Author: roymorgansocial

‘Mediscare’ delivers poll boost for Labor

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 24-Jun-16

The Australian Labor Party believes that it could gain more seats than expected in the 2016 federal election due to concerns about the privatisation of Medicare under a Coalition government. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull sought to deflect attention from Medicare on 23 June by continuing to warn of an influx of asylum seekers if Labor wins the election, while Opposition Leader Bill Shorten reiterated that Labor will protect weekend penalty rates.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HUMAN SERVICES. MEDICARE AUSTRALIA, NICK XENOPHON TEAM, RETAIL TRADERS ASSOCIATION, VICTORIA. COUNTRY FIRE AUTHORITY, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Fears 7-Eleven workers could be left in cold

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Original article by Anna Patty
The Age – Page: 21 : 23-Jun-16

A 7-Eleven store in Brisbane has been ordered to pay a penalty of more than $A400,000 for worker exploitation. An investigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman revealed that 12 employees were underpaid more than $A82,000. Maurice Blackburn’s Brisbane employment principal Giri Sivaraman has warned that the owner of the store could opt for bankruptcy, depriving the affected workers of their compensation.

CORPORATES
7-ELEVEN STORES PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, MAURICE BLACKBURN PTY LTD

Consumer satisfaction with big four banks down marginally in May

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 22-Jun-16

A Roy Morgan Research Single Source survey has found that the overall satisfaction level of the personal customers of Australia’s four major banks fell to 80.1 per cent in the six months to May 2016, compared with 80.2 per cent in April. The Commonwealth Bank continued to have the highest customer satisfaction rating of the four major banks, unchanged at 81.7 per cent, although it has fallen by 0.8 per cent over the last 12 months. Meanwhile, many smaller banks had higher customer satisfaction ratings than the "big four" in May, with Teachers Mutual boasting a satisfaction rating of 94.5 per cent.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, TEACHERS MUTUAL BANK LIMITED, HERITAGE BANK LIMITED – ASX HBS, BANK AUSTRALIA, BEYOND BANK AUSTRALIA, ING DIRECT, BENDIGO BANK, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ

CFA deal pushed back until after poll result

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Original article by Lucille Keen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 23-Jun-16

The board of Victoria’s Country Fire Authority (CFA) has decided to delay the implementation of the United Firefighters Union’s enterprise agreement until 8 July 2016. The State Government insists that the CFA board must accept the agreement. Volunteer firefighters have raised objections to a number of provisions in the agreement. Federal Employment Minister Michaelia Cash said the Coalition will prevent the implementation of the deal if it is re-elected.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. COUNTRY FIRE AUTHORITY, UNITED FIREFIGHTERS’ UNION OF AUSTRALIA, SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Gearing proposal won’t hit renters

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 36 : 23-Jun-16

Research suggests that the Australian Labor Party’s proposal to impose restrictions on negative gearing would have limited impact on rents. A study conducted by SQM Research suggests that rents would remain largely unchanged for the next few years, due to extra supply. SQM Research MD Louis Christopher calculated that the proposed policy would result in a rise of 1.2 percentage points in average rental yields. An adjustment of either rents rising or prices falling would happen only after four years of the new rules being in operation.

CORPORATES
SQM RESEARCH PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Labor preferences agreement splits conservatives

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Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 6 : 23-Jun-16

The Liberal Democratic Party has secured a preferences deal with the Australian Labor Party in a number of marginal seats that are currently held by the Coalition. The LDP’s Senator David Leyonhjelm says the Liberal Party has not directed preferences to him, despite the fact that he voted with the Coalition more than any other crossbencher during the last Parliament. Meanwhile, the Family First Party is directing its preferences to the Coalition in all of the seats in which it has a candidate.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, FAMILY FIRST PARTY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NICK XENOPHON TEAM, CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY, SHOOTERS, FISHERS AND FARMERS PARTY

Chinese deal with Vale can cut BHP both ways

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 23-Jun-16

A Bloomberg report has suggested that Vale could seek to raise up to $US7bn by selling a minority stake in its iron ore assets to Asian investors, most likely from China. On one hand, BHP Billiton would welcome such a deal, as its Samarco iron ore joint venture with Vale must renegotiate US3.8bn worth of debt, while Vale’s own debt pile totals $US23bn. On the other hand, Vale’s strategic investor may have a vested interest in trying to push the iron ore price down, particularly if they are also a buyer of iron ore.

CORPORATES
VALE SA, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, SAMARCO MINERACAO SA, BLOOMBERG LP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, ALUMINIUM CORPORATION OF CHINA LIMITED

BHP gets shale oil wells ready after price rises

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Original article by Barry FitzGerald
The Australian – Page: 21 : 23-Jun-16

BHP Billiton CEO Andrew Mackenzie has indicated that the group will commence production at some of its drilled but uncompleted shale oil wells in the US, following an upturn in the crude oil price. It is now trading at around $US50 per barrel, having reached a low of $US26 a barrel in February 2016. Mackenzie has also reiterated that BHP’s preference is to pursue growth via its existing assets rather than acquisitions.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Gordon positions to increase Ten holding

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 23-Jun-16

Cross-ownership laws prevent Bruce Gordon from increasing his 14.6 per cent stake in the Ten Network to more than 15 per cent. However, the WIN Corporation owner could potentially lift his stake in Ten by 2.5 per cent if media ownership laws are relaxed, after he secured a cash-settled share swap deal with Deutsche Bank. Gordon has previously entered a similar arrangement with the investment bank regarding Nine Entertainment Company.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, BIRKETU PTY LTD, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL

Rio Tinto spin-off not likely

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Original article by James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 & 22 : 23-Jun-16

Paul Gait of Alliance Bernstein estimates that Rio Tinto’s newly-created energy and minerals division could be worth $US5.8bn to $US9.2 billion if it was spun off. He says Rio’s restructuring could indicate that it is considering a demerger. The energy and minerals division will comprise assets such as coal, uranium and titanium projects, plus Rio’s iron ore mines in Canada. Peter O’Connor of Shaw & Partners has downplayed the prospects of a demerger, and suggests that Rio is more likely to sell its Queensland metallurgical coal mines in the near-term.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, ALLIANCEBERNSTEIN HOLDING LP, SHAW AND PARTNERS LIMITED, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, SOUTH32 LIMITED – ASX S32, ANGLO AMERICAN PLC, MACQUARIE SECURITIES PTY LTD, JP MORGAN AND COMPANY INCORPORATED, BARCLAYS BANK PLC