Author: roymorgansocial

Business slams grand final holiday as fans flock on expensive flights

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Original article by Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 27-Sep-17

PwC estimates that Victoria’s Australian Football League grand final eve public holiday costs the state’s businesses around $A1.2bn a year. Business leaders have urged the State Government to abolish the public holiday or at the very least shift it to the Monday after the grand final, to bring Victoria into line with several other states. Meanwhile, airlines have been criticised for increasing their airfares on some routes to Melbourne and Sydney, which will host the AFL and National Rugby League deciders.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD, RICHMOND FOOTBALL CLUB, ADELAIDE CROWS FOOTBALL CLUB, MELBOURNE STORM RUGBY LEAGUE CLUB LIMITED, NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, VICTORIAN EMPLOYERS’ CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AFL FANS ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

RBA keeping close eye on home owners

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Original article by Clancy Yeates
The Age – Page: 23 : 27-Sep-17

The Reserve Bank’s assistant governor for the financial system, Michele Bullock, says the central bank is closely monitoring the high levels of household debt. She has warned that mortgage borrowers who have capitalised on historically low interest rates would be especially vulnerable to any "economic shock". Bullock adds that consumer spending may be affected when interest rates begin to rise. She also notes that measures aimed at restricting growth in higher-risk mortgage lending have made the banking system less vulnerable to a financial shock.

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RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Tax hike widens split over Kalgoorlie Super-Pit value

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Original article by Danielle Bochove
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 27-Sep-17

Newmont Mining CEO Gary Goldberg has warned that an increase in Western Australia’s gold royalty would reduce the value of the Super Pit gold mine. Lack of consensus over the valuation of the mine has stalled negotiations for Newmont to buy Barrick Gold’s 50 per cent stake in the mine. Barrick president Kelvin Dushnisky says his company is willing to sell its stake at the right price. Newmont estimates that the royalty increase could increase its operating costs by about $US15m a year.

CORPORATES
NEWMONT MINING CORPORATION, BARRICK GOLD CORPORATION, NEWCREST MINING LIMITED – ASX NCM, GOLD FIELDS LIMITED, SHANDONG TYAN HOME COMPANY LIMITED, DENVER GOLD FORUM

Eastern exodus as job mine runs dry

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Original article by Victoria Laurie
The Australian – Page: 4 : 27-Sep-17

The downturn in Western Australia’s resources boom has prompted a growing number of people to move interstate, reversing the internal migration trend that boosted the state’s population at the peak of the boom. Data from the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre shows that just 7,700 people moved to WA in 2016, while 11,300 left the state. Rebecca Cassells of Curtin University notes that the number of people moving to WA has traditionally been closely aligned with the iron ore price, but this is no longer so despite the recent rebound in the price of the steel input.

CORPORATES
CURTIN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY. BANKWEST CURTIN ECONOMICS CENTRE

Labour market holding us back

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 4 : 27-Sep-17

Switzerland, the US and Singapore are the highest-rated countries in the World Economic Forum’s latest global competitiveness index. Australia is ranked 21st out of 137 countries, with the nation performing poorly on a number of key indicators. Australia is ranked 28th in terms of labour market efficiency and 72nd for co-operation in labour-employer relations. Meanwhile, the World Economic Forum’s Executive Opinion Survey has found that restrictive labour market practices, taxes and government bureaucracy are the biggest problems when doing business in Australia.

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WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM

China behind budget’s improved look

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 27-Sep-17

The Federal Government has reported a Budget deficit of $A33.2bn for 2016-17. This is $A4.4bn lower than was forecast in May, and it is the nation’s smallest deficit since 2013. The improvement has been attributed to factors such as higher commodity prices due to continued strong demand in China, as well as reduced government expenditure on welfare as a result of growth in jobs. Goods and services tax and corporate tax revenue also rose.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

YouTube improved on ads boycott: Google

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 27-Sep-17

Google-owned YouTube has implemented a number of measures in the wake of revelations that clients’ advertisements had been displayed alongside objectionable video content. The controversy prompted a boycott of YouTube by leading Australian and global brands. Google Australia and New Zealand MD Jason Pellegrino says the company has worked with advertisers to address the issue. The new measures include a requirement that a video must be viewed at least 10,000 times before it starts to generate advertising revenue.

CORPORATES
GOOGLE INCORPORATED, GOOGLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, YOUTUBE INCORPORATED, GM HOLDEN LIMITED, KIA MOTORS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NESTLE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, VODAFONE HUTCHISON AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA POST, NBN CO LIMITED, WAL-MART STORES INCORPORATED, PEPSICO INCORPORATED, STARBUCKS COFFEE COMPANY LIMITED, AT&T CORPORATION, VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INCORPORATED

Seven under pressure over ‘toxic’ workplace culture

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 27-Sep-17

Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance director Katelin McInerney says the Seven Network’s dismissal of Amy Taeuber demonstrates that media executives must be proactive in addressing the issue of harassment in the workplace. Seven has come under scrutiny in the wake of claims that Taeuber had been sacked after lodging a sexual harassment complaint. However, Seven has denied that this was the reason for her dismissal, which is believed to have been due to allegations that she made disparaging comments about reality-TV show contestants on a blog.

CORPORATES
SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence: remains steady

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 27-Sep-17

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence eased 0.6% in the week ending 24 September. The moderation in confidence was driven by a solid decline in views towards future economic conditions, which was somewhat offset by an increase in the "time to buy a major household item" index. The remaining sub-indices showed little change. Consumers’ views towards current economic conditions remained unchanged (+0.1%). Meanwhile, consumers seem less optimistic about future economic conditions, with the sub-index falling 6.5%. The four-week moving average aggregate economic conditions index remains well below its long-run average. Similarly, households’ views towards current financial conditions showed little change (+0.1%), while confidence around future financial conditions slipped 0.8%. The four-week moving average aggregate financial conditions index has risen above its long-term average through September.

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

Broken Hill boy leaves Rio in good shape

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 27-Sep-17

The impending retirement of Rio Tinto’s CFO Chris Lynch will leave Alf Barrios as the only member of the executive committee who was appointed before Jean-Sebastien ­Jacques became CEO in mid-2016. Rio Tinto recently advised that Lynch will step down in the next 12 months, and Lynch himself stresses that it was a personal decision to do so. Lynch, who was appointed CFO in 2013, says Rio Tinto is in "great shape", with a healthy balance sheet and cost structure. Its annual costs have been slashed by $US8.2bn since 2013.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, TRANSURBAN GROUP LIMITED – ASX TCL, ALUMINIUM CORPORATION OF CHINA LIMITED