Author: roymorgansocial

Trade surplus heads back to $1b as iron ore shipments to China surge

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Original article by Stephen Letts
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 6-Oct-17

Australia has recorded a trade surplus of $A989m for August in seasonally-adjusted terms. This compares with a surplus of $A808m for July. The surplus was bolstered by strong growth in both the price of iron ore and the steel input’s export volumes, although shipments of coal and LNG were lower than in July. The total value of Australia’s exports rose by one per cent to $A32.2bn, while the value of imports was steady at $A31.2bn.

CORPORATES
JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

ABC pulls the plug on Lateline and The Link

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Original article by Stephen Brook
The Australian – Page: 5 : 6-Oct-17

The ABC has confirmed that current affairs program "Lateline" will not return in 2018. The show, which was first broadcast in 1990, will be replaced by a late-evening news bulletin. Current host Emma Alberici will become the public broadcaster’s chief economics correspondent. Weekly program "The Link" will also not be renewed, and host Stan Grant will take up the role of the ABC’s chief Asia correspondent. The ABC will redirect funding for these shows to its investigative unit and its team of specialist reporters.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

LNG surge powers $211b export record

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 6-Oct-17

Australia’s chief economist Mark Cully expects the nation’s mining and energy exports to top $A211bn in 2017-18. Resources exports totalled $A204m in 2016-17. Cully is particularly upbeat about the outlook for the LNG sector, with expectations that annual export volumes will rise from 36.9 million tonnes in 2016 to 73.8 million by 2019. Iron ore export volumes are also forecast to rise over the next few years, although the value of such exports is expected to fall.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

Aussie FTA ‘is low on UK agenda’

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Original article by Troy Bramston
The Australian – Page: 2 : 6-Oct-17

The Australian Government still aims to secure a free-trade agreement with the UK after it leaves the European Union. However, former UK government minister Peter Mandelson says the EU will remain Britain’s biggest export market post-Brexit, and maintaining this trade will be a much higher priority than a trade deal with Australia. He supports an FTA with Australia, but says this could never match the UK’s European export volumes.

CORPORATES
LABOUR PARTY (GREAT BRITAIN), GREAT BRITAIN. OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, GLOBAL COUNSEL

PM takes on Jones over gas bans

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 6-Oct-17

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his ministers are increasingly coming to the view that radio broadcaster Alan Jones is engaging in double standards on the question of gas prices. Jones has publicly advocated against onshore gas development in New South Wales for a number of years. Regulators, business and governments are generally of the opinion that allowing onshore gas development in NSW and other states would help to lower gas prices, and the Federal Government sees Jones’s constant attacks on it over gas prices as somewhat hypocritical.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, LIBERAL-NATIONAL PARTY OF QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. COMMONWEALTH GRANTS COMMISSION, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

NAB simplifies its small business lending contracts

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 6-Oct-17

National Australia Bank has advised that its standard contract for small business loans has been streamlined to make it "simple, fairer and more transparent". The number of clauses in the standard contract has been reduced from 24 to just 17, while it includes a summary of key terms in plain English. The new contracts will apply to about 98.7 per cent of the bank’s business customers. The move to simplify small business lending contracts follows criticism of the banking sector’s existing contracts by small business ombudsman Kate Carnell earlier in 2017.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE AUSTRALIAN SMALL BUSINESS AND FAMILY ENTERPRISE OMBUDSMAN, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Twiggy’s court ruling has Roy Hill concerned over leases

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Original article by Tess Ingram, Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 6-Oct-17

Andrew Forrest obtained a ruling from the High Court in August to prevent two firms from lodging mining applications over his Minderoo cattle station in Western Australia. The ruling caused concern that other mining applications previously made in WA may not be valid, including those made by Fortescue Metals Group. Records from the relevant department in WA show that Roy Hill Holdings has lodged new applications covering its namesake iron ore project, with a company spokesperson noting that the new applications were a "precautionary step".

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, ROY HILL HOLDINGS PTY LTD, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF MINES, INDUSTRY REGULATION AND SAFETY, ONSLOW RESOURCES LIMITED, YARRI MINING PTY LTD, HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD

Why Coppo says to buy banks now

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Original article by Philip Baker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 6-Oct-17

Richard Coppleson of Bell Financial Group says investors should consider buying Australian bank stocks in October for their dividend yield. He says historical analysis shows that bank stocks have not posted gains during the month of October in just four years since 2000, and three of those occasions were due to the global financial crisis. He attributes the generally strong performance of bank stocks during October to the fact that they among the few stocks that trade ex-dividend in November.

CORPORATES
BELL FINANCIAL GROUP LIMITED – ASX BFG, 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, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, LONG-TERM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Mazda drivers most satisfied

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 6-Oct-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that Mazda driver satisfaction in the 12 months to July 2017 was 95.3%, making it narrowly the top performer among the 24 major car brands in Australia. Not only was Mazda the satisfaction leader this year but its rating rose by 0.2% points from last year, when it was ranked fourth. Mazda is followed very closely by Volvo (95.2%), Lexus (95.0%), Skoda (94.8%) and Isuzu UTE (94.7%). In fact, the top 20 brands in terms of satisfaction rating are only separated by 3.1% points, making it difficult for any brand to be positioned as the clear market leader. The lowest satisfaction rating across the 24 major brands was Daihatsu with 85.9%, followed by Jeep (88.9%), Holden (89.3%) and Ford (89.8%).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, MAZDA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, VOLVO CAR AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, LEXUS AUSTRALIA, SKODA AUTOMOBILOVA AS, ISUZU UTE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, DAIHATSU AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, JEEP AUSTRALIA, GM HOLDEN LIMITED, FORD MOTOR COMPANY AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Berejiklian to reap $10bn sell-off bonanza

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Original article by Andrew Clennell
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 5-Oct-17

The New South Wales Government has revealed plans for further asset sales ahead of the state election in 2019. It expects to gain about $A5bn from the sale of a 51 per cent stake in the WestConnex motorway, with the proceeds to be reinvested in development of the M4-M5 link project. The Government may consider divesting its remaining stake in WestConnex in the future. It also anticipates raising at least $A5bn from selling its 58 per cent stake in Snowy Hydro to the Federal Government.

CORPORATES
NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, NEW SOUTH WALES. THE TREASURY, WESTCONNEX, SNOWY HYDRO LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NEW SOUTH WALES. LAND AND PROPERTY INFORMATION SERVICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, TRANSURBAN GROUP LIMITED – ASX TCL, VICTORIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE