Author: roymorgansocial

Labor eyes tax hit on top earners

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 21-Apr-16

The Australian Government has ruled out extending the Budget deficit levy on high-income earners beyond 30 June 2017. However, the Opposition may consider retaining the levy on individuals whose annual taxable income exceeds $A180,000 if it wins the 2016 federal election. The levy is estimated to have raised about $A1.2bn each year since it was announced in the May 2014 Budget. Australian Greens Leader Richard Di ­Natale says the deficit levy should be permanent rather than temporary.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Turnbull puts trust in job-creation record

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 5 : 20-Apr-16

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has rejected suggestions that the 2016 election campaign has begun, stressing that he will not request the dissolution of Parliament until after the Budget is handed down on 3 May. Turnbull has also signalled that trust will be a key theme of the election, and highlighted the Coalition Government’s track record on job creation since it took office in 2013.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence Rebounds – up 3.8pts to 115.8

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Gary Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 19-Apr-16

The 3.8 points increase in Consumer Confidence to 115.8 today has been driven by improving sentiment towards the Australian economy, with 31% (up 3ppts) of Australians expecting "good times" for the Australian economy over the next 12 months and 34% (up 3ppts) of Australians expecting "good times" for the Australian economy over the next five years. In addition, a majority of Australians (53%, up 5ppts) say now is a "good time to buy" major household items. The increase is good news for the L-NP Government, however the latest Morgan Poll released yesterday shows the L-NP 50% (down 2.5%) cf. ALP 50% (up 2.5%) in mid-April and the Roy Morgan Government Confidence Rating has plunged to its lowest point since Malcolm Turnbull became Prime Minister – now at 99 (down 7pts). In addition, last week’s fall in the ABS unemployment rate sounds good but it is in fact misleading as the ABS consistently underestimates the real level of unemployment in the Australian economy – now at 11.0% (1,422,000) in March according to the latest Roy Morgan real unemployment estimates.

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

Foxtel hits pause on box with bugs

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Dominic White
The Age – Page: 25 : 20-Apr-16

Australian pay-TV group Foxtel has temporarily ceased marketing the IQ3 video recording device. The IQ3 has been plagued by technical issues since its launch in March 2015, and Foxtel expects to resolve all outstanding problems shortly. It has resumed marketing earlier versions of the device until the problems are resolved.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, FETCHTV PTY LTD

Macquarie tips $US48 iron ore

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Stephen Cauchi
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 35 : 20-Apr-16

The iron ore price is trading at around $US60 per tonne, but Macquarie Group does not expect the recent gains to be sustained. Macquarie forecasts that the price of the steel input will retreat to around $US52/tonne during the June and September 2016 quarters, before falling to $US48/tonne in the December quarter. Macquarie also expects the iron ore price to reach a low of $US45/tonne in 2017.

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Bottled water consumption booming

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 19-Apr-16

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that 27.1 per cent of Australians aged 14+ (or 5.3 million people) drank bottled water in any given seven days during the year to December 2015. This compares with 4.9 per cent in 2014. The survey also shows that Mount Franklin is consumed by nearly 40 per cent of all bottled-water drinkers in an average seven days, ahead of Coles Natural Spring Water (14 per cent) and Pump Pure Water (12.8 per cent). Meanwhile, a greater proportion of Australian women (29.7 per cent) than men (24.5 per cent) drink bottled water in an average seven days, while Australians under the age of 50 are markedly more likely than older Australians to drink bottled water.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, MOUNT FRANKLIN NATURAL, COLES GROUP LIMITED, PUMP PURE WATER, SA DES EAUX MINERALES D’EVIAN, COOL RIDGE, FIJI WATER, PEATS RIDGE WATER PTY LTD

Media reform could be delayed until after budget, federal vote

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 20-Apr-16

Federal Parliament is unlikely to sit again until 2 May 2016, ahead of the Australian Government’s Budget on 3 May. The Government is now expected to postpone proposed changes to cross-media ownership laws until after the double-dissolution election on 2 July, in order to focus on the Budget. Abolition of the "reach rule" and the "two-out-of-three rule" is still on the Government’s agenda, while the Ten Network has again called for broadcasting licence fees to be reduced in the Budget.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD

Banks, property still the top investment picks

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Simon Evans
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 20-Apr-16

The Australian sharemarket has been trading within a range of 4,900 to 5,200 points in recent months. However, VISIS Private Wealth’s Chris Smith argues that investors should be focusing on the outlook for the market in the next 3-5 years, rather than its short-term performance. Smith says the nation’s four major banks should achieve good returns over the longer-term, while he is also upbeat about the long-term outlook for the residential and commercial property markets.

CORPORATES
VISIS PRIVATE WEALTH, STEPHAN STRATEGIC, RMIT UNIVERSITY, 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

Robot train glitches hit Rio output

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Amanda Saunders
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 & 22 : 20-Apr-16

Rio Tinto has advised that its global iron ore shipments for the March 2016 quarter totalled 80.8 million tonnes. Shipments from the Pilbara region of Western Australia rose by 12 per cent year-on-year to 79.9 million tonnes. Meanwhile, Rio Tinto expects iron ore production in 2017 to be within the range of 330 million to 340 million tonnes, which represents a decline of up to 20 million tonnes. The lower guidance is said to be linked to problems with its Autohaul driverless trains project.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, DEUTSCHE BANK AG

Kidman ‘deal’ off election agenda

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Sue Neales
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 20-Apr-16

Shanghai Pengxin, Shanghai CRED Real Estate and Australian Rural Capital are poised to acquire the S. Kidman & Company rural property empire, comprising nine cattle stations and 180,000 head of cattle. However, federal Treasurer Scott Morrison will defer a decision on whether to approve the sale until late July 2016, to ensure that it does not become an election issue. The two Chinese groups will have an 80 per cent stake in the Kidman business.

CORPORATES
S KIDMAN AND COMPANY PTY LTD, SHANGHAI PENGXIN GROUP COMPANY LIMITED, SHANGHAI CRED REAL ESTATE STOCK COMPANY LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN RURAL CAPITAL LIMITED – ASX ARC, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, DAKANG AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION