Author: roymorgansocial

The battle for BHP: Broomhead, Maxsted & MacKenzie

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Original article by Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 13-Jun-17

BHP Billiton is said to have had a list of 1,200 potential candidates to succeed chairman Jac Nasser. However, three current directors – Ken MacKenzie, Malcolm Broomhead and Lindsay Maxsted – are believed to be the final contenders for the role. Former BHP chairman Don Argus stresses the need for the succession process to have integrity. It will be decided via a secret ballot at a board meeting in Chile in coming days.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, HEIDRICK AND STRUGGLES, AMCOR LIMITED – ASX AMC, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, ORICA LIMITED – ASX ORI, TRANSURBAN GROUP LIMITED – ASX TCL, ADAMANTEM CAPITAL, AMERICAN SECURITIES, ELLIOTT MANAGEMENT CORPORATION, DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY

GetUp! to pay for journalist’s tax expose

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 5 : 9-Jun-17

It has been revealed that activist group GetUp is helping to finance an investigation by journalist Michael West into alleged tax avoidance by large multinationals. GetUp’s deputy chair Carla McGrath was recently appointed to the Australia Press Council’s board, a decision that has caused some controversy and prompted News Corp’s newspapers to boycott any Council hearings in which she participates. Concerns have been raised that McGrath may be involved in hearing complaints against companies that West is investigating.

CORPORATES
GETUP LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN PRESS COUNCIL, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ESSENTIAL MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS PTY LTD, UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SYDNEY

Bottom line result sends Opera soaring to high note

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Original article by Michaela Boland
The Australian – Page: 3 : 9-Jun-17

Opera Australia has recorded a $A3.4 million surplus for calendar 2016, aided by a strong audience response to "My Fair Lady" and Wagner’s "Ring Cycle". The result, Opera Australia’s best for 10 years, was earned on total box office receipts of $A59 million, up $A7 million. Opera Australia chairman David Mortimer says much of the credit for its strong result should go to CEO Craig Hassall and artistic director Lyndon Terracini.

CORPORATES
OPERA AUSTRALIA, LONELY PLANET PUBLICATIONS PTY LTD

Australia rises in house price index

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 33 : 9-Jun-17

Iceland heads Knight Frank’s latest Global House Price Index, with annualised growth of 17.8 per in the March 2017 quarter. Of the 55 countries covered by the survey, 48 recorded house price increases, with 11 posting an annualised rise of more than 10 per cent. Australia ranks 20th in the list, with strong performances in the Melbourne and Sydney housing markets helping it to achieve annual growth of 7.7 per cent in the March quarter.

CORPORATES
KNIGHT FRANK, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

Penalty cuts ‘not offset by wage rises’

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 9-Jun-17

ACTU secretary Sally McManus says research undertaken by the Australia Institute debunks claims that a minimum wage increase will offset Sunday penalty rate cuts. The Institute has concluded that the real value of wages earned by someone working on Sundays will decline by almost 25 per cent by June 2021. The Institute’s research was based on the assumption that inflation would increase by 2.5 per cent per annum, and that the minimum wage would rise by three per cent a year.

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ACTU, THE AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE LIMITED

Prices to ignite gas export controls

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 19 & 32 : 9-Jun-17

Federal Resources Minister Matthew Canavan will brief the gas industry on the draft rules for the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism on 9 June 2017. The draft rules show that the ADGSM will give Canavan and any future resources minister the power to restrict LNG exports if there is a domestic supply shortfall. Macquarie Group has criticised the limited detail in the draft rules, particularly with regard to how the gas price will be determined for the purposes of imposing export controls.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, GLADSTONE LNG PTY LTD, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, AUSTRALIA PACIFIC LNG LIMITED, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, QUEENSLAND CURTIS LNG PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM PRODUCTION AND EXPLORATION ASSOCIATION LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET OPERATOR LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, TOTAL SA, PETRONAS GAS BHD, KOREA GAS CORPORATION

Time to fix power shock

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Mark Ludlow, Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 9-Jun-17

Professor Alan Finkel will release his final report on energy reform on 9 June 2017. Finkel is expected to recommend adoption of a Low Emissions Target (LET) scheme as the best way forward for meeting Australia’s energy needs in a low emissions environment, but he will leave the Federal Government to decide what "carbon emission" baseline to use. He will also advise that power companies must give three years’ notice when closing down a power generator, and that storage capacity should be a feature of any "new generation investment".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, ACTEWAGL, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, GRATTAN INSTITUTE

Donations row engulfs Turnbull’s team

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 9-Jun-17

China-born billionaire Chau Chak Wing has rejected claims that he has links to the Chinese Communist Party. Chau, who has been an Australian citizen for 20 years, has hit out after he was named in a television program about overseas donations to Australian political parties. Chau says he has never tried to seek any gain from donations made by himself or his companies to political parties. He notes that both of Australia’s major parties have solicited donations from him, and it has been revealed that one of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s campaign organisers approached Chau for a donation prior to the 2016 federal election.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, COMMUNIST PARTY (CHINA)

James Comey testifies he thought Trump ‘might lie’ about meetings

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Original article by David Smith, Amanda Holpuch
The Guardian – Page: Online : 9-Jun-17

Former FBI director James Comey has told the Senate intelligence committee that he been compelled to document all meetings with President Donald Trump from the outset, due to concerns that Trump might lie about what transpired. Comey also said he had been confused about the reasons for his dismissal. He stated that he believed that it was due to the FBI’s investigation into possible Russian interferene in the 2016 presidential election, but Trump attributed it his handling of the probe into the use of a private email server by rival presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Business Confidence gives soft ‘thumbs down’ to Federal Budget

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Jun-17

Business Confidence in Australia fell 2.8pts (-2.4%) to 113.8 in May, according to the Roy Morgan Business Single Source survey. The fall in Business Confidence came during the month Treasurer Scott Morrison handed down a Federal Budget which included plans to increase taxation on Australian banks and coincided with the Australian All Ordinaries falling 186.3pts (-3.1%) to 5,761.3. The business specific financial indicators drove this month’s fall in Business Confidence back to the pre-Budget March rating of 113.8. In May 44.4% (down 4.3ppts) of Australian businesses expected to be "better off" financially this time next year, compared to 22.6% (up 2.9ppts) that expected to be "worse off" – a net negative movement of 7.2pts. Also fewer Australian businesses, 39% (down 3.2ppts), said the business is "better off" financially than a year ago while 32.9% (up 3.6ppts), said the business is "worse off" – a net negative movement of 6.8pts.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY