Author: roymorgansocial

BHP pressured on oil spin-off

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 17 & 22 : 11-Apr-17

BHP Billiton has rejected a restructuring proposal that has been put forward by US-based hedge fund Elliott Management, arguing that any potential benefits would be exceeded by the costs and risks associated with the plan. Elliott says BHP should abandon its dual-listed structure and demerge its US petroleum assets into a separately-listed company. Elliott believes that the restructuring proposal could boost the value of BHP shares by around 50 per cent.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, ELLIOTT MANAGEMENT CORPORATION, SOUTH32 LIMITED – ASX S32, QUINTIS LIMITED – ASX QIN, GLAUCUS RESEARCH GROUP CALIFORNIA LLC

Wall Street could stop ASX bull run

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Original article by Philip Baker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 11-Apr-17

The S&P/ASX 200’s rise above the 5,900-point level has prompted renewed speculation that it could test 6,000 points. However, the near-term outlook for the benchmark index will depend on the US earnings season, and data from Bloomberg shows that the number of companies that have provided earnings guidance in the last month has fallen to the lowest level since 1999. Meanwhile, borrowings costs may rise as offshore investors bail out of US treasuries and the Federal Reserve prepares to divest $US2.46trn worth of treasuries.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, BLOOMBERG LP, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE INDEX, STANDARD AND POOR’S 500 INDEX, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, THOMSON REUTERS PLC, PERPETUAL LIMITED – ASX PPT

Bank satisfaction in February still close to record high

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 11-Apr-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that satisfaction with Australian banks overall was 81.9 per cent in the six months to February 2017, compared with 82.1% in January. Customer satisfaction had peaked at a 20-year high of 82.9% in 2015, and it remains well above the long-term average of 76.9% recorded since 2005. The Commonwealth Bank remains the best performer among the big four banks, with a satisfaction level of 81.7%, followed by National Australia Bank (80.1%). The average satisfaction level for the big four in February was 79.9% (down 0.2% for the month), compared to the mutual banks’ average of 90.3% (up 0.1%). The best performers among the mutual banks were Greater Bank (95.7%) and Teachers Mutual Bank (92.2%).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, 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, GREATER BANK LIMITED, TEACHERS MUTUAL BANK LIMITED, HERITAGE BANK LIMITED – ASX HBS

M&A seen as resilient to shocks

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 11-Apr-17

Data from Dealogic shows that $US11.9bn ($A15.9bn) worth of takeover bids for Australian companies were announced in the March 2017 quarter, which is 38 per cent lower year-on-year. Meanwhile, Deloitte has released a report which forecasts that global uncertainty will weigh upon mergers and acquisitions activity in 2017. However, the firm expects an upturn in M&A activity when the uncertainty abates. Timothy Mahapatra of Deloitte notes that deal-making is still a priority for many companies.

CORPORATES
DEALOGIC (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, MACQUARIE CAPITAL PTY LTD, ALINTA ENERGY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, CHOW TAI FOOK ENTERPRISES LIMITED, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, YANCOAL AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX YAL, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Iron ore dives but stockpile declines

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 17 & 28 : 11-Apr-17

The spot price of iron ore for delivery to the port of Qingdao in China recently reached a low of $US75.45 per tonne, compared with a peak of $US94.86 in late February. However, China’s iron ore stockpiles have fallen by 1.1 million tonnes to 121 million tonnes since early April. The recent downturn in the spot price had been attributed to a sharp rise in Chinese stockpiles. Macquarie Group notes that demand for iron ore and steel will be boosted by the Chinese Government’s plans to develop the new Xiongan region.

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, IRON ORE RESEARCH PTY LTD, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, COMMUNIST PARTY (CHINA)

Aussie mango farm sales surge

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Original article by Larry Schlesinger
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 33 : 10-Apr-17

Herron Todd White has reported a significant rise in the sale of Australian mango farms over the past year. Most of Australia’s mangoes are grown in Queensland and the Northern Territory, with the value of yearly output being around $A140 million. About 50,000 tonnes of mangoes are grown in Australia each year, with about 10 per cent being exported to countries such as Singapore, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates.

CORPORATES
HERRON TODD WHITE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, PERFECTION FRESH AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Retailers start cutting Sunday penalty rates

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 10-Apr-17

The Fair Work Commission recently approved a new workplace agreement for kikki.K employees that includes provision for changes to Sunday and public holiday penalty rates in the retail industrial award. FWC deputy president Geoff Bull conceded that the stationery retailer’s employees could be adversely affected by this clause. However, he found that kikki.K’s commitment to increase employees’ base hourly rates by at least 5.7 per cent more than the award rate for 2015-16 meant the agreement complies with the "better off overall test".

CORPORATES
KIKKI.K PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, RETAIL AND FAST FOOD WORKERS UNION, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP

Sacking over salesman’s ‘crude’ Facebook post unfair

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 10-Apr-17

The Fair Work Commission has directed LED Technologies to pay compensation to a former salesman after it found that he was unfairly dismissed over a Facebook post. LED claimed that the post – which contained offensive language – was in breach of its social media policy which bans using social media at work. In his defence, the salesman had claimed that he was on a break at the time, that he was unaware of the policy, and that the post made no reference to LED.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, LED TECHNOLOGIES PTY LTD, FACEBOOK AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Australians want driverless cars – NOW

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 10-Apr-17

A special Roy Morgan Snap SMS Poll has found that 51% of Australian men and 41% of Australian women say they would travel in a driverless car now, for a total of 46% of all Australians. The majority of all age profiles 50 years and under are ready for autonomous vehicles. The poll was conducted on 15 March 2017, in conjunction with the Roy Morgan State of the Nation Report 27 – Focus on Australia’s Automotive Industry.

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ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED

Aussie mine focus as Peabody beats bankruptcy

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 18 : 10-Apr-17

Peabody Energy Corporation has been reinstated to the New York Stock Exchange after emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Peabody has reduced costs, sold or shut down coal mines and slashed its debt by $US5bn since filing for bankruptcy in April 2016. CEO Glenn Kellow has stressed the importance of Peabody’s coking and thermal coal mines in Queensland and New South Wales, noting that its Australian operations provides the company with access to the Asia-Pacific market. He adds that Australia should consider building clean coal power stations.

CORPORATES
PEABODY ENERGY CORPORATION, NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, SOUTH32 LIMITED – ASX S32, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION