Author: roymorgansocial

Hair goals: Alberto and Head & Shoulders jostling for shampoo supremacy

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 4-Nov-16

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that nearly three-quarters of the population buy shampoo in an average six months, with two very different brands currently vying for best-seller status: Alberto and Head & Shoulders. In the year to June 2016, 73.9% of Australians (14.5 million people) purchased shampoo at least once in an average six months. Some 14.5% of them purchased Alberto shampoo, just ahead of the 14.1% who bought Head & Shoulders. This represents a healthy year-on-year increase for Alberto (up from 12.8%), allowing it to overtake Head & Shoulders (down from 14.5%). Pantene (which, like Head & Shoulders, is part of the Proctor & Gamble stable) is third-most popular shampoo brand, purchased by 12.5% of shampoo buyers in an average six months. Palmolive (11.7%) and Tresemmé (11.0%) complete the top five.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, ALBERTO CULVER AUSTRALASIA, PROCTER AND GAMBLE COMPANY, TRESEMME AUSTRALIA, GARNIER FRUCTIS, SCHWARZKOPF PTY LTD

Clinton campaign boss paid by Adani-fight foundation

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Original article by Dennis Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 8 : 3-Nov-16

Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign chairman John Podesta was paid $US7,000 a month by the Sandler Foundation, starting from February 2016. Documents released by WikiLeaks show that Podesta received the payments for his advice on Adani’s coal project in Queensland. The leaked information validates the Australian Government’s claims that foreign-funded groups were involved in the protest against the Adani project.

CORPORATES
ADANI MINING PTY LTD, GREENPEACE, SANDLER FOUNDATION, WIKILEAKS, GETUP LIMITED, LIBERAL-NATIONAL PARTY OF QUEENSLAND

Pumpkin Patch’s demise: a sign of the times

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 3-Nov-16

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that 128,000 Australians aged 14+ made at least one purchase at children’s clothing chain Pumpkin Patch in an average four weeks during the year to June 2016, compared with 220,000 in the year to June 2014. Its customer numbers had consistently eclipsed those shopping at Cotton On Kids until the last year, when 133,000 Australians shopped at Cotton On Kids in an average four weeks. Meanwhile, the number of people shopping for children’s clothes at Kmart in an average four weeks has risen from 559,000 to 712,000 since 2014. Pumpkin Patch is not the only kids’-wear retailer to have lost customers in the past few years: Target, Big W and Best & Less have all lost ground.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, PUMPKIN PATCH (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, COTTON ON KIDS PTY LTD, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TARGET AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BIG W DISCOUNT STORES, BEST AND LESS PTY LTD, HENNES OCH MAURITZ AB, ZARA, UNIQLO AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD

Global energy expert flags nation’s grid, gas supply as keys to review

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 3-Nov-16

The International Energy Agency has agreed to provide its opinion on Australia’s power generation policy to the Finkel review of energy security. Fatih Birol, the head of the agency, said many countries have problems with intermittent supply of power from renewable sources but none of them experienced an event on the scale of the state-wide blackout which occurred in South Australia in September 2016.

CORPORATES
INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS

Reform plans in peril as second senator in strife

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Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 3-Nov-16

The Australian Government has become even more reliant on the support of Senate crossbenchers to pass its industrial relations bills. It will need eight crossbenchers to vote for the bills, with One Nation’s Rod Culleton advising that he will not vote in the upper house until uncertainty regarding the validity of his election is resolved. The issue will be referred to the High Court, which will also be asked to determine whether the election of Family First’s Bob Day was constitutionally valid. Day has resigned from the Senate, but the High Court’s ruling could determine with the party retains his seat.

CORPORATES
FAMILY FIRM INSTITUTE, ONE NATION PARTY, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, NICK XENOPHON TEAM

RBA likely to cut again but not in a hurry

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Original article by Jessica Sier
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 35 : 3-Nov-16

Financial markets now consider that there is an eight per cent chance that the Reserve Bank of Australia will reduce official interest rates in December 2016. However, there is now seen to be a 36 per cent change that rates will be cut by May 2017. Michael Blythe of the Commonwealth Bank anticipates another rate cut during the June quarter, while Paul Dales of Capital Economics says there is potential for the next change in monetary policy to be an increase in the cash rate.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, CAPITAL ECONOMICS LIMITED

Coal, iron ore budget windfall

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 19 & 32 : 3-Nov-16

The rally in the price of iron ore, coking coal and thermal coal is expected to boost the 2016-17 revenue of the Federal Government and mining states. It is estimated that tax revenue and mining royalties could be around $A12bn higher than the Federal Government and its counterparts in Western Australia, New South Wales and Queensland had forecast. However, this will depend on whether the prices of Australia’s key export commodities remain at around current levels. Macquarie Group expects coal prices to eventually fall, but stresses that the timing of this will depend on Chinese Government policy.

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, STANDARD AND POOR’S CORPORATION, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, GLENCORE PLC

Heads of ABC at odds on pay deal

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 3-Nov-16

The ABC’s new enterprises bargaining agreement has come under scrutiny, with some executives questioning whether the public broadcaster is required to comply with the Federal Government’s workplace bargaining policy. ABC chairman Jim Spigelman has told Australian Public Service Commissioner John Lloyd that the broadcaster’s board does not believe that it is required by law to comply with this policy. However, ABC MD Michelle Guthrie told Employment Minister Michaelia Cash in August that the EBA negotiations comply with government policy.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS

Rio Tinto moves jobs to Singapore

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Original article by Tess Ingram, Matthew Stevens
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 3-Nov-16

Rio Tinto plans to shift more non-operational roles from Australia to Singapore, as part of a strategy to streamline its global organisational structure. The resources giant plans to centralise roles such as market analysis and economics in Singapore, where it currently boasts about 300 employees. Rio Tinto has also relocated a number of marketing roles in Perth to Singapore during 2016.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Fortescue shares slide on Hunan Valin bonds report

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Original article by Tess Ingram
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 3-Nov-16

Bloomberg has reported that China-based Hunan Valin Group is seeking buyers for up to $US369m worth of Fortescue Metals Group’s convertible bonds. The bonds, which are slated to mature in five years, can be converted into some 65 million shares in the pure-play iron ore producer. Hunan Valin has a 14.2 per cent stake in Fortescue, whose shares closed 4.7 per cent lower at $A5.22 on 2 November 2016.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, HUNAN VALIN IRON AND STEEL GROUP COMPANY LIMITED, BLOOMBERG LP, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, HARBINGER CAPITAL PARTNERS, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO