Author: roymorgansocial

Federal Voting Intention unchanged – L-NP (56%) leads ALP (44%) – equal biggest lead for L-NP since June 2013

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

A multi-mode Morgan Poll on Federal voting intention has found that support for Australia’s ruling Liberal-National Coalition on a two-party preferred basis is unchanged at 56 per cent. The poll, which was carried out on the weekends of 10-11 and 17-18 October 2015, also shows that the Coalition’s primary vote has fallen by 0.5 per cent to 46.5 per cent, while the Roy Morgan Government Confidence Rating has risen by three points to 112 points. Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan says that if a federal election were held today Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull would win with a "Fraser 1975" landslide.

CORPORATES
MORGAN POLL, ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, KATTER’S AUSTRALIAN PARTY, PALMER UNITED PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, NEWSPOLL, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Diversify call to super funds

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 19-Oct-15

Australian superannuation funds are forecast to have some $US2.5trn ($A3.4trn) worth of assets under management by 2020, compared with $A2bn at the end of March 2015. Itay Tuchman of Citigroup says the strong growth in assets under management in coming years will require super funds to further expand the range of international asset classes in which they invest. Meanwhile, Tuchman says Westpac’s move to increase its mortgage interest rates will strengthen the case for a further reduction in the cash rate.

CORPORATES
CITIGROUP PTY LTD, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, IFM INVESTORS PTY LTD, INDIANA TOLL ROAD CONCESSION COMPANY, CANADA PENSION PLAN INVESTMENT BOARD

Total, Petronas on lookout for local bargains

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 19-Oct-15

France-based Total’s investments in Australia include stakes in the Gladstone and Ichthys LNG projects. Australian MD Petter Undem says Total is interested in acquisitions in the local oil and gas sector, including a desire to become the operator of an LNG project rather than just a minority stakeholder. Malaysia-based Petronas – which also has a stake in the Gladstone project – has indicated that it too is keen to pursue acquisitions in Australia.

CORPORATES
TOTAL SA, TOTAL E&P AUSTRALIA, PETROLIAM NASIONAL BERHAD, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, GLADSTONE LNG PTY LTD, INPEX CORPORATION, ICHTHYS LNG PTY LTD, INTEROIL CORPORATION, CENTRAL PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX CTP, PROGRESS ENERGY INCORPORATED

Ziggy casts doubt on NBN timetable

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Original article by James Chessell, David Ramli
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 19-Oct-15

NBN Co expects the national broadband network to be rolled out to an extra 7.5 million premises in the next three years. However, chairman Ziggy Switkowski says that achieving the target of making the network accessible to more than 11 million homes by 2020 would be an "heroic outcome" given the current state of the rollout. The Australian Government is confident that the rollout will be completed by 2020.

CORPORATES
NBN CO LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD

Predictor of housing boom feels chill in air

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Original article by Su-Lin Tan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 19-Oct-15

SQM Research MD Louis Christopher forecasts that Melbourne’s residential property market will be the strongest performer in 2016, with price growth of up to 13 per cent. However, growth in prices across the capital cities is expected to average 3-8 per cent, compared with nine per cent growth in the last year. Christopher expects a slowdown in the Sydney market to dampen growth nationally, although he says a major slump in house prices will not occur.

CORPORATES
SQM RESEARCH PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

Small miners close to default: RBA

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Original article by Geoff Winestock, Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 19-Oct-15

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s latest Financial Stability Review warns that many smaller resources groups are close to defaulting on debt repayments. The central bank says the number of such companies that are at risk of default has reached its highest level since the global financial crisis. Few junior miners have collapsed in 2015, although the outlook for some is uncertain, and several mining services firms have been placed in administration.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, MIRABELA NICKEL LIMITED – ASX MBN, ATLAS IRON LIMITED – ASX AGO, EMECO HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX EHL, TERMITE RESOURCES NL, WESTERN DESERT RESOURCES LIMITED, PLUTON RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX PLV, BANDANNA ENERGY LIMITED – ASX BND, WDS LIMITED – ASX WDS, BIG RIM PTY LTD, SARGENT, HEAVY HAULAGE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Netflix makes us watch more, says study

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 19-Oct-15

A survey by Edison Research has found that traditional broadcast TV still accounts for 85 per cent of the four hours of video content that Australians aged 14+ watch on average each day. The "Share of Eye" report shows that subscription video on-demand services account for four per cent of viewing time, while free video-on-demand services account for 11 per cent. The research was commissioned by Seven West Media.

CORPORATES
EDISON RESEARCH, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, YAHOO!7 COMMUNICATIONS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ

News Corp takes ‘tread lightly’ approach

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Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 19-Oct-15

Media industry sources have suggested that cross-media ownership reforms are on the Australian Government’s agenda again, after being shelved by ex-prime minister Tony Abbott. News Corp Australia CEO Julian Clarke and Foxtel CEO Richard Freudenstein recently held talks with Communications Minister Mitch Fifield. Both media groups are believed to be more open to reforms, although their stance on the exact nature of the changes that should be implemented is said to be unchanged.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN

Malcolm Turnbull in fresh push to curb union power

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Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 19-Oct-15

The Australian Government will press ahead with legislation to reinstate the Australian Building & Construction Commission (ABCC). The bill was narrowly defeated in the Senate in August 2015, while a bill to impose criminal sanctions on officials of registered organisations such as unions was also rejected by the Senate. Employment Minister Michaelia Cash says the proposed merger between the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union and the Maritime Union of Australia highlights the need to reinstate the ABCC.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, IPSOS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWSPOLL

Land tax joins GST on agenda

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 19-Oct-15

Australia’s federal and state governments will consider making changes to a range of state-based taxes as part of any tax reform process. Much of the debate on tax reform has centred on increasing the GST to 15 per cent, but other options that will be examined include changes to the land tax, payroll tax and stamp duty regimes. Economic modelling will be undertaken to examine how such reforms would affect government revenue.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA