Author: roymorgansocial

Economy on the rise: Morrison

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Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 20-Jul-17

Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison will address a conference in Melbourne on 20 July 2017. He will note that key indicators – such as business and consumer sentiment, corporate profits and job advertisements – show that the Australian economy is gaining strength. Morrison will also caution against trying to return the Budget to surplus too quickly, as this could potentially stall economic growth. Meanwhile, Morrison argues that although Australia’s gross debt now exceeds $A500bn, it would be closer to $A1trn if the Australian Labor Party was still in office.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

Union bid to penalise builders for IR deals

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 19-Jul-17

The Electrical Trades Union is seeking a trade-off with employers to ensure that their enterprise bargaining agreements comply with the Australian Government’s building code. Amongst other things, the ETU wants workers to receive double-time pay rates for working on a scheduled rostered day off and to receive a day in lieu. Existing EBAs provide for a day in lieu and standard pay rates for working on RDOs. EBAs will have to comply with the building code from September for companies to be eligible for federally-funded construction projects.

CORPORATES
ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, JOHN HOLLAND PTY LTD

Activist Elliott targets BHP retail shareholders

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Original article by Leo Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 19 : 19-Jul-17

US-based hedged fund Elliott Management is seeking the support of BHP Billiton’s retail investors for its proposed restructuring strategy for the resources giant. Elliott has also launched a revised website pitched at institutional investors. The activist hedge fund has accused BHP’s management of being responsible for the loss of some $US40bn ($A51bn) of shareholder wealth due to poor decisions. Elliott’s proposed reforms include scrapping BHP’s dual listing structure.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, ELLIOTT MANAGEMENT CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Court orders investigation into Ten administrators

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Original article by Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 19-Jul-17

The Federal Court has appointed insolvency firm Ferrier Hodgson to conduct an independent review of the fees paid by Ten Network to KordaMentha in the months prior to the TV broadcaster’s collapse. The move follows concerns that KordaMentha may have a conflict of interests in its role as administrator of Ten, given that co-founder Mark Korda had been acting as an adviser to Ten’s board since late February.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, KORDA MENTHA AND COLLEAGUES PTY LTD, FERRIER HODGSON AND COMPANY, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, GILBERT AND TOBIN LAWYERS, ARNOLD BLOCH LEIBLER, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD

Investors twitchy ahead of new capital rules

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Original article by James Eyers, James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 19-Jul-17

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority is poised to unveil its revised capital rules for the banking sector on 19 July. There has been speculation that APRA will require banks to increase their equity capital. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley forecasts that the Commonwealth Bank of Australia will report a common equity tier 1 capital ratio of about 9.9 per cent for fiscal 2017. Richard Wiles of Morgan Stanley says APRA’s new capital requirements constitute the biggest source of risk for CBA in the near-term.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Jury out on Turnbull security overhaul

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 19-Jul-17

Professor John Blaxland of the Australian National University is among those to have questioned the merits of the Federal Government’s move to create a national security "super-portfolio". Immigration and Border Protection Minister Peter Dutton will be in charge of the new Department of Home Affairs, which will embrace his existing portfolio as well as agencies such as ASIO, the Australian Federal Police and AUSTRAC. Some members of the Liberal Party’s moderate faction have also expressed reservations about the changes.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF IMMIGRATION AND BORDER PROTECTION, AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, AUSTRALIAN CRIMINAL INTELLIGENCE COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF TRANSPORT SECURITY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR-GENERAL OF INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY, AUSTRALIA. INDEPENDENT NATIONAL SECURITY LEGISLATION MONITOR, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF DEFENCE

Human Super puts the focus on women

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Original article by Sally Patten
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 19-Jul-17

New superannuation fund Human Super will primarily target women in the 40-65 age group, and CEO Pascale Helyar-Moray says one of its aims is to help close the retirement savings gender gap. The fund will offer balanced and growth investment options, which will have fees of around one per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively. Human Super expects to attract about $A500,000 via its initial capital raising, which is slated to close on 19 July.

CORPORATES
HUMAN SUPER, SPACESHIP FINANCIAL SERVICES PTY LTD, GROW SUPER

MPs rush to confirm true-blue credentials

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 19-Jul-17

Federal MPs who were born overseas have moved to clarify that they are eligible to hold seats in Parliament after Greens senator Larissa Waters was forced to resign after discovering that she had dual citizenship. Waters was born in Canada but was not aware that she was a Canadian citizen. Greens senator Scott Ludlam also resigned recently after discovering that he still held New Zealand citizenship. The resignation of Waters and Ludlam means the Government needs the support of just nine non-Coalition senators to pass bills, but cross-benchers have cautioned against taking advantage of this.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN GREENS, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, COURT OF DISPUTED RETURNS, AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRATS

RBA signals cash rate rise to 3.5pc

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 19-Jul-17

The minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s monthly board meeting for July show that it now has a neutral cash rate target of 3.5 per cent, compared with a cash rate of 1.5 per cent at present. Financial markets increased the chances of an interest rate rise in May 2018 to 91 per cent in response to the release of the minutes, which also made reference to economic indicators such as a downturn in unemployment and growth in infrastructure investment.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

Rio lowers iron ore production guidance

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 19 : 19-Jul-17

Rio Tinto has advised that its iron ore output in the Pilbara is now likely to be about 330 million tonnes in calendar 2017, compared with previous guidance of between 330 million and 340 million tonnes. It has cited factors such as inclement weather and rail maintenance work for the revised production forecast. Rio Tinto’s Pilbara iron ore shipments totalled 154.3 million tonnes in the first half. Meanwhile, Citigroup expects Rio Tinto’s full-year dividend to rise from $US1.70 per share in 2016 to $US2.42 in 2017.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, COAL AND ALLIED INDUSTRIES LIMITED, YANCOAL AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX YAL, GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD