Author: roymorgansocial

Fortescue mulls move into gold, copper, energy

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Original article by Manolo Serapio
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 28-Sep-17

Fortescue Metals Group CEO Nev Power has revealed that the pure-play iron ore miner is exploring for other minerals in Australia and South America, including gold, copper and lithium. He says Fortescue may further diversify its operations by investing in energy infrastructure projects. Meanwhile, Power expects Chinese demand for iron ore to remain strong, despite pending production cutbacks by some Chinese steel mills. He says demand may rise in regions of China that will not be affected by the production cuts during the winter months.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

Yancoal strengthens coal position

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Original article by Tess Ingram
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 28-Sep-17

Yancoal Australia will lift its stake in the Warkworth coal project in New South Wales to 84.5 per cent. The Chinese-backed company will acquire a 28.9 per cent stake in the project from Mitsubishi Development after exercising an option. The deal requires approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board. The Warkworth joint venture is part of the Hunter Valley coal assets that Yancoal bought from Rio Tinto for $US2.69bn earlier in 2017.

CORPORATES
YANCOAL AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX YAL, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, MITSUBISHI DEVELOPMENT PTY LTD, COAL AND ALLIED INDUSTRIES LIMITED, GLENCORE PLC, POSCO, NIPPON STEEL AND SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

Green foes hit ACTU chief’s bid for seat

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Original article by Ewin Hannan, Samantha Hutchinson
The Australian – Page: 4 : 28-Sep-17

Ged Kearney will step down as president of the ACTU in July 2018 to become the Australian Labor Party’s candidate for the lower house seat of Brunswick at the Victorian election. Labor holds the seat with a margin of 2.2 per cent, and incumbent Jane Garrett will seek to move to the upper house. However, the Greens are gaining support in Melbourne’s inner-city and are seen as a real threat in the seat of Brunswick. Kearney had been widely tipped to pursue a seat in federal parliament if she entered politics.

CORPORATES
ACTU, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

PM’s ‘agile’ agenda fails auditor test

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Original article by Primrose Riordan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 28-Sep-17

The Australian National Audit Office has released a report which questions the economic benefits of the Federal Government’s National Innovation and Science Agenda. Amongst other things, the ANAO has raised concerns about the limited time-frame in which the innovation agenda was developed and the criteria used to measure the performance of the scheme. The NISA was launched in late 2015, and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull stated in December 2016 that it had resulted in increased jobs and investment.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE AUDITOR-GENERAL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, CSIRO, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Date set for court to hear Ten deal

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Original article by Dana McCauley
The Australian – Page: 19 : 28-Sep-17

KordaMentha’s application to transfer shares in Ten Network to CBS Corporation will be heard by the Supreme Court of New South Wales on 31 October. The court has scheduled a three-day hearing on the application, which could potentially be opposed by Ten’s failed suitors Lachlan Murdoch and Bruce Gordon. They are said to be waiting for KordaMentha to file an independent expert’s report with the Australian ­Securities & Investments Commission before deciding whether to challenge Ten’s sale to the US media giant.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, CBS CORPORATION, SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES, KORDA MENTHA AND COLLEAGUES PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD

Netflix hits new high in Australia – 7.6 million

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 28-Sep-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey shows that an estimated 7,558,000 Australians aged 14+ (37.7%) had subscription video-on-demand provider Netflix in the three months to June 2017, up from 4,453,000 (22.6%) in the March 2016 quarter. The growth in Netflix’s potential audience is the result of strong growth of household subscriptions to the SVOD in 2017, with 2,981,000 Australian homes (31.8%) now subscribed, up from 1,713,000 homes (18.6%) in the March 2016 quarter. In comparison, viewership in an average seven days of market-leading Network 7 fell 2.3% to 64.4%. Network 9 was down 4.1% to 60.1% and Network 10 dropped 1.7% to 50.4%. The results for the Government broadcasters were mixed, with viewership of the ABC down 3.3% to 56.3% while viewership of SBS rose 0.7% to 43.2%. Roy Morgan Research CEO Michele Levine says Roy Morgan has been measuring Netflix in Australia since its beginning just over two years ago and its exceptional growth over that period shows no signs of slowing down.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS)

AGL refuses to budge on Liddell

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith, Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 28-Sep-17

AGL Energy’ chairman Jerry Maycock has told the company’s AGM that selling the Liddell coal-fired power plant would be "challenging", while extending the ageing plant’s life would involve substantial costs. He also ruled out building a new coal-fired plant, arguing that such a plant may ultimately not be competitive as the cost of renewable energy and battery storage technology falls. Meanwhile, AGL CEO Andy Vesey is confident that partially replacing the Liddell plant’s output with renewables will not result in higher electricity prices. He also indicated that the Loy Yang A power station could be shut down ahead of schedule.

CORPORATES
AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET OPERATOR LIMITED, MARKET FORCES

Google’s blues: Elton John sings titan’s tune to calm advertisers

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 28-Sep-17

Google has declined to comment on the cost of hiring Sir Elton John to perform at its annual Brandcast marketing event in Sydney, although industry sources suggest that the British music legend would have commanded a six-figure fee. Meanwhile, Google Australia and New Zealand MD Jason Pellegrino has conceded that the last year had been challenging for the digital giant. Advertisers boycotted its YouTube video-sharing site over the placement of ads alongside objectionable content, while Google has attracted scrutiny over tax avoidance, fake website traffic and the dissemination of fake news.

CORPORATES
GOOGLE INCORPORATED, GOOGLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, YOUTUBE INCORPORATED, MEDIA FEDERATION OF AUSTRALIA, OMNICOM MEDIA GROUP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, EUROPEAN COMMISSION, ALPHABET INCORPORATED, THE COCA-COLA COMPANY, TOYOTA MOTOR CREDIT CORPORATION

Yellen defends Fed’s gradual rate rise plan

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Original article by David Harrison
The Australian – Page: 28 : 28-Sep-17

Financial markets have priced in a 77.9 per cent chance of a rise in US interest rates in December following a speech by Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen, compared with 72.8 per cent previously. The central bank has flagged one more rate rise in 2017 and further tightening of monetary policy over the next several years. However, Yellen has told a conference that the outlook for inflation will influence how rapidly interest rates are increased. Inflation has remained below the Federal Reserve’s target of two per cent for some time.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR BUSINESS ECONOMICS, FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF NEW YORK, FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF CHICAGO

Bendigo Bank has highest customer satisfaction among majors

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 28-Sep-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that customer satisfaction with Bendigo Bank in August 2017 was 89.3%, making it the top performer among the 10 largest consumer banks. Not only was Bendigo the satisfaction leader but it improved its rating over the month by 0.9% points, against an overall decline of 0.2% points for banks in total. Other small banks such as ING Direct with 86.7%, Bank of Queensland (84.2%), Suncorp (83.0%) and St George (82.0%) also had high customer satisfaction ratings. The best performer among the four majors was the CBA with 80.2%, followed by Westpac on 78.5%, NAB (78.4%) and ANZ (77.3%). The overall average satisfaction for all banks was 80.8% in August. Meanwhile, the mortgage customers of each of the big four banks continue to be a drag on their overall satisfaction, despite historically low home-loan rates.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, BENDIGO BANK, ING DIRECT, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ, SUNCORP BANK, ST GEORGE BANK LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ