Author: roymorgansocial

Lower interest rates reducing mortgage stress

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 26-Jun-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey shows that 666,000 Australian mortgage holders (16.8%) were considered to be "at risk" or facing some degree of stress over their repayments in the three months to April 2017. This compares with 744,000 mortgage holders (18.4%) 12 months ago. It is also well below the average over the last decade. Meanwhile, 442,000 mortgage holders (11.5%) are "extremely at risk" of mortgage stress, which is the lowest in over a decade. The survey also shows that mortgage stress is much higher among lower income groups (under $60,000 per annum), where it is currently 85.3% for those considered "at risk" and 65% for those that are "extremely at risk".

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED

Media bill set to be left in the cold

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 4 : 23-Jun-17

Independent senator Nick Xenophon wants an impasse over cross-media ownership reforms to be resolved during Parliament’s winter break. The media bill has been sidelined, with the Federal Government focusing on passing its schools funding package. The Nick Xenophon Team will press for safeguards to ensure media diversity if the "two-out-of-three" rule is abolished. The media industry has backed the reforms, but one TV industry source has warned that this will not be the case if the Government seeks to split the bill.

CORPORATES
NICK XENOPHON TEAM, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

Tribunal dismisses concerns in Tab deal

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Original article by John Stensholt
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 23-Jun-17

The Australian Competition Tribunal, which approved Tabcorp’s $A11 billion merger with Tatts Group on 20 June 2017, has published in full the reasons for its decision. The tribunal has rejected claims by Racing.com that it would be placed in crisis if conditions were not imposed on the merged entity when bidding for future broadcasting rights. The tribunal also did not believe the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s view that allowing the merger to proceed would reduce competitive bidding for the next wagering licence in Victoria.

CORPORATES
TABCORP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TAH, TATTS GROUP LIMITED – ASX TTS, AUSTRALIA. COMPETITION TRIBUNAL, RACING.COM, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, RACING VICTORIA LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, ODYSSEY GAMING LIMITED

Public service fat cats, MPs get the cream

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Original article by Adam Creighton, Primrose Riordan, David Uren
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 23-Jun-17

Australia’s Remuneration Tribunal has granted federal politicians, judges and high-ranking public servants a two per cent pay rise from 1 July 2017. Greens leader Richard Di Natale has queried the need for a pay rise, as has Liberal Democrats senator David Leyonhjelm. Nadine Flood of the Community & Public Sector Union says its members, who have been battling with the Coalition government for improved wages since it was elected in 2013, are unlikely to be impressed.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. REMUNERATION TRIBUNAL, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY, COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF DEFENCE, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE

Global investors moving ASX funds elsewhere

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Original article by Myriam Robin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 23-Jun-17

Some fund managers suggest that the Australian sharemarket’s 1.6 per cent downturn on 21 June was prompted by foreign investors shifting out of local equities. Meanwhile, Tony Brennan and Mark Tomlins of Citigroup say Asian sharemarkets may be more attractive to international investors at present, given their better prospects for earnings upgrades. Hasan Tevfik of Credit Suisse adds that passive fund managers are likely to reduce their exposure to Australian shares in coming years as the MSCI Asia-Pacific ex-Japan’s weighting toward Chinese and Hong Kong-listed shares increases.

CORPORATES
CITIGROUP PTY LTD, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, MSCI ASIA-PACIFIC EX-JAPAN INDEX, MSCI EMERGING MARKETS INDEX, MSCI INCORPORATED, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, COMPUTERSHARE LIMITED – ASX CPU, MSCI AUSTRALIA INDEX

Investors wary of copycat state bank levies

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 31 : 23-Jun-17

Shares in Australian banks rose on 22 June, although they failed to retain early gains after the South Australian Government moved to impose a levy on banks’ state liabilities. Bank stocks are likely to be sold down in the near-term amid concern that other states could seek to balance their budgets via a levy on the sector. However, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 has shed just 3.7 per cent during May and June 2017 – well below the five-year average loss of 4.4 per cent – and the local bourse traditionally performs well in July.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, MSCI INCORPORATED, MSCI ASIA-PACIFIC EX-JAPAN INDEX, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED

David Jones’ future lies in food, fashion

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 & 22 : 23-Jun-17

David Jones CEO John Dixon says the department store chain will spend at least $A100 million over the next three years on improving its food offering. Dixon says that the availability of food helps to encourage customers to stay longer, and it is something that helps to differentiate it from online retailers. Stephen Carrott of JP Morgan suggests that David Jones’s new strategy will help it to generate $A700 million a year from food sales by 2022.

CORPORATES
DAVID JONES LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS HOLDINGS LIMITED, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MARKS AND SPENCER PLC, CAPE GRIM BEEF, SONOMA WOODFIRED BAKING COMPANY PTY LTD, SERENDIPITY ICECREAM, IN2FOODS, YARRA VALLEY FARMS, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR

Timely break for Atlas, MinRes

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 31 : 23-Jun-17

A six-month extension of the discount on the fees paid by mining companies to use Port Hedland’s Utah Point berth will result in cost savings of about $A12.5m for both Atlas Iron and Mineral Resources. The discount of $A2.50 per tonne had been slated to end in June. However, BHP Billiton faces increased costs of about $A9m a year after the Western Australian Government announced that fees at most ports in the Pilbara will increase. The cost to Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group will be around $A13m and $A6.8m respectively.

CORPORATES
ATLAS IRON LIMITED – ASX AGO, MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF TRANSPORT, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Ten’s fate left hanging on media reforms

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 & 22 : 23-Jun-17

The first meeting of Ten Network’s creditors will be held on 26 June, and the second is scheduled to be held by 18 July. However, administrator KordaMentha may seek to delay the second creditors’ meeting pending the fate of the Federal Government’s cross-media ownership reforms. The Senate is unlikely to pass the bill before Parliament rises for the winter recess, so early August will be the Government’s first opportunity to push ahead with the reforms.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, KORDA MENTHA AND COLLEAGUES PTY LTD, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, PPB HOLDINGS PTY LTD, ONE NATION PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Domino’s no longer flavour of the month

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 19 & 31 : 23-Jun-17

Craig Woolford of Citigroup says Domino’s will need to take better care of its franchisees if it is continue to maintain store growth. He notes that the typical Australia/New Zealand Domino’s store has seen its income grow by just 1.2 per cent over the last 12 years, compared with 9.5 per cent for the company as a whole. Woolford rates the stock a "sell". Domino’s shares fell by four per cent on 22 June, bringing to its decline since the start of 2017 to almost 20 per cent.

CORPORATES
DOMINO’S PIZZA ENTERPRISES LIMITED – ASX DMP, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ALPHINITY INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, ARISTOCRAT LEISURE LIMITED – ASX ALL, TREASURY WINE ESTATES LIMITED – ASX TWE, CSL LIMITED – ASX CSL, COCHLEAR LIMITED – ASX COH, ARMYTAGE PRIVATE LIMITED