Author: roymorgansocial

Australian real unemployment jumps to 10.5% (up 0.9%) in July during post-election uncertainty

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 18-Aug-16

A Roy Morgan Research survey on Australia’s labour market has found that the real unemployment rate rose by 0.9 per cent to 10.5 per cent in July 2016. Some 1.365 million Australians (up 268,000 since July 2015) are now unemployed. Meanwhile, the number of people in the workforce has risen to 13,007,000 (up 334,000 since July 2015), and 11,642,000 Australians are employed (up 66,000 in the last 12 months). The number of people who are under-employed has risen by 194,000 in the last 12 months to 1,171,000 (9.0 per cent of the workforce). The official unemployment rate was 5.8 per cent in June 2016.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence bounces back – up 2.9pts to 117.6

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 17-Aug-16

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence has risen by 2.5 per cent to 117.6 in the week ending 15 August 2016, largely offsetting the decline over the previous week. Sentiment is now 4.3 per cent above its long-run average. The improvement in confidence was driven by a sharp rebound in consumers’ views of the economic outlook. Households’ views of the economic outlook in the next 12 months rose by 9.6 per cent, while consumers’ views of their future finances rose by 1.7 per cent.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Streaming taking its toll on online music purchases

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 17-Aug-16

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that just 4.6 per cent of Australians aged 14+ paid to download music and 1.1 per cent purchased CDs online in any given four-week period in the year to March 2016. This compares with 6.1 per cent and 2.1 per cent respectively in the year to March 2012. Meanwhile, the proportion of Australians who stream music online in an average four weeks has risen from 10.3 per cent in 2012 to 19.7 per cent in 2016. Likewise, the proportion of Australians using streaming radio has risen from 6.1 per cent to 9.6 per cent.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED

Beijing to Canberra: expect investments to be scaled back

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Glenda Korporaal, Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 17-Aug-16

China’s embassy in Australia has expressed concern that the Federal Government’s decision to block Chinese bids for Ausgrid and S Kidman & Company may signal a shift toward protectionism in Australia. The embassy says the rulings may deter Chinese companies from investing in Australia. The Government cited national security concerns as the reason for its preliminary decision to block the Ausgrid bids of State Grid and Cheung Kong Infrastructure.

CORPORATES
AUSGRID PTY LTD, S KIDMAN AND COMPANY PTY LTD, STATE GRID CORPORATION OF CHINA, CHEUNG KONG INFRASTRUCTURE HOLDINGS LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, TRANSGRID, ELECTRANET SA, SHANGHAI PENGXIN GROUP COMPANY LIMITED, OZ MINERALS LIMITED – ASX OZL, CHINA MINMETALS CORPORATION

Big four the cheapest in 20 years, says Regal

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 17-Aug-16

Regal Funds Management’s Julian Babarczy says Australia’s four major banks offer good value at present, noting that their valuations are at or near their lowest in the last two decades. Meanwhile, Babarczy says the banks’ capital ratios and credit quality are sufficient at present so they do not need to undertake capital raisings. The proceeds of the ANZ Bank’s $A1bn hybrid securities issuance will be treated as additional tier-1 capital rather than common equity tier-1 capital.

CORPORATES
REGAL FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NIKKO ASSET MANAGEMENT GROUP

Santos faces first loss in 20 years

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 24 : 17-Aug-16

Oil and gas producer Santos is poised to post a 2016 interim loss of nearly $US1bn, although opinion is divided regarding its underlying result. Macquarie Group anticipates an underlying profit of $US40m, but Citigroup and UBS have forecast a loss of $US80m and $US20m respectively. Santos’s total impairment charges over the last three years now exceed $US8bn, including the recent $US1.5bn pre-tax write-down of its stake in the Gladstone LNG project.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Casual hours to count in redundancy

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Anna Patty
The Age – Page: 23 : 17-Aug-16

The full bench of the Fair Work Commission has ruled that permanent employees who were initially hired as casual staff should have the latter period of service recognised in a termination payout. The FWC had ruled earlier in 2016 that redundancy payments at engineering and shipbuilding firm Forgacs should be based only on an employee’s period of permanent employment. However, the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union has succeeded in having the ruling overturned on appeal.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, FORGACS ENGINEERING PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING WORKERS’ UNION, ASC PTY LTD

Domino’s still hungry for more

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 23 : 17-Aug-16

Australian-listed Domino’s Pizza Enterprises has posted a 2015-16 net profit of $A82.43m, which is 28.7 per cent higher than previously. The fast-food chain’s revenue rose by 32.43 per cent to $A930.22m, while its underlying profit increased by 43.2 per cent to $A92m. CEO Don Meij notes that Domino’s is increasing its market share in categories beyond its core pizza business, such as hamburgers. Investors will receive a full-year dividend of $A0.735 per share.

CORPORATES
DOMINO’S PIZZA ENTERPRISES LIMITED – ASX DMP, PIZZA SPRINT, JOEY’S PIZZA, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, OPHIR ASSET MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

Worst is over for BHP after $8.2bn loss

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 21 & 24 : 17-Aug-16

BHP Billiton CEO Andrew Mackenzie is upbeat about the resources group’s outlook in 2016-17, after it posted a loss of $US6.39bn ($A8.27bn) for 2015-16. The result was marred by factors such as impairment charges associated with its US shale assets, lower commodity prices and the tailings dam disaster at the Samarco iron ore joint venture. BHP’s underlying profit fell from $US6.4bn to $US1.215bn, while the full-year dividend payout has fallen from $US1.24 per share to just $A0.30.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, SAMARCO MINERACAO SA, ABERDEEN ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED

PM’s $6.5b budget challenge to Labor comes with AAA warning

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 17-Aug-16

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will call for bipartisan political support for the Coalition’s economic agenda in a Committee for Economic Development of Australia speech on 17 August 2016. Turnbull will also reveal plans to present a single bill to Parliament which will include 21 separate initiatives aimed at reducing government spending by $A6.49bn in total. He will stress the need for action in order to protect Australia’s coveted "AAA" credit rating. The Australian Labor Party is expected to support some of the measures.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, COMMITTEE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN RENEWABLE ENERGY AGENCY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION