Author: roymorgansocial

1.2m Australians play poker machines at least weekly

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 20-Oct-15

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that 16 per cent of Australians aged 18+ (or 2.9 million people) played poker machines in the last three months, while 42 per cent of them (1.2 million people) play poker machines at least once a week. The survey, which was carried out in the year to June 2015, also shows that 51 per cent of people who played poker machines in the last three months decided how much to spend before participating, compared with 52 per cent of frequent players. Meanwhile, just 25 per cent of frequent poker machine players say they usually play on the spur of the moment, compared with 33 per cent of players overall.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED

S2 Resources a rare ASX debut

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Original article by Tess Ingram
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 35 : 20-Oct-15

Shares in S2 Resources closed at $A0.175 on debut after listing at $A0.22 on 19 October 2015. S2 is just the third mining company to list on the Australian sharemarket so far in 2015. It holds assets that were previously owned by Sirius Resources, which recently merged with Independence Group. S2 MD Mark Bennett and some analysts expect further heavy trading in the group’s shares to continue in the short-term.

CORPORATES
S2 RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX S2R, INDEPENDENCE GROUP NL – ASX IGO, SIRIUS RESOURCES NL, SOUTH32 LIMITED – ASX S32, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, BELL POTTER SECURITIES LIMITED, DEUTSCHE BANK AG

Poorer families may earn double before tax in GST plan

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 20-Oct-15

CPA Australia supports the idea of raising the tax-free threshold to match the minimum wage at $A33,327 a year, to compensate low-income earners for increasing the goods and services tax. CPA CEO Alex Malley said such a move would make work more attractive than welfare payments. Australian National University research fellow Rob Bray has doubts about the effectiveness of the higher tax-free threshold.

CORPORATES
CPA AUSTRALIA, ACTU, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

BHP’s London listing under fire

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Original article by Amanda Saunders
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 & 22 : 20-Oct-15

Nikko Asset Management’s head of Australian equities, Brad Potter, says it is no longer necessary for BHP Billiton to be listed on both the Australian and UK sharemarkets. He argues that rather than reducing BHP’s cost of capital, the dual listing has in fact increased it. Potter also believes that BHP’s progressive dividend policy is unsustainable. He adds that BHP may reconsider the dual listing if shareholders reject a proposal to make a payment to its London-listed company to finance a dividend for British shareholders.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, NIKKO ASSET MANAGEMENT GROUP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, ARGO INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX ARG, SOUTH32 LIMITED – ASX S32, BRAMBLES LIMITED – ASX BXB, LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE

Rinehart mine would damage groundwater

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Original article by Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 20-Oct-15

The Land Court of Queensland has been told that the proposed Kevin’s Corner thermal coal mine should not proceed due to concerns about its impact on groundwater reserves. The $A4.2bn project is being undertaken by Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Coal and India-based GVK, which are facing opposition from environmentalists and farmers. The mine would export up to 30 million tonnes of coal each year.

CORPORATES
HANCOCK COAL PTY LTD, GVK INDUSTRIES LIMITED, LAND COURT OF QUEENSLAND, ADANI ENTERPRISES LIMITED, COAST AND COUNTRY ASSOCIATION OF QUEENSLAND INCORPORATED, NORTH QUEENSLAND CONSERVATION COUNCIL, MACKAY CONSERVATION GROUP INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT

$100m boon in TV tax offset hike

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Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 20-Oct-15

The Australian TV industry wants the tax offset for television production to be raised from 20 per cent to 40 per cent. PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates in a report prepared for the Australian Subscription Television & Radio Association and Screen Producers Australia that a 40 per cent tax offset would generate a net economic gain of $A103 million.

CORPORATES
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN SUBSCRIPTION TELEVISION AND RADIO ASSOCIATION (ASTRA) INCORPORATED, SCREEN PRODUCERS AUSTRALIA

Packer punts on $10b casino play

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 20-Oct-15

Australian-listed Crown Resorts plans to build a 90-storey hotel and apartment tower in Melbourne in partnership with the Schiavello Group. The new hotel is slated for completion in 2019 and is expected to feature a new brand that could be used for other hotels that are in Crown’s extensive development pipeline. Crown hopes the new hotel will attract more high-rollers and tourists, and will be pitched at the upper end of the market.

CORPORATES
CROWN RESORTS LIMITED – ASX CWN, SCHIAVELLO GROUP PTY LTD, ECHO ENTERTAINMENT GROUP LIMITED – ASX EGP, MELCO CROWN ENTERTAINMENT LIMITED, WILKINSON EYRE ARCHITECTS

7-Eleven pumps $200m from petrol

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Original article by Adele Ferguson, Sarah Danckert
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 21 : 20-Oct-15

The wage exploitation scandal has prompted 7-Eleven Stores to propose increasing the fuel commission paid to franchisees. Owners of outlet that sell petrol are currently paid $A0.01 for every litre they sell. Head office has proposed lifting this to $A0.015 per litre, although some franchisees are pushing for $A0.03 per litre. Internal documents show that head office’s gross income from fuel sales was $A197.5m in 2014-15, while franchisees were paid $A18.3m in fuel commissions.

CORPORATES
7-ELEVEN STORES PTY LTD

Westpac shares climb after capital raising, rate increase

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Original article by Clancy Yeates
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 10 : 20-Oct-15

Shares in Westpac closed three per cent higher at $A31.34 on 19 October 2015, after being in a trading halt for almost a week. Clime Investment Management’s John Abernethy suggests that short selling in the wake of a $A3.5bn capital raising may have been the main driver of Westpac’s share price rise, rather than its move to lift mortgage interest rates by 0.2 per cent. Morningstar’s David Ellis says rival banks are likely to increase their own home loan rates.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, CLIME INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX CIW, MORNINGSTAR PTY LTD, WATERMARK FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, ALPHINITY INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

Overwhelming majority of Australians support the right to strike

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Morgan Poll Update – Page: Online : 19-Oct-15

A special Roy Morgan telephone survey has found that 83 per cent of Australians aged 14+ believe that it should be legal for workers in private industry to go on strike. The survey, which was carried out from 13-15 October 2015, also shows that 80 per cent of Australians support the legal right of workers in public utilities such as trains, trams, and buses to strike. Meanwhile, 81 per cent support the right of professionals such as teachers and nurses working for the Government to strike, and 74 per cent support the rights of emergency services workers such as police, ambulance drivers and firefighters to strike. Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan says that analysis by demographics reveals that clear majorities of supporters of all major political parties, respondents of all age groups, residents from every State, and both men and women all believe that workers have a legal right to strike.

CORPORATES
MORGAN POLL, ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED