Author: roymorgansocial

Even lower interest rates keep dividends attractive

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Original article by Vanessa Desloires
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 20-May-16

Tim Baker of Deutsche Bank expects the high dividend yields of Australian equities to remain attractive to investors, amid historically low interest rates and bond yields. He notes that Australian dividend yields have averaged about five per cent over the long-term, which is significantly higher than the yield on international shares. He adds that Australian superannuation funds may reduce their exposure to cash products in favour of shares, while banks’ high yields may attract both local and offshore investors.

CORPORATES
DEUTSCHE BANK AG, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, AUSTRALIA. FUTURE FUND MANAGEMENT AGENCY, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, ORICA LIMITED – ASX ORI, CSR LIMITED – ASX CSR, HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX HVN, STOCKLAND – ASX SGP, PACT GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX PGH, ALUMINA LIMITED – ASX AWC, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, SYDNEY AIRPORT – ASX SYD, APA GROUP – ASX APA, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN

Master Builders slams pay deal with CFMEU

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 19-May-16

Employees of some building industry contractors in Victoria will receive an annual pay rise of five per cent after securing a deal with the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union. Master Builders has expressed concern about the above-inflation wage rise and signalled that it is unlikely to endorse the deal. Some industry players have suggested that the contractors agreed to the deal as they feared facing even more demands from the CFMEU if the Australian Labor Party wins the federal election.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, THE MASTER BUILDERS ASSOCIATION OF VICTORIA, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, AUSTANNERS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, FAIR WORK BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Powering up: using the same supplier for electricity and gas

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

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that 92 per cent of Australians aged 14+ who live in households connected to ActewAGL electricity also use the utility for gas. Meanwhile, 85.4 per cent of Alinta Energy customers use it for both gas and electricity, followed by AGL Energy (84.3 per cent) and Simply Energy (82.5 per cent). The survey, which was carried out in the year to March 2016, also shows that capital city dwellers (70.0 per cent) are far more likely than regional residents (52.8 per cent) to live in households with both electricity and gas connected to the same supplier. However, a considerably lower proportion of people living in regional areas have a gas connection.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, ACTEWAGL, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, SIMPLY ENERGY, RED ENERGY PTY LTD

Flat outlook for Coca-Cola Amatil puts doubt on growth

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 & 26 : 19-May-16

Shares in Coca-Cola Amatil closed $A0.04 lower at $A8.99 on 18 May 2016, following the group’s annual meeting. CEO Alison Watkins is aiming for earnings per share growth of five per cent in the near-term, but says the bottler may not necessarily meet this target in 2016. However, she expects the group to achieve earnings growth in the year to December. Analysts have forecast underlying profit growth of 3.6 per cent and growth in sales of 2.7 per cent for 2016.

CORPORATES
COCA-COLA AMATIL LIMITED – ASX CCL, ARNHEM INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, PEPSICO AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SCHWEPPES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Low wage growth sparks bleak outlook

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Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 7 : 19-May-16

The Department of the Treasury will release its pre-election economic and fiscal outlook on 20 May 2016. It is not expected to make any significant changes to the forecasts in the May 2016 Budget, although the outlook report is likely to highlight the risks to the Budget if the forecasts are not met. Slowing wages growth is looming as a key risk for the Budget, which has forecast wages growth of 2.25 per cent in 2015-16 and 2.5 per cent in 2016-17. Wages grew by just 2.1 per cent over the last year.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Labor to end doctors’ pay freeze

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 19-May-16

The Australian Labor Party intends to scrap the freeze on the Medicare rebate for visits to a GP if it wins the federal election. The rebate was slated to remain at around $A38 until 2020, but Labor proposes to abolish it the start of 2017. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has indicated that this policy will be partially funded by not proceeding with some of the company tax cuts that were outlined in the Federal Government’s May 2016 Budget.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HUMAN SERVICES. MEDICARE AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION LIMITED, THE ROYAL AUSTRALIAN COLLEGE OF GENERAL PRACTITIONERS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Coalition to beef up Fair Work

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Original article by Adele Ferguson, Sarah Danckert
The Age – Page: 2 : 19-May-16

The Australian Government will strengthen the powers of the Fair Work Ombudsman if it wins the 2016 election. It will also significantly increase the financial penalties for employs who underpay their staff. The FWO will also receive a $A20m increase in funding, while a Migrant Worker Taskforce will be established within the FWO in the wake of the 7-Eleven wage exploitation scandal. The taskforce will be led by Professor Allan Fels, who headed 7-Eleven’s now-defunct independent compensation panel.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, 7-ELEVEN STORES PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE

Wage growth slumps to 18-year low

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Original article by Mark Mulligan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 19-May-16

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that wages grew by just 0.4 per cent in the March 2016 quarter, and 2.1 per cent in the last year. Economists had forecast wages growth of 0.5 per cent and 2.2 per cent respectively. David Bassanese of BetaShares says the low wages growth contributed to the Reserve Bank’s decision to reduce the cash rate in May, adding that further easing of monetary policy is likely.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, BETASHARES CAPITAL LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

Policy dividing state’s industry

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 6 : 19-May-16

Energy Quest’s Graeme Bethune says Western Australia’s requirement that 15 per cent of LNG production must be reserved for domestic use does not appear to have had much impact on gas prices in the state. Critics of the policy include the state’s Economic Regulation Authority, which concluded in 2014 that it deters investment in the gas industry. However, the DomGas alliance argues that there has been a sharp rise in investment since the policy was introduced in 2006.

CORPORATES
ENERGYQUEST PTY LTD, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. ECONOMIC REGULATION AUTHORITY, DOMGAS ALLIANCE, CHEVRON CORPORATION, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, SINO IRON PTY LTD

Building booms but salaries flatline

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 19-May-16

Official data shows that wages in the construction industry grew by 1.6 per cent in March 2016, which is the same rate of growth as February. Master Builders Australia’s Wilhelm Harnisch attributes the low growth in wages across the sector to a downturn in wages in mining construction following the end of the resources boom. The strong housing construction market in New South Wales and Victoria resulted in both states recording above-average rises in construction wages.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY FORUM