Author: roymorgansocial

Bullish Goldman likes resources

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 34 : 9-Dec-16

Investment bank Goldman Sachs is upbeat about the outlook for the Australian sharemarket in 2017, noting indications that the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is experiencing an earnings upgrade cycle. Goldman Sachs expects market trends that have emerged toward the end of 2016 to continue in 2017, albeit at a slower pace. The firm has adopted an "overweight" position with regard to banking, resources and cyclical stocks, while it remains bearish about so-called bond proxy stocks.

CORPORATES
GOLDMAN SACHS AND PARTNERS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, ALUMINA LIMITED – ASX AWC, SOUTH32 LIMITED – ASX S32, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, LEND LEASE GROUP LIMITED – ASX LLC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, SKYCITY ENTERTAINMENT GROUP LIMITED – ASX SKC, BLUESCOPE STEEL LIMITED – ASX BSL, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM, CALTEX AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX CTX, APA GROUP – ASX APA, SYDNEY AIRPORT – ASX SYD, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, QUBE HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX QUB, HOTEL PROPERTIES INVESTMENTS – ASX HPI, CHARTER HALL GROUP – ASX CHC

PM rejects advice on carbon plan

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 8-Dec-16

The Federal Government has decided against considering a carbon scheme for the electricity sector and thus ignored advice from Chief Scientist Alan Finkel. In early December 2016, Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg suggested that such a scheme could be considered under Finkel’s review of Australia’s National Energy Market. He subsequently rejected this scenario, under pressure from Senator Cory Bernardi and Industry Minister Christopher Pyne.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE CHIEF SCIENTIST, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE

Mobile and corporate sales to help TPG beat margin squeeze

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 8-Dec-16

TPG Telecom executive chairman David Teoh told shareholders at the company’s AGM on 7 December 2016 that the long-term prospects for the group are very good. TPG is in the process of entering the mobile telephony market in Singapore. Teoh spoke about the benefits of a transition from the digital subscriber line service to the fibre to the building internet broadband connection in Australia, as the latter is more profitable.

CORPORATES
TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM, NBN CO LIMITED, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD

Rio chair’s confusion over pay

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Original article by James Chessell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 8-Dec-16

Rio Tinto chairman Jan du Plessis has told a UK parliamentary committee of the growing complexity of the remuneration packages of British executives. He noted in particular the trend to measure executives’ performance by an increasing number of performance criteria. Du Plessis also conceded that he has trouble understanding some aspects of Rio Tinto’s remuneration policy, and said companies must do more to justify the high salaries paid to their executives.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, SABMILLER PLC, ANHEUSER-BUSCH INBEV SA/NV, HIGH PAY CENTRE, GREAT BRITAIN. OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER

Analysts cool on Origin’s petroleum plan

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 8-Dec-16

Ben Wilson of RBC Capital Markets has questioned Origin Energy’s lack of information regarding the proposal to spin off its conventional oil and gas assets. However, he notes that the partial demerger will reduce Origin’s debt and the company’s complexity, and adds that Origin could eventually also offload its stake in the Australia Pacific LNG project. Mark Samter of Credit Suisse says the demerger has merits, but he believes that Origin should have pursued a trade sale rather than an IPO.

CORPORATES
ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, AUSTRALIA PACIFIC LNG LIMITED, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BEACH ENERGY LIMITED – ASX BPT, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

Budget turmoil as GDP slumps

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Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 8-Dec-16

Treasurer Scott Morrison has attributed the larger-than-forecast downturn in GDP growth in the September 2016 quarter to a sustained decline in business investment over the last three years. The national accounts data shows that GDP growth contracted by 0.5 per cent during the period, while annual growth fell from 3.1 per cent in the June quarter to just 1.8 per cent. Morrison has downplayed the potential for a recession, while Westpac’s Bill Evans argues that a number of one-off factors contributed to the poor economic performance, including the federal election.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, S&P GLOBAL RATINGS

Blogger Freedman puts Mamamia up for sale

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Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian – Page: 21 : 8-Dec-16

KPMG has been commissioned to find a buyer for the Mamamia Women’s Network, with a deal likely to be concluded in early 2017. The company was founded by former magazine editor Mia Freedman and is best known for publishing the Mamamia.com.au blog. Freedman opted to sell the business after being approached about a potential deal by an offshore party.

CORPORATES
MAMAMIA.COM.AU PTY LTD, MAMAMIA WOMEN’S NETWORK, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BAUER MEDIA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Alarm as economic growth stalls

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 19 & 32 : 8-Dec-16

The Australian economy expanded by just 1.8 per cent in the year to September 2016. The Federal Government’s upcoming mid-year Budget update is likely to include a downgraded 2016 economic growth forecast, which was tipped to be 3.25 per cent in the Budget in May. However, Paul Bloxham of HSBC notes that GDP has not fallen for two consecutive quarters since 1991. Nevertheless, the national accounts for the September quarter may strengthen the case for further official interest rate cuts.

CORPORATES
HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, LEHMAN BROTHERS INCORPORATED, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

Capex still in free fall, but signs of life emerge

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 32 : 8-Dec-16

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that mining companies reduced their investment in new projects by 10.6 per cent in the September 2016 quarter. The sector’s capital expenditure has fallen for 14 consecutive quarters. However, this may lead to an undersupply of such commodities, which in turn could prompt renewed capex. There are already indications of an upturn in greenfields exploration and IPO activity in the minerals sector.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, ASSOCIATION OF MINING AND EXPLORATION COMPANIES, METALICITY LIMTED – ASX MCT, PANORAMIC RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX PAN, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

Ad market is ‘dysfunctional’

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Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian – Page: 21 : 8-Dec-16

News Corporation CEO Robert Thomson has told the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference that advertisers and ad agencies should reassess the state of the ad market. He noted that it has become dysfunctional in the wake of recent issues such as the use of inaccurate online ad measurement data and fake news stories being published on websites. Thomson also noted that the circulation revenue of some of its flagship newspapers has risen, despite falling ad revenue.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, UBS AG, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, REALTOR.COM