Author: roymorgansocial

Consumers put value before price: P&G

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 12-Sep-17

Procter & Gamble’s MD for Australia and New Zealand, Antoine Brun, claims that Australian consumers are not as interested in price promotions as some retailers in the $A90 billion food and grocery sector seem to think. He says retailers need to reduce their discounting "message", and instead focus more on product quality and innovation. Brun notes that extensive discounting discourages product innovation. Procter & Gamble’s brands include Oral B, Duracell and Gillette.

CORPORATES
PROCTER AND GAMBLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, PROCTER AND GAMBLE COMPANY, CHEMIST WAREHOUSE, PRICELINE PHARMACY, IRI

Coalition bid to dry up ‘rivers of gold’

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 12-Sep-17

The Federal Government is seeking to impose restrictions on payments made from employee entitlement funds. Under the Proper Use of Worker Benefits Bill, such funds would need to be registered with the Registered Organisations Commission, and to have one independent director, alongside employer and union-appointed directors. Funds would no longer be able to make payments to unions or employers’ groups, with the Australian Electoral Commission estimating that unions have received an average of $A25 million in payments from employee entitlement funds in the last five years.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. REGISTERED ORGANISATIONS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP

Fees underpin Macquarie profit

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 21 : 12-Sep-17

Macquarie Group has advised that its profit for the first half of 2017-18 will be higher than previously due to an increase in performance fees. However, the investment bank has told an investor roadshow that it expects full-year profit to be similar to its $A2.22bn result for 2016-17. Macquarie’s earnings profile has benefited from the group’s increased focus on annuity-style operations, while the group has also highlighted its risk management practices.

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INCORPORATED, HILL SAMUEL BANK

Health insurers plan cheap policies for youth

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 12-Sep-17

Private Healthcare Australia CEO Rachel David says the private health insurance sector struggles to attract younger members. She was commenting on a proposal that would see younger Australians offered premiums at a discounted rate, with the Federal Government having been briefed about the idea. David does not think that older policy holders would object to the idea, as having more younger members in the system helps to offset the higher cost of older members, who tend to make claims more often.

CORPORATES
PRIVATE HEALTHCARE AUSTRALIA, EVALUATE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Turnbull’s power deal with AGL

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 1 & 8 : 12-Sep-17

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg held talks with AGL Energy CEO Andy Vesey regarding the Liddell coal-fired power station on 11 September. Vesey agreed to a 90-day deadline to develop a plan to replace the ageing power station’s output. He will also put a proposal to the AGL board to sell the power station or keep it open for five years beyond its slated shutdown in 2022. The Australian ­Energy Market Operator has estimated that an extra 1,000 megawatts of electricity generation will be needed to offset the closure of Liddell.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET OPERATOR LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE CHIEF SCIENTIST

Murdoch-Gordon Ten bid details aired

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 12-Sep-17

KordaMentha has released the deed of company arrangement for CBS Corporation’s proposed acquisition of the Ten Network. It is included in a supplementary report to Ten’s creditors, in which the administrator outlines the reasons for its decision to recommend selling Ten to CBS rather than rival bidders Bruce Gordon and Lachlan Murdoch. KordaMentha notes that both itself and Ten’s receivers had concluded that the CBS deal would provide a better outcome for creditors.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, CBS CORPORATION, KORDA MENTHA AND COLLEAGUES PTY LTD, ILLYRIA PTY LTD, BIRKETU PTY LTD, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED

NAB’s wealth builder vows to lift the game

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 21 : 12-Sep-17

Matthew Lawrance, the recently appointed CEO of the National Australia Bank-owned MLC Super, acknowledges that there is a lack of trust and confidence in the superannuation sector that industry participants need to help restore. He says the media could help in this respect, by providing more balanced coverage of the sector. Noting that perhaps no more than 20 per cent of Australians seek financial advice, Lawrance says this is an area in which MLC Super could do more work.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, MLC SUPER

Stockland is stacking up solar centres

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Nick Lenaghan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 33 : 12-Sep-17

Real estate developer Stockland will spend $A23.5 million on the installation of 39,000 solar panels on the roofs of 10 of its shopping centres. The panels will generate 17.2 GWh of electricity each year. Further down the track, MD Mark Steinert hopes that if Stockland can combine its solar panels with battery storage technologies, it could be in a position where it can sell electricity into the national grid.

CORPORATES
STOCKLAND – ASX SGP, TESLA INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET OPERATOR LIMITED, GPT GROUP – ASX GPT

India-Exxon deal to cut gas price bodes ill

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 20 : 12-Sep-17

The global oversupply of LNG has prompted India-based Petronet to renegotiate its 20-year Gorgon LNG supply contract with ExxonMobil. Petronet is believed to have secured a deal to reduce the price it pays by $US1.10 to $US1.30 per unit. Industry analysts say other Gorgon buyers may also seek to renegotiate their supply contracts, as part of a global trend for LNG buyers to do so. Saul Kavonic of Wood Mackenzie analyst says the biggest risk for Australian LNG producers will be if major Asian buyers such as Japan and China seek to renegotiate supply contracts.

CORPORATES
EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, PETRONET INDIA LIMITED, GORGON JOINT VENTURE, WOOD MACKENZIE, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS

‘Liar loans’ pumped up house prices

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 12-Sep-17

UBS surveyed more than 900 Australian borrowers who had taken out a mortgage loan in the year to August 2017, finding that a third had not been truthful in terms of the information on their application. UBS states that the value of so-called "liar loans" is in excess of $A500 billion, and that these loans pose threats to both the banking sector and the overall economy. The ANZ Bank had the highest number of liar loans in the UBS survey, while respondents were most likely to have understated their expenses on their application.

CORPORATES
UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, MORTGAGE AND FINANCE ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA