Author: roymorgansocial

ASX cracks 5000 to hit three-week high

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Original article by Stephen Cauchi
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 32 : 23-Feb-16

The Australian sharemarket posted solid gains on 22 February 2016, with the S&P/ASX 200 adding one per cent to close at 5,001.2. The Commonwealth Bank advanced 1.1 per cent to end the session at $A74.24 and BHP Billiton was 3.4 per cent higher at $A17.18. Brambles rose by 8.5 per cent to finish at $A12 and NIB Holdings was up 7.3 per cent at $A3.52.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, BRAMBLES LIMITED – ASX BXB, NIB HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NHF, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, NEWCREST MINING LIMITED – ASX NCM, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, BLUESCOPE STEEL LIMITED – ASX BSL, APN OUTDOOR GROUP LIMITED – ASX APO, ARRIUM LIMITED – ASX ARI, MORGANS FINANCIAL LIMITED, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX ALL ORDINARIES INDEX, SHANGHAI COMPOSITE INDEX

National builds winning lead over Labour/Greens opposition in New Zealand following TPP signing ceremony in Auckland early in February

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Morgan Poll Update – Page: Online : 19-Feb-16

A New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll on voting intention has found that support for the ruling National Party has risen by 1.5 per cent to 48.5 per cent in February 2016. The poll also shows that support for a potential Labour/Greens alliance is unchanged at 41.5 per cent, while the NZ Roy Morgan Government Confidence Rating has fallen by 3.5 points to 128 points. Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan says that earlier in February New Zealand hosted the signing ceremony for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The 12 nations of the TPP represent 40 per cent of the world economy and the TPP will provide New Zealand businesses with tremendous growth possibilities once fully ratified by all nations.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, NATIONAL PARTY OF NEW ZEALAND, LABOUR PARTY (NEW ZEALAND), GREEN PARTY OF AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND, CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF NEW ZEALAND, THE MAORI PARTY, ACT NEW ZEALAND, NEW ZEALAND FIRST PARTY, INTERNET PARTY, MANA PARTY, TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP

Business v Barnaby in effects-test stoush

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Original article by Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 22-Feb-16

Australia’s new Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce says the National Party favours making changes to competition law to introduce a so-called "effects test". However, many blue-chip companies oppose any move to introduce changes to the misuse of market power provisions in order to protect small businesses. They include Woolworths, Wesfarmers, Insurance Australia Group and Boral.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG, BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, SYDNEY AIRPORT – ASX SYD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGK, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TARGET AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, IGA, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

Brokers confident of smooth shift to two-day settlements

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 22-Feb-16

Australia’s equities and debt markets are set to adopt a two-day settlement cycle on 7 March 2016. The ASX says that more than 100 market participants have indicated that they are prepared for the so-called T+2 system, which has been in test mode since August 2015. The New Zealand Exchange is also slated to make the transition on 7 March, while key Asian markets have either adopted T+2 or are planning to do so.

CORPORATES
ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX, CHI-X AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEW ZEALAND EXCHANGE LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH SECURITIES LIMITED, BNP PARIBAS EQUITIES (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED

M&A set to throw off the shackles

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Original article by Michael Bennet
The Australian – Page: 17 : 22-Feb-16

Data from Thomson Reuters shows that $US5.4bn ($A7.5bn) worth of mergers and acquisitions have been announced in Australia so far in 2016, compared with $US20.3bn at the same time in 2015. However, Herbert Smith Freehills partner Tony Damian expects M&A activity to improve, noting that a number of deals are in the pipeline. Freehills expects an increase in takeover activity in sectors such as financial services and resources. It also forecasts that private equity firms will be more active.

CORPORATES
THOMSON REUTERS PLC, HERBERT SMITH FREEHILLS PTY LTD, ASCIANO LIMITED – ASX AIO, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, CLYDESDALE BANK PLC, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, OZFOREX GROUP LIMITED – ASX OFX, GREENCROSS LIMITED – ASX GXL, WESTERN UNITED LIMITED, TPG CAPITAL LP, THE CARLYLE GROUP, JAPAN POST, TOLL HOLDINGS LIMITED

BHP urged to revive the faith

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Original article by Amanda Saunders
The Age – Page: 21 : 22-Feb-16

The 2015-16 interim financial results of BHP Billiton are likely to be closely scrutinised by investors. Pengana Capital’s Tim Schroeders says the resources group needs to restore investors’ faith and outline its strategy to achieve future growth. He believes that BHP will abandon its progressive dividend policy in favour of a payout ratio, while Paul McTaggart of Credit Suisse anticipates a reduction in capital expenditure over the next two years.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, PENGANA CAPITAL LIMITED, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, BLOOMBERG LP, VUMA CONSENSUS, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, SAMARCO MINERACAO SA

Mandatory super comes under fire

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Original article by Sally Rose, Joanna Mather, Misa Han, Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 : 22-Feb-16

A spokesman for Treasurer Scott Morrison has downplayed media reports which suggested that the Federal Government may allow low-income earners to opt out of the superannuation system. The proposal has received support from David Murray, who headed the Government’s financial system inquiry, although it has attracted criticism from the superannuation industry and key employer groups.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, FINANCIAL SERVICES COUNCIL, INDUSTRY SUPER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, THE ASSOCIATION OF SUPERANNUATION FUNDS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, REST SUPER PTY LTD, VISION SUPER PTY LTD

Iron ore rally could mean budget windfall

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Original article by Mark Mulligan, Gareth Hutchens
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 22-Feb-16

The iron ore price has rallied to its highest level in three months, and it is now higher than the price that was forecast in the Australian Government’s 2015 mid-year Budget update. Chris Richardson of Deloitte Access Economics estimates that Government revenue could be boosted by about $A1.2bn if the iron ore price remains at around its current level until the mid-year update in November 2016. Paul Bloxham of HSBC adds that the LNG price will also be a significant factor for the Budget update.

CORPORATES
DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP

Roy Morgan launches new Search engine for planning and buying thousands of media audiences

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

Roy Morgan Research, the industry standard for planning media buying, has announced a ground-breaking new search engine, Audience Search, which enables media agencies to locate and book thousands of valuable media audiences. Audience Search links over 20,000 targets available in Roy Morgan Single Source to provide marketers expanded reach to find and buy audiences at scale via Roy Morgan’s extensive media partner network that includes Eyeota, Yahoo7, Big Mobile, Mi9, Acxiom & Greater Data. All media channels including online, print, TV, outdoor, radio and cinema are available for audience profiling inside the new search engine. As the offline and digital worlds become more connected for consumers, planners and buyers can now easily search for their target audience and within a few clicks, identify audience volumes and availability. This unique capability helps agencies optimise spend across a range of media channels including premium digital, programmatic, outdoor, electronic and traditional mail. This Australian led innovation, built on the industry standard ASTEROID platform, combines the simplicity of text based search and ready-made audiences. Roy Morgan Research is planning to launch this service beyond local shores in the near future.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED

Hywood delivers frank verdict on future of newspapers

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Original article by Dominic White
The Age – Page: 27 : 22-Feb-16

Fairfax Media CEO Greg Hywood says the group is committed to "quality journalism", but concedes that this may not necessarily include print newspapers in the future. However, he has downplayed suggestions that Fairfax may discontinue its print editions in the near-term, noting that a rival media group has been forecasting this for several years. Fairfax recently revealed plans for an editorial restructuring.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA