Author: roymorgansocial

Small business in line for big win

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Original article by David Crowe, Emily Ritchie
The Australian – Page: 5 : 9-May-17

A tax deduction that is popular with small business owners is due to expire on 30 June 2017. The "instant" deduction is able to be claimed against capital costs of up to $A20,000, and was first introduced by the Australian Labor Party in 2012. Peter Strong from the Council of Small Business Australia says he is hopeful that Treasurer Scott Morrison will announce an extension to the tax deduction in the May 2017 Budget.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE

Reform package boosts shares

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 24 : 9-May-17

The Federal Government’s latest media reform proposals prompted a rally in the share prices of listed media groups on 8 May 2017. In addition to abolishing the "reach rule" and the "two out of three rule", the Government plan to replace TV broadcasting licence fees with an annual spectrum fee and ban gambling advertisements during live sports broadcasts prior to 8:30pm. Macquarie Group says the proposed reforms are positive for TV networks.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, APN NEWS AND MEDIA LIMITED – ASX APN, TPG CAPITAL LP, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED

2.3 million Australians unemployed or under-employed in April

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

Australia’s real unemployment for April was unchanged at 9.3% (1.217 million Australians looking for work). In addition, for the eighth straight month more than 1 million Australians were under-employed in April – now 1.090 million (8.3% of the workforce). This is a total of 2.307 million Australians (17.6% of the workforce) looking for work or looking for more work. In April the total Australian workforce was 13,133,000 (up 323,000 in a year) and employment grew strongly to 11,916,000 (up 440,000). However, the increase in employment was entirely driven by a large increase in part-time employment which rose 471,000 to 4,300,000 while full-time employment fell 31,000 to 7,616,000. So while real unemployment at 9.3% is down 1.1% from a year ago, under-employment is up 0.6% to 8.3% over the same period.

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ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED

TPG bid ‘cherry-picks’ Fairfax assets

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Original article by Max Mason, Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 14 : 9-May-17

Legg Mason Martin Currie’s Patrick Potts says TPG Capital should make a takeover offer for all of Fairfax Media’s assets. TPG and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan have made an indicative offer of $A0.95 per share for the Domain property listings business, Fairfax’s three flagship newspapers, and its events and digital ventures. Potts believes the $A2.2bn offer undervalues the assets that the TPG-led consortium wants to buy, while he adds that Fairfax shareholders would be left with "structurally challenged assets" whose value is difficult to determine.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, TPG CAPITAL LP, ONTARIO TEACHERS’ PENSION PLAN, DOMAIN.COM.AU, LEGG MASON MARTIN CURRIE, THORNEY INVESTMENT GROUP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ALLURE MEDIA PTY LTD, THE HUFFINGTON POST, MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, FAIRFAX NEW ZEALAND LIMITED, NZME LIMITED – ASX NZM, NEW ZEALAND. COMMERCE COMMISSION, PLATINUM EQUITY HOLDINGS, APN NEWS AND MEDIA LIMITED – ASX APN, FETCH PLUS INCORPORATED PTE LTD

Executive Chairman of Roy Morgan Research Gary Morgan comments on today’s April real unemployment figures

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Original article by Gary Morgan, Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-May-17

Australia’s real unemployment rate of 9.3% (1.217 million Australians) in April is far higher than the 5.9% claimed by the ABS as Treasurer Scott Morrison prepares to deliver the first Federal Budget of the re-elected Turnbull Government tonight. In addition, a further 1.090 million Australians are under-employed (8.3% of the workforce), and regularly ignored by both the major political parties and the mainstream media. For the first time last week Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull met new US President Donald Trump who was clear during his campaign that the real American unemployment rate was 20% or 25% rather than the official Bureau of Labor Statistics figure below 5%. Turnbull and his Ministers in Australia need to understand the issues are the same in Australia and the Turnbull Government must follow Trump’s lead by implementing policies to bring back jobs to Australia.

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ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED

Power chaos looms amid union row

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Original article by Samantha Hutchinson, Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 5-May-17

The Victorian Government has intervened in the long-running dispute over enterprise agreement negotiations at AGL Energy’s Loy Yang power station. The Government will seek an order from the Fair Work Commission to prevent the Electrical Trades Union from launching industrial action. AGL had warned that safety considerations would force it to shut down the power station from mid-May if workers went on strike. Loy Yang supplies more than 40 per cent of the state’s electricity.

CORPORATES
AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

RBA: road and rail a house price fix

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Original article by Jacob Greber, Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 5-May-17

The Australian Government’s May 2017 Budget is tipped to include funding for road and rail infrastructure, as part of its policy on housing affordability. Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe says improved transport infrastructure is the best way to making housing more affordable. He adds that the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s move to crack down on lending to property investors is intended to provide "breathing space" to allow the supply-demand imbalance to correct itself, rather than being aimed at reining in house price growth.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

Argus slams Elliott bid to overhaul BHP

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 19 & 22 : 5-May-17

Australian businessman and former BHP Billiton chairman Don Argus says the conditions imposed on the company to gain government approval for its 2001 merger will thwart Elliott Management’s push to scrap the dual listing. BHP itself has suggested that the activist hedge fund’s proposal is unlikely to gain regulatory approval, while Treasurer Scott Morrison has signalled that unwinding the dual listing would not be in the national interest. Meanwhile, Rio Tinto chairman Jan du Plessis says his company has considered and rejected abolishing its own dual-listed structure on a number of occasions.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, ELLIOTT MANAGEMENT CORPORATION, ELLIOTT ASSOCIATES LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, ARNHEM INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Corporate changes blast the 457 visa changes

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Original article by Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 5-May-17

Business leaders are continuing their attack on the Federal Government’s changes to the skilled visa system and its abolition of 457 visas. Gregory Robinson of Blenheim Partners says the changes to the skilled visa system have seen companies withdraw job offers to overseas candidates, while the scrapping of the 457 system has been described by some business leaders as "protectionist" and giving into "populism"

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, BLENHEIM PARTNERS, TABCORP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TAH, HEALTHSCOPE LIMITED – ASX HSO, AURIZON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX AZJ, AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SUPERANNUATION INVESTORS INCORPORATED, OZ MINERALS LIMITED – ASX OZL, INVESTA OFFICE FUND – ASX IOF, INDIA. PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE, NEW ZEALAND. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, GRAINCORP LIMITED – ASX GNC, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD

Boards ‘not tough enough’ to tackle complex pay packages

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Original article by Damon Kitney
The Australian – Page: 23 : 5-May-17

Australian company boards have been urged to adopt a tougher approach when it comes to dealing with executive remuneration. Paula Dwyer, the chair of both Tabcorp and Healthscope, has told the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors conference that the general public expects directors to hold their executives to account when it comes to meeting pay targets, while she noted that some executive pay packages are excessively complex. Both Dwyer and Aurizon chairman Tim Poole agreed that Australian boards are too risk-adverse.

CORPORATES
TABCORP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TAH, HEALTHSCOPE LIMITED – ASX HSO, AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SUPERANNUATION INVESTORS INCORPORATED, AURIZON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX AZJ, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, AUSTRALIA POST, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, OZ MINERALS LIMITED – ASX OZL