Author: roymorgansocial

Games people play: console game ownership in Australia

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 15-Feb-16

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that 31.4 per cent of Australians aged 14+ (more than 6.1 million people) owned a console game in the year to September 2015. Some 61.8 per cent of Generation Z reported owning at least one console game, well ahead of Generations Y (40 per cent) and X (37.6 per cent). However, only 10.3 per cent of Baby Boomers and 1.8 per cent of Pre-Boomers are console game-owners. The survey also shows that Wii Sports is by far the nation’s most popular console game; it is owned by 47.1 per cent of all console-game owners, ahead of the Call of Duty franchise (36.9 per cent) and Mario (33 per cent).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, NINTENDO COMPANY LIMITED

Brakes on bracket creep to cost $12.5b

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 15-Feb-16

Modelling by the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) suggests that the cost of winding back "bracket creep" to the 2012-13 level would cost the Australian Government about $A12.5bn in 2017-18. This would rise to $A16.5bn in 2018-19. Andrew Potter of the CIS describes bracket creep as a "stealth tax" and argues that it should be included in any tax reform agenda.

CORPORATES
THE CENTRE FOR INDEPENDENT STUDIES LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

7-Eleven workers’ $270,000 pay-day

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Original article by Sarah Danckert
The Age – Page: 23 : 15-Feb-16

The Fels Wage Fairness Panel has so far recovered more than $A2m in unpaid wages for current and past employees who were victims of the 7-Eleven wage exploitation scandal. One former employee of the convenience store chain has been awarded $A33,000 in back-pay. Giri Sivaraman of law firm Maurice notes that one former 7-Eleven employee is owed about $A270,000 in back-pay.

CORPORATES
7-ELEVEN STORES PTY LTD, MAURICE BLACKBURN PTY LTD, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, BOSEN PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION

Rio Tinto’s Simandou dream evaporates

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Original article by Amanda Saunders
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 15-Feb-16

The Simandou iron ore project in Guinea has a book value of $US10bn on Rio Tinto’s accounts, although it is worth less than this given the current price of the steel input. Rio’s 2015-16 full-year results included a $US2bn writedown on the project, which is likely to cost about $US20bn ($A28bn) to develop. While Rio Tinto is scheduled to release a feasibility study on the project, some analysts do not expect Simandou to proceed for at least a decade.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, ARGO INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX ARG, STANDARD AND POOR’S CORPORATION, VALE SA, WORLD BANK, INTERNATIONAL FINANCE CORPORATION

Coates plans board shake-up at Santos

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Original article by Damon Kitney, Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 17 & 18 : 15-Feb-16

Oil and gas producer Santos has indicated that its 2015 financial results could include write-downs of up to $A3bn. Meanwhile, chairman Peter Coates has stressed the need for board renewal, noting that some directors have been on the board for a long time. However, he says there are no plans for further board changes in 2016, although there has been speculation that several could step down before the end of the year. Coates has also identified recruiting his eventual successor as a priority.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, SCHLUMBERGER LIMITED, ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX, BLUESCOPE STEEL LIMITED – ASX BSL, ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD, COCHLEAR LIMITED – ASX COH, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, CGI GLASS LEWIS PTY LTD, STANDARD AND POOR’S CORPORATION, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, CONOCOPHILLIPS

Millionaires roll shrinks by 5000

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Original article by Ruth Liew
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 15-Feb-16

Data from Investment Trends shows that Australia boasted 440,000 individuals whose investable assets topped $A1m at the end of October 2015. This compares with 445,000 in 2014, while the combined assets of the nation’s millionaires has fallen from $A1.57trn to $A1.55trn. Investment Trends’ Irene Guiamatsia notes that property and direct ownership of shares accounts for two-thirds of the investment portfolios of most high net worth individuals.

CORPORATES
INVESTMENT TRENDS PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX

Advertisers see better times for TV sector

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 32 : 15-Feb-16

A new report from media-buying agency Starcom Mediavest shows that advertisers are upbeat about the outlook for the Australian ad market. They expect advertising expenditure to rise by 2.8 per cent in 2016, while media owners forecast growth of 2.6 per cent. However, advertisers expect a 2.6 per cent decline in free-to-air TV advertising expenditure in 2016, although digital TV advertising is tipped to record double-digit growth in 2018 as more consumers view content online.

CORPORATES
STARCOM MEDIAVEST GROUP, DOMINO’S PIZZA ENTERPRISES LIMITED – ASX DMP, WALT DISNEY COMPANY

Fairfax modelled a future with no newspapers and 40pc fewer journos

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Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 15-Feb-16

Fairfax Media is tipped to reveal a significant restructuring program in 2016, aimed at reducing costs. Internal documents produced in early 2013 estimate that the media group could shed 205 full-time members of its editorial team by discontinuing the print editions of "The Age" and "The Sydney Morning Herald". Meanwhile, publishing print editions of these mastheads only on Saturdays would enable Fairfax to cut 150 editorial positions.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, PAGEMASTERS PTY LTD, AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATIONS

Sky’s the limit for Seven and News

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Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian – Page: 23 : 15-Feb-16

News Corporation has been seeking to acquire Australian News Channel (ACN), which owns Sky News Australia, for the last year. ACN is owned by Nine Entertainment Company, BSkyB and Seven West Media, and the latter is said to be keen to retain its stake in the pay-TV channel. Seven also jointly owns the Presto subscription video-on-demand service in partnership with Foxtel, in which News Corporation has a 50 per cent stake.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, AUSTRALIAN NEWS CHANNEL PTY LTD, SKY NEWS, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SKY PLC, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NOVA ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, C7 PTY LTD, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, AUSTAR UNITED COMMUNICATIONS LIMITED, CONSOLIDATED MEDIA HOLDINGS LIMITED, SEVEN GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SVW

Pay TV seeks early rounds of World Cup soccer in sport rights shake-up

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 32 : 15-Feb-16

The Australian Subscription Television & Radio Association will lobby Communications Minister Mitch Fifield to remove some sports events from the anti-siphoning list. These include all non-Socceroos matches in the group stages of the soccer World Cup. ASTRA CEO Andrew Maiden notes that many sporting events are not of "national importance and cultural significance" and attract low ratings on free-to-air TV, and therefore should be removed from the list.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SUBSCRIPTION TELEVISION AND RADIO ASSOCIATION (ASTRA) INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION, WORLD CUP, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), FREE TV AUSTRALIA LIMITED