Author: roymorgansocial

Tatts sale vote put back to AGM

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Original article by Sarah-Jane Tasker
The Australian – Page: 21 : 29-Sep-17

The Australian Competition Tribunal will undertake a second review of the proposed merger between Tabcorp and Tatts Group in late October. This will affect the timetable for implementing the merger, as Tatts shareholders were slated to vote on the deal in early October. The vote will now be held at Tatts’ AGM on 30 November, and the two gaming groups hope to implement the merger on 14 December. The merger agreement stated that the deal must be finalised by 31 December, and it may have to be renegotiated if this deadline is not met.

CORPORATES
TABCORP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TAH, TATTS GROUP LIMITED – ASX TTS, AUSTRALIA. COMPETITION TRIBUNAL

Lew’s plans stir Myer investors

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 29-Sep-17

Anton Tagliaferro of Investors Mutual says Myer Holdings’ shareholders are keen to know Solomon Lew’s intentions with regard to the department store group. There is speculation that Lew could nominate himself or a director of Premier Investments for the Myer board at its upcoming annual meeting. Retail industry veteran Terry McCartney has been touted as a potential nominee. He was appointed to the Premier Investments board in April 2016, and he was the MD of Myer Grace Bros from 1996 to 2000.

CORPORATES
MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, PREMIER INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX PMV, MYER GRACE BROS, COLES MYER LIMITED, JUST GROUP LIMITED, JUST JEANS PTY LTD, SMIGGLE PTY LTD, PETER ALEXANDER SLEEPWEAR PTY LTD, PORTMANS PTY LTD, DOTTI, INVESTORS MUTUAL LIMITED, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, AURIAS DIAMONDS, ZAO SUAL HOLDINGS, MCCARTNEY RETAIL SERVICES

Foodland leads supermarket satisfaction

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Sep-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that customer satisfaction with Foodland in August 2017 was 94.4%, making it the top performer among the big five supermarkets. Foodland was also one of only two supermarkets to increase satisfaction over the last year, with an increase of 0.6% points. Roy Morgan’s "Retail Satisfaction Report-Supermarkets" also shows that both Foodland and Aldi (92.3%), lead Woolworths (90.0%) and Coles (88.4%) in terms of customer satisfaction. IGA is further behind on 84.7%. Meanwhile, of the two major supermarkets, Woolworths main shoppers spend 70.9% with them, compared to Coles main shoppers who spend 67.4% with Coles. Foodland shoppers are narrowly ahead with 71.0% spent at Foodland. Aldi is well behind the other four supermarkets, with only a 55.5% share of their customers spend. Over the last 12 months, IGA showed the biggest improvement in the share of their customers spend (up 4.7% points), followed by Coles (up 2.9% points) and Foodland (up 1.8% points). Those showing declines were Aldi down 3.1% points and Woolworths (down 0.5% points).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, FOODLAND AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS SUPERMARKETS, IGA

Mortgage stress up despite decline in rates

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Sep-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that mortgage stress increased to 17.3% of Australian borrowers in July 2017, an increase of 0.3% points over the last 12 months, despite a decline in home loan interest rates. Over the last 12 months there has been an increase in mortgage stress for both those considered to be "At Risk" (which is based on the amount originally borrowed) and those "Extremely at Risk" (based on the amount currently outstanding). In the three months to July 2016, 17.0% of mortgage holders were "At Risk"; this has increased to 17.3% in July 2017. Over the same period the proportion that were "Extremely at Risk" increased from 12.4% to 12.8%. The main cause of the increase in mortgage stress was the fact that over the last year, the median household income of mortgage holders only increased by 2.0%, well behind the increase in the median amount borrowed (up 7.4%) and the median amount outstanding (up 13.1%).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED

Qantas is Australia’s leading domestic airline

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Sep-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that Qantas is Australia’s most satisfying domestic airline, with a customer satisfaction rating of 83.2% in August 2017, ahead of key rivals Virgin Australia on 77.6% and stablemate Qantaslink on 72.7%. Qantas has maintained its lead over Virgin Australia for four months; however, the big improvers over the past year were smaller carrier REX (Regional Express) with a customer satisfaction rating of 72.6% in August – up 5.5% from a year ago, while Jetstar rounded out the top five with a customer satisfaction rating of 63.1%. Qantas also leads the way for domestic business travellers with a customer satisfaction rating of 84.8%, well ahead of Virgin Australia on 75.6% and Jetstar on 55.1%.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH, QANTASLINK, REGIONAL EXPRESS AIRLINES, JETSTAR AIRLINES PTY LTD

Trump tax cut exposes local business

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 29-Sep-17

Business leaders have warned that the tax plan of US President Donald Trump highlights the need for tax reform to ensure that Australia remains internationally competitive. However, the Opposition has reiterated that it will not support the Federal Government’s proposal to progressively reduce the tax rate for all companies to 25 per cent, despite Trump’s plans to reduce the US company tax rate to just 20 per cent. Treasurer Scott Morrison says Australia will not be able to compete with nations such as the US and the UK unless Labor supports the tax package.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, NICK XENOPHON TEAM

Income slump hits the middle

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 8 : 29-Sep-17

The Department of the Treasury has released a report which shows that wages growth slowed to 1.9 per cent in the year to June 2017. Meanwhile, real wages growth has been significantly lower over the last five years than in the previous decade. The figures also show that despite claims of growing income inequality, university graduates have experience lower growth in wages than people with no higher education since 2010. The report identifies a number of factors that have contributed to the low growth in wages over recent years.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

‘Tigers of (not so) old’ vs. ‘pride of South Australia’ for AFL Flag

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Sep-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that AFL Grand Finalist the Adelaide Crows have 541,000 fans, which is enough to place the club fifth for total AFL supporters in 2017. Their opponents the Richmond Tigers boast 442,000 supporters around Australia, with one of the AFL’s best conversion rates of supporters to members – ranking fourth and converting 16.4% of supporters to members in 2017. Of the two clubs, Richmond are clearly adept at attracting younger supporters with 18.2% of Richmond supporters under 25 compared to only 12.5% of Adelaide supporters – an impressive statistic considering the unsuccessful Richmond teams of recent decades. The age profile of the respective supporter bases underlies why more Adelaide supporters (63.5%) watch the AFL on TV than Richmond supporters (59.8%), and also, conversely, why more Tigers supporters (11.0%) actually play Australian Football compared to only 6.4% of Adelaide supporters.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, ADELAIDE CROWS FOOTBALL CLUB, RICHMOND FOOTBALL CLUB

Gordon snaps up Seven stake in Prime

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 19 & 30 : 29-Sep-17

Seven Group Holdings has sold 39 million shares in Prime Media Group to Birketu, the private investment vehicle of WIN Corporation owner Bruce Gordon. The $A15.6m transaction has assured Gordon of a key role in any media industry consolidation, given that he now has stakes of almost 15 per cent in Nine Entertainment Company and Prime, which is the regional affiliate of the Seven Network. Gordon had also been Ten Network’s largest shareholder prior to its collapse.

CORPORATES
PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, SEVEN GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SVW, BIRKETU PTY LTD, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, CBS CORPORATION, KORDA MENTHA AND COLLEAGUES PTY LTD, SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, COATES HIRE LIMITED, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

Beach bulks up with $1.6bn Lattice deal

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 19 & 22 : 29-Sep-17

Beach Energy’s oil and gas production will be increased by about 150 per cent as a result of its deal to acquire the Lattice Energy assets of Origin Energy. Beach will significantly increase its debt to finance the $A1.585bn acquisition of the conventional oil and gas assets, but MD Matt Kay is confident that the company will be net cash positive by 2021. Origin had been weighing up both an IPO and trade sale of Lattice Energy, and CEO Frank Calabria says an IPO had remained under consideration until the deal with Beach was finalised.

CORPORATES
BEACH ENERGY LIMITED – ASX BPT, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, LATTICE ENERGY LIMITED, RBC CAPITAL (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, WOOD MACKENZIE, SEVEN GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SVW