14+ intend to purchase a new car in the next four years. This is an increase of 184,000 intenders over the last four months. The big improvement has left new vehicle intentions only marginally lower than the 15-year high recorded in February 2017. In addition to four-year vehicle buying intentions being close to record levels, one-year intentions are up by 14,000 (1.5%) over the same period in 2016 to be currently on 626,000. A major driver of increased intentions over the next four years is that intenders have a much higher level of consumer confidence than the population average. Over the September quarter, the consumer confidence level for all Australians was 113.3, whereas those intending to purchase a new vehicle in the next four years had a confidence level of 121.8. Those intending to purchase in the next twelve months also had higher than average confidence (120.9).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Trump’s tax cut puts heat on Labor

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Original article by Andrew White, Cameron Stewart
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 4-Dec-17

Australian business leaders have warned that jobs and investment will be at risk unless proposed changes to the corporate tax regime are implemented. Business Council of Australia CEO Jennifer Westacott says the US will attract more capital at the expense of Australia after the US Senate passed the tax package of President Donald Trump. The US corporate tax rate will be slashed from 35 per cent to around 20 per cent, prompting business groups to urge the Australian Labor Party and crossbenchers to support the proposal for an across-the-board reduction in Australia’s company tax rate to 25 per cent.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY. UNITED STATES STUDIES CENTRE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, REPUBLICAN PARTY (UNITED STATES)

Google, Facebook face ACCC inquiry

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 24 & 26 : 4-Dec-17

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission will hold an inquiry into the impact of digital platforms such as Google and Facebook on competition in the media and advertising sectors. The inquiry has been ordered by the Federal Government as part of its deal with former senator Nick Xenophon regarding media reforms. The inquiry’s terms of reference include examining digital platforms’ market power and their impact on the level of choice and quality of news and journalistic content. The ACCC’s final report is slated to be completed within 18 months.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, NICK XENOPHON TEAM, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, BUZZFEED INCORPORATED, MASHABLE INCORPORATED, ZIFF-DAVIS INTERNATIONAL MEDIA GROUP

ASX may rise on GDP, iron ore and Trump tax

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Original article by Timothy Moore
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 22 : 4-Dec-17

Futures pricing suggests that the Australian sharemarket may lose ground when trading resumes on 4 December. However, a number of factors bode well for the domestic bourse in coming days, including a rebound in the prices of key commodities such as iron ore and expectations that official data will show an improvement in the nation’s economic growth. Investor confidence may also be bolstered by the US Senate’s passing of tax cuts, while investors will also be awaiting the Reserve Bank of Australia’s last board meeting for 2017.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, BANK OF MONTREAL, CAPITAL ECONOMICS LIMITED

Business Confidence up 1.4pts in November to 114.1

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 4-Dec-17

Business Confidence in Australia rose 1.4pts (+1.2%) to 114.1 in November 2017, according to the Roy Morgan Business Single Source survey, despite political issues for the Federal Government facing two by-elections over the next fortnight. Some 49.7% (up 1.9ppts) of businesses expect "good times" for the Australian economy over the next year, while 44.2% (down 1.6ppts) expect "bad times". Meanwhile, 44% (down 1.8ppts) of businesses say their business will be "better off" financially this time next year, while 20.3% (down 2.9ppts) expect the business to be "worse off" this time next year. The small increase in Business Confidence in November was driven by rises in confidence in industries including Finance & Insurance, Accommodation & Food services, Professional, scientific & technical and Education & training.

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

Australian Inflation Expectations up in October led by renters

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 4-Dec-17

Australians aged +14 expect inflation of 4.5% per year over the next two years, according to the Roy Morgan Inflation Expectations Index for October 2017. This is up 0.1% in a month, and up 0.4% from October 2016. However, it remains well below the seven-year average of 5.0%. Inflation Expectations among renters was 4.9% in October, compared with just 3.9% for home owners and 4.2% for mortgagors. Analysis by State shows that Inflation Expectations are highest in South Australia at 4.9%, followed by Victoria and Queensland (4.6%). Analysing Inflation Expectations by Federal voting intention shows that ALP supporters (4.6%) have the highest inflation expectations, ahead of L-NP supporters (4%) and Greens supporters (4.4%)

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Digital media lead, but catalogues remain key channel to reach consumers

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 4-Dec-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that 80% of Australians aged 14+ say the Internet is the "Media Most Useful" for providing purchase-related information. The survey, which was carried out in the year to September 2017, also shows that 70% of Australians regard Internet Search as the most useful media to find purchase-related information, while 45% find non-search websites to be the most useful. Travel, accommodation, restaurants, cars and insurance are among the categories for which the Internet is the leading source of purchase-related information for Australians, Meanwhile, catalogues are the Media Most Useful for buying groceries (45% of Australians) and alcoholic beverages (39%).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Epidemic of underpayment

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Original article by Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 : 1-Dec-17

Michael Smith, the chairman of 7-Eleven, says it has been taking active steps to eliminate underpayment of employees within its franchise network. They include biometric clocking- in and centralising its payroll system, and he believes it has done as much as it can to prevent further occurrences of underpayment within 7-Eleven. However, he says it would be wrong that the problem has not gone away within the Australian franchise sector as a whole, and that recent changes to the Franchise Code aimed at protecting workers from being underpaid are not sufficiently robust.

CORPORATES
7-ELEVEN STORES PTY LTD, CALTEX AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX CTX, DOMINO’S PIZZA GROUP PLC, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, PIZZA HUT AUSTRALIA