Author: roymorgansocial

Rising dollar a threat to economy: RBA

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Original article by James Glynn
The Australian – Page: 27 : 2-Aug-17

The Reserve Bank still expects GDP growth to return to three per cent and inflation to rise to within its target range. However, these forecasts are being hindered by the continued strength of the Australian dollar, which has been noted by central bank governor Philip Lowe. He is upbeat about the outlook for the labour market, forecasting that the unemployment rate will ease in the next several years. Meanwhile, Michael Blythe of the Commonwealth Bank expects the cash rate to remain on hold until at least late 2018.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH SECURITIES LIMITED

Unjust ABC ‘stealing our markets’

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 2 : 1-Aug-17

Australian Associated Press CEO Bruce Davidson is the latest media industry executive to criticise the ABC’s push to gain content deals in the corporate sector. The public broadcaster recently secured a deal to replace AAP as the provider of syndicated news feeds to outdoor advertising group oOh!media. Davidson says AAP may have to retrench staff if it continues to lose contracts to the ABC. Meanwhile, One Nation has called for the ABC to increase the amount of content it produces that is aimed at regional and rural audiences.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS PTY LTD, OOH!MEDIA LIMITED – ASX OML, ONE NATION PARTY, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS

CC Amatil wins overseer role in NSW’s container deposit scheme

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 1-Aug-17

Adoption of the New South Wales Government’s container deposit scheme is expected to result in increased prices for beverage products. The scheme will come into effect on 1 December 2017, and it will be managed by a consortium of soft drink and brewing companies that includes Lion, Coopers and Coca-Cola Amatil. The scheme is expected to have the most impact on sales of large packs of soft drink and beer, along with private label bottled water.

CORPORATES
LION PTY LTD, COOPERS BREWERY LIMITED, COCA-COLA AMATIL LIMITED – ASX CCL, FOSTER’S GROUP LIMITED, ASAHI BREWERIES LIMITED, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MACQUARIE EQUITIES LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BEVERAGES COUNCIL LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW

Archibald veterans condemn Olsen attack on winner Cairns

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Original article by Ashleigh Wilson
The Australian – Page: 3 : 1-Aug-17

The Art Gallery of New South Wales has awarded the Archibald Prize for 2017 to Mitch Cairns for his portrait of partner Agatha Gothe-Snape. The Gallery’s decision was condemned by previous winner John Olsen as being the worst in the award’s history. However, five other previous Archibald winners, including Sam Leach – who won in 2010 for his portrait of Tim Minchin – have supported Cairns.

CORPORATES
ART GALLERY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Origin posts bumper sales of petroleum

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 1-Aug-17

Origin Energy has advised that its petroleum production rose by 40 per cent to 232 petajoules in 2016-17, while revenue from its petroleum operations increased by 105 per cent to $A2.2bn. The result was boosted by sales of $A1.46bn from its 37.5 per cent stake in the Australia Pacific LNG project, while sales of conventional oil and gas grew by 26 per cent to $A746.9m. Origin has also reported production of 89.2 petajoules for the June quarter, which is 30 per cent higher than previously.

CORPORATES
ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, AUSTRALIA PACIFIC LNG LIMITED, LATTICE ENERGY, BEACH ENERGY LIMITED – ASX BPT, QUESTUS ENERGY, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS

ANZ restructure raises union fears of significant job losses

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman, James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 1-Aug-17

ANZ Bank CEO Shayne Elliott will emphasis on 1 August 2017 via a video to all staff that its Australasian focus is on retail customers and on corporate customers in Asia. The video will follow on from a message sent by Elliott on the previous day in which he called for changes to ANZ’s work practices and flexibility. Julia Angrisano of the Finance Sector Union says it is concerned that what appears to be a major reorganisation by ANZ will lead to job cuts at the bank.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, FINANCE SECTOR UNION, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, ST GEORGE BANK LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

Sharemarket’s worst July for six years cements investor gloom

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Original article by Philip Baker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 35 : 1-Aug-17

Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index defied the medium-term trend to lose ground in July 2017. Since 2000, the index has gained an average of 1.3 per cent in July, but its underperformance over the last month means it has finished in the red for the last three months. The S&P/ASX 200 met with resistance at the 5,700-point level in July, and indeed in the last several months. The Australian market remains about 16 per cent below its peak prior to the global financial crisis, while key US share price indices are at record highs.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE INDEX, STANDARD AND POOR’S 500 INDEX, NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 ACCUMULATION INDEX, BELL POTTER SECURITIES LIMITED, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, CSL LIMITED – ASX CSL, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, ARISTOCRAT LEISURE LIMITED – ASX ALL, AMCOR LIMITED – ASX AMC, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Shorten ‘lie’ on growth exposed

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

Business Council of Australia CEO Jennifer Westacott has criticised Opposition Leader Bill Shorten for claiming that reducing the company tax rate will adversely affect economic growth. She notes that Shorten has previously argued that a lower company tax rate would boost productivity and investment, resulting in higher economic growth and wages. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has criticised Shorten’s proposal to tax the distributions of discretionary trusts, which are used by some small and family businesses.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION

Rio’s chance to reward investors with jump in returns

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 17 & 28 : 1-Aug-17

Rio Tinto is widely tipped to post a 2017 interim underlying profit of $US4.12bn ($A5.16bn), compared with $US1.56bn previously. Market watchers also anticipate that Rio will lift its interim dividend from $US0.45 per share to $US1.18, with the prospect of a full-year payout of $US2.50 per share. Paul Hissey of RBC Capital Markets forecasts that a special dividend will boost Rio Tinto’s interim payout to $US1.42 a share. However, Glyn Lawcock of UBS expects the interim dividend to be $US0.93.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, ANGLO AMERICAN PLC, GLENCORE PLC, VALE SA, GREAT BRITAIN. SERIOUS FRAUD OFFICE

Residential lending hits record levels

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Original article by Duncan Hughes
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 1-Aug-17

Reserve Bank of Australia figures show that there was a 7.4 per cent increase in mortgage loans to property investors in the year to June 2017. This compares with an increase of 6.2 per cent in loans to owner-occupiers. Overall, a record $A1.69 trillion worth of mortgages were active at the end of June. Martin North of Digital Finance Analytics said the figures suggest that regulatory attempts to cool the residential property market do not seem to have had any impact yet.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, DIGITAL FINANCE ANALYTICS, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, ME BANK, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ, MACQUARIE BANK LIMITED – ASX MBL, CANSTAR PTY LTD, MORTGAGE CHOICE LIMITED – ASX MOC, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY