Author: roymorgansocial

Ownership reforms still up for debate

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 15-Aug-16

Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has indicated that proposed cross-media ownership reforms will be a priority for the Federal Government when Parliament resumes. However, media industry executives have criticised the Opposition’s push for the reforms to be subject to further review, while Ten Network CEO Paul Anderson and Nine Entertainment Company CEO Hugh Marks argue that broadcasting licence fees must be included in the reform process.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, AUSTRALIAN SUBSCRIPTION TELEVISION AND RADIO ASSOCIATION (ASTRA) INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, ONE NATION PARTY, NICK XENOPHON TEAM

Australia’s 7,853,418 Olympians

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Aug-16

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that 5,590,000 Australians aged 14+ (29 per cent) are regular participants in sports played in the 2016 Olympic Games, as are 2,263,000 children aged 6-13 (91 per cent). Swimming is the most common Olympic sport done regularly by Australians in both age groups: just over two million aged 14+ and 1.2 million aged 6-13. Among adults, other Olympic sports with high numbers of regular participants include Cycling (1,568,000), Golf (632,000), Soccer (561,000), Tennis (484,000) and Marathons/Running (380,000). Among kids, participation is highest in Soccer (1,216,000), Bicycling (909,000), Athletics/Track and field (812,000) and Basketball (781,000).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED

Bankers, lawyers to get busy as merger deals poised to pick up

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 12-Aug-16

Data from Dealogic shows that the value of announced mergers and acquisitions deals in Australia in the year-to-date has fallen to an 11-year low of $US36.3bn. However, the Real Flow Predictor report from Intralinks suggests that there will be an upturn in announced M&As in the final quarter of 2016. Karen Evans-Cullen of law firm Clayton Utz is also upbeat about the outlook for M&A activity.

CORPORATES
DEALOGIC (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, INTRALINKS PTY LTD, CLAYTON UTZ, AUSGRID PTY LTD, ASCIANO LIMITED – ASX AIO, BROOKFIELD INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERS LP, QUBE PROPERTY GROUP PTY LTD, THE GOOD GUYS, NATURE’S CARE, PORT OF MELBOURNE, STATE GRID CORPORATION OF CHINA, CHEUNG KONG INFRASTRUCTURE HOLDINGS LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Major builder faces ban

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 12-Aug-16

The Federal Circuit Court has imposed $A25,575 in penalties on Hutchinson Builders. The court found that the company did not want to award a contract to a business whose enterprise agreement lacked approval from the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union. The case is now being considered by Fair Work Building & Construction, and Hutchinson Builders may be subject to other sanctions.

CORPORATES
FAIR WORK BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION, HUTCHINSON BUILDERS, FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA

Why Woolworths and Telstra are a perfect match (and so are Coles and Optus)

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Aug-16

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that 47 per cent of Australian grocery buyers aged 14+ who mainly shop at Woolworth are Telstra mobile phone customers, compared with 39 per cent of Coles’ main shoppers. Meanwhile, 22 per cent of Coles’ main shoppers are Optus mobile phone customers, compared with 19 per cent of Woolworths’ main shoppers. The survey, which was carried out in the year to March 2016, also shows that Woolworths is more commonly associated with Quality and Coles with Price – just as Telstra and Optus are.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD

Man who tipped iron ore upturn sees it going on

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Original article by Jasmine Ng
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 22 : 12-Aug-16

The iron ore price has averaged around $US53 per tonne so far in 2016. Prestige Economics president Jason Schenker has forecast that the price of the steel input will average $US55 per tonne for the full calendar year. He also expects it to trade at around $US60 per tonne in the second half, while he says it will rise to $US62 in 2017 and $US72 in 2018. Schenker had forecast in October 2015 that the iron ore price would rebound, citing factors such as economic stimulus measures in China.

CORPORATES
PRESTIGE ECONOMICS LLC, ABN AMRO BANK NV, METAL BULLETIN LIMITED, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, VALE SA

Ausgrid HK bidder asks, ‘why us?’

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Lisa Murray
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 12-Aug-16

Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison’s preliminary decision to block bids by Hong Kong’s Cheung Kong Infrastructure and China’s State Grid for a 50.4 per cent stake in Ausgrid is likely to antagonise the Chinese Government. Morrison justified his decision by citing national security concerns. Former ambassador to China Geoff Raby has spoken about new populism in Australia while Bob Carr, the former premier of New South Wales and now director of the Australia-China Relations Institute, has accused the Federal Government of xenophobia.

CORPORATES
AUSGRID PTY LTD, STATE GRID CORPORATION OF CHINA, CHEUNG KONG INFRASTRUCTURE HOLDINGS LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, NEW SOUTH WALES. THE TREASURY, ONE NATION PARTY, KATTER’S AUSTRALIAN PARTY, PORT OF DARWIN, AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SYDNEY. AUSTRALIA-CHINA RELATIONS INSTITUTE

Census battle to convince millions

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Original article by Primrose Riordan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 12-Aug-16

The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ census website was accessible again on 11 August 2016, after being shut down for 40 hours due to a denial of service attack. It is estimated that about 2.3 million households have completed the census form to date, but the Federal Government requires at least 10 million households to do so in order for the census to be "statistically significant". Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has blamed the ABS and IT giant IBM for the census website’s failure.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, IBM AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

SMSFs head for managed funds in volatile times

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Original article by Sally Patten
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 12-Aug-16

A survey by Investment Trends and Vanguard shows that 17 per cent of Australia’s self-managed superannuation funds expect to increase their exposure to managed funds in the next 12 months, compared with about 14 per cent in 2015. Meanwhile, the proportion of SMSF trustees who intend to invest in blue-chip stocks has fallen from 65 per cent to 55 per cent. There has also been a decline in investment expectations regarding exchanged traded funds and high-yield shares.

CORPORATES
INVESTMENT TRENDS PTY LTD, VANGUARD INVESTMENTS AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Peabody to trim Australian coal output

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 12-Aug-16

Peabody Energy Corporation has flagged the potential sale of non-core coal assets in Australia, the US and Canada as part of its turnaround strategy. The group, which filed for bankruptcy protection in April 2016, has also advised that its annual coking coal output in Australia is likely to fall to seven million tonnes in 2021, compared with expectations of 15 million tonnes in 2016. However, thermal coal production is expected to be maintained at around current levels for the next five years.

CORPORATES
PEABODY ENERGY CORPORATION, PEABODY ENERGY AUSTRALIA COAL PTY LTD, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD