Seven ready to stop the nation with social media

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 25 : 24-Oct-16

Seven West Media’s coverage of the 2015 Melbourne Cup was streamed live via its Plus7 app some 340,000 times during the race itself and 488,000 times over the course of the day. Seven expects to attract a larger live streaming audience for the 2016 Melbourne Cup, and the broadcaster will offer exclusive live video content via Facebook, including interviews and behind-the-scenes stories. Seven will not stream the race live on Facebook, although it will provide content for Twitter’s live coverage of the Cup.

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, THE EMIRATES MELBOURNE CUP, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, TWITTER INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED MOTOR INSURERS LIMITED, SCHWEPPES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TAB

Iron ore price set for big fall by mid-2017

Original article by Brian Robins
The Age – Page: 23 : 21-Oct-16

Iron ore is currently trading at around $US55 per tonne, but Fortescue Metals Group CEO Nev Power says the price is likely to fall in 2017 due to a looming increase in global supply. Power says the market has priced in the additional supply from the Roy Hill mine in Western Australia and the commencement of production at Vale’s S11D project. This will offset an expected downturn in iron ore production in China.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, ROY HILL HOLDINGS PTY LTD, VALE SA, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP

Fewer home loans a good thing: APRA

Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 21-Oct-16

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority chairman Wayne Byres has told a Senate estimates committee that lending standards in the housing finance sector have improved over the last year. He added that APRA’s move to impose stricter lending standards on the industry has also resulted in slower growth in lending to property investors and to marginal borrowers. Treasury secretary John Fraser previously expressed concern about the cost of housing in Australia when he fronted the committee.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Record LNG output limits Woodside pain

Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 24 : 21-Oct-16

Oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum has reported that it produced 25.2 million barrels of oil equivalent during the September 2016 quarter, which is 13.5 per cent higher than the June quarter. Sales revenue rose by 19.8 per cent to $US988m ($A1.29bn), although this was nine per cent lower year-on-year. Woodside has lifted its full-year production guidance for 2016 to between 92 million and 95 million boe.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, CHEVRON CORPORATION

Super funds $16b swoop on Ausgrid

Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith, Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald, Geoff Winestock, Jenny Wiggins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 12 : 21-Oct-16

The New South Wales Government’s deal to sell a 50.4 per cent stake in Ausgrid to AustralianSuper and IFM Investors without undertaking a competitive auction process may come under scrutiny. Some observers believe that the Government could have gained a better price for the electric power distributor if other interested parties had been allowed to bid. The Government opted to accept the unsolicited $A16.189bn offer from the two superannuation groups. The fact that they are both Australian companies was seen to be attractive, as the deal did not need to be approved by the Foreign Investment Review Board.

CORPORATES
AUSGRID PTY LTD, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, IFM INVESTORS PTY LTD, NEW SOUTH WALES. THE TREASURY, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, STATE GRID CORPORATION OF CHINA, CHEUNG KONG INFRASTRUCTURE HOLDINGS LIMITED, QIC LIMITED, HASTINGS FUNDS MANAGEMENT LIMITED, TRANSGRID, ENDEAVOUR ENERGY LIMITED, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS

Markets expect cool response to downgrade

Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 6 : 21-Oct-16

Borrowing costs for Australian banks and the state and federal governments have not increased as a result of S&P Global Ratings’ downgrading of the nation’s credit rating outlook to negative earlier in 2016. The loss of Australia’s "AAA" credit rating would also be unlikely to have an impact on borrowing costs, according to some financial market watchers. Treasurer Scott Morrison maintains that the Federal Government’s budget repair strategy is crucial to retaining the coveted triple-A credit rating. Australia also has a triple-A rating from Moody’s Investor Services and Fitch Ratings.

CORPORATES
S&P GLOBAL RATINGS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, FITCH RATINGS LIMITED, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Rio struggles to get Pilbara exports firing

Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 21 : 21-Oct-16

Rio Tinto has advised that its Pilbara iron ore shipments for calendar 2016 will be lower than previously forecast, at between 325 million and 330 million tonnes. Its iron ore output in the Pilbara rose by two per cent year-on-year to 83.2 million tonnes in the September quarter, although port and rail maintenance issues resulted in shipments falling by five per cent to 80.9 million tonnes. Rio Tinto has again reduced its full-year production guidance for copper, following a four per cent decline in output during the quarter.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, MORGANS FINANCIAL LIMITED, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP

Ten shares take hit on full-year loss

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 21-Oct-16

Ten Network has posted a 2015-16 loss of $A156.8m, compared with a $A312.2m loss previously. The latest result was primarily due to a $A135.2m write-down in the value of its TV licence. Ten’s revenue of $A689.5m was 5.4 per cent higher than previously. CEO Paul Anderson argues that subscription video-on-demand providers should be subject to the same rules as traditional broadcasters, noting that the latter make a significant contribution to the economy.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, MULTI CHANNEL NETWORK PTY LTD

FMG boosts exports as big iron falls short

Original article by Tess Ingram, Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 & 24 : 21-Oct-16

Fortescue Metals Group has reported that its iron ore shipments totalled 43.8 million tonnes during the September 2016 quarter. CEO Nev Power says the group ramped up production ahead of the cyclone season, but adds that it is maintaining its full-year guidance of between 165 million and 170 million tonnes. Fortescue reduced its "C1" costs by five per cent during the quarter, to $US13.55 per tonne. The group aims to reduce this to between $US12 and $US13 during 2016-17.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, VALE SA, GRANGE RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX GRR, SHAW AND PARTNERS LIMITED, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, MORGANS FINANCIAL LIMITED

How banks and resources could move in sync

Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 31 : 21-Oct-16

The S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index has significantly outperformed the S&P/ASX 200 Banks Index in 2016, with a gain of 29 per cent compared with the latter’s eight per cent fall. Deutsche Bank notes that with the exception of the last four years, the two sectors have both regularly outperformed the broader sharemarket over the last 25 years. In addition, they have often outperformed in tandem. Tim Baker of Deutsche argues that the divergence of the two indices over the last few years suggests that they could be set for a new period of joint outperformance.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 MATERIALS INDEX, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 BANKS INDEX, DEUTSCHE BANK AG