Author: roymorgansocial

BHP to look for kicker on US shale sale

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Original article by James ThomsonMatthew Stevens
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 & 28 : 16-Nov-17

BHP Billiton is believed to be looking to either divest its entire US shale business in a single transaction or sell its five shale fields separately. BHP has invested more than $US20bn in the shale assets, so it will be hoping to achieve good value from the transaction. As a result, any deal could potentially include contingency payments based on the future price of crude oil. ExxonMobil is among the companies whose recent oil field acquisitions have included so-called "kicker" payments.

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BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHPEXXONMOBIL CORPORATIONHILCORP GROUPCONOCOPHILLIPSCARRIZO OIL AND GASJEFFERIES AND COMPANYDEUTSCHE BANK AG

NAB and ANZ promise to be up front with employees over looming job cuts

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 16-Nov-17

National Australia Bank expects voluntary redundancies and natural attrition to account for many of the 6,000 jobs it intends to shed over the next several years. CEO Andrew Thorburn has stressed the need for NAB to be completely open with staff regarding its cost-cutting strategy and the impact of technology on the sector. Kath Bray of the ANZ Bank has expressed a similar view, noting that staff have been fully informed of the kind of skills it requires in a downsized workforce. ANZ has shed more than 5,000 employees in the last two years.

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NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NABAUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZAUSTRALIAN BANKERS’ ASSOCIATION

‘Amazon won’t ruin our Christmas’

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 21 : 16-Nov-17

Rob Scott will officially succeed Richard Goyder as CEO of Wesfarmers on 16 November. Scott is upbeat about the outlook for the Perth-based conglomerate’s retail operations during the upcoming Christmas shopping season, and he is confident that it will be the division’s best Christmas period on record. Scott has downplayed the impact that the entry of e-commerce giant Amazon will have on Wesfarmers’ retail businesses, noting that customers can already buy 130,000 products online.

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WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WESAMAZON.COM INCORPORATEDCOLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTDTARGET AUSTRALIA PTY LTDKMART AUSTRALIA LIMITEDALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTDCOSTCO WHOLESALE AUSTRALIA PTY LTDCITIGROUP PTY LTD

CBS backing will boost Ten, says Anderson

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 34 : 16-Nov-17

Ten Network’s administrator KordaMentha has formally applied to have the broadcaster’s shares delisted by the Australian Securities Exchange following its acquisition by CBS Corporation. Ten CEO Paul Anderson says CBS has indicated that content will be its top priority for Ten, and he stresses that although ownership by the US media group will strengthen Ten’s financial position it must still be profitable and deliver CBS a return on its investment. He has also praised Ten’s employees for continuing to support the network while it was in administration.

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TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TENCBS CORPORATIONKORDA MENTHA AND COLLEAGUES PTY LTD

US energy investors lining up $11b tilt for Santos

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Original article by Matthew Stevens
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 38 : 16-Nov-17

A global consortium of energy investors is said to be preparing to make a takeover bid for Australian-listed oil and gas producer Santos. The consortium is believed to intend to make an indicative bid of about $A5.30 per share, compared with Santo’s 2017 peak of $A4.78. Santos shares closed at $A4.38 on 15 November. The consortium, which is headed by Royal Dutch Shell’s former executive director Linda Cook, is understood to have make an initial approach to the Santos board in September. Santos had rejected a takeover bid from Scepter Partners in 2015, priced at $A6.88 per share.

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SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STOROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLCHARBOUR ENERGY LIMITEDENN GROUPHONY CAPITALEIG GLOBAL ENERGY PARTNERSSENEX ENERGY LIMITED – ASX SXYCHENIERE ENERGY INCORPORATEDCHRYSAORBOEING COMPANYCARGILL INCORPORATEDMARATHON OIL CORPORATIONTHE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON CORPORATIONSCEPTER PARTNERSBHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP

Roy Morgan spot on for Same Sex Marriage Survey

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 16-Nov-17

The ABS has released the results of the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, showing 61.6% of Australians support changing the law to allow same-sex couples to marry and 38.4% of Australians are opposed. The final ABS results are remarkably similar to the results of a Roy Morgan Snap SMS Survey taken in early October which showed 61.5% of Australians voting "Yes" on the survey while the remaining 38.5% of respondents were either voting "No", did not answer the SMS question or had no intention of voting. Analysing the results of the Roy Morgan Snap SMS Survey we were confident enough to headline the article: Australians are voting in favour of same sex marriage. Roy Morgan’s Industry Communications Director, Norman Morris, says the results of the Roy Morgan Snap SMS Survey a month ago shows that using the correct methodology and sampling techniques it is possible to interview a relatively small portion of Australians and receive a robust and accurate picture of how the Australian community feels about an issue.

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ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITEDAUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICSL1 CAPITAL PTY LTDNATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIAAUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTYAUSTRALIAN GREENS

Mobile phone competition heats up in Sydney CBD

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 16-Nov-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that Vodafone held 31.9% of the mobile phone market among Sydney CBD workers in the six months to October 2017, down from 32.7% in October 2016. Vodafone was followed by Telstra with a 28.3% share (down 2.4% points) and Optus 24.4% (down 2.3% points). With all three of the major players showing a decline over the last 12 months, gains were seen from smaller players, which combined now account for 19.9% (up 5.3% points). Among the smaller players, gains were mainly as a result of increases in share from Virgin and TPG. Mobile phone providers’ share of the Sydney CBD workers is very different from their total national share. Telstra clearly dominates nationally with 43.2%, followed by Optus (24.7%), Vodafone (17.3%) and others (17.1%).

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ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITEDVODAFONE AUSTRALIA LIMITEDTELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLSOPTUS MOBILE PTY LTDVIRGIN MOBILE (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTDTPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM

Stalled wages hit rate rise outlook

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 19 & 29 : 16-Nov-17

The Australian dollar fell to a four-month low in local trading on 15 November, after the latest wage price index data prompted financial markets to reduce expectations of a rise in official interest rates in 2018. The data shows that wages growth was below forecasts at just 0.5 per cent in the September quarter, while annual growth in wages was two per cent. Tom ­Kennedy of JP Morgan notes that wages growth was expected to be higher in the quarter due to a 3.3 per cent increase in the minimum wage.

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JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITEDAUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICSRESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIANATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NABAUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZCAPITAL ECONOMICS LIMITEDWESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBCUNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH

Marriage equality within weeks

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 16-Nov-17

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says same-sex marriage will be legalised before Christmas, after 133 of the 150 federal electorates and every state and territory voted in favour of marriage equality. The Senate is expected to vote on the same-sex marriage bill in the last week of November, with the lower house to vote on it during the following week. Meanwhile, members of the Liberal Party’s conservatives faction continue to advocate some aspects of James Paterson’s private members’ bill, which provide greater protection for religious freedom than Dean Smith’s bill, which has cross-party support.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINETLIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIAAUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTYAUSTRALIAN GREENSAUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Parties blasted for failing to tackle debt pile

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Original article by Michael McKennaSarah Elks
The Australian – Page: 8 : 15-Nov-17

The Queensland Government’s rising debt has not been a major issue during the state election campaign, even though it is slated to top $A81bn by 2020-21. Former treasurer Keith De Lacy has criticised the Government and the Opposition over their lack of policy initiatives on the issue. He argues that the mounting state debt and the need for fiscal consolidation should have been key issues during the election campaign. Queensland had no net debt during De Lacy’s tenure as treasure in the Labor government of former premier Wayne Goss.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTYLIBERAL-NATIONAL PARTY OF QUEENSLANDONE NATION PARTYQUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET