Author: roymorgansocial

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence virtually unchanged before pre-election Federal Budget set to be handed down

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 15-May-24

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence was virtually unchanged at 80.2 in the week to 12 May. The index has now spent a record 67 straight weeks below the mark of 85. Consumer Confidence is now 4.3 points above the same week a year ago (75.9), but 2.3 points below the 2024 weekly average of 82.5. Consumer Confidence was down in Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia, but up slightly in New South Wales and Queensland. Now 20% of Australians (unchanged) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 50% (down 1ppt) say their families are ‘worse off’. Looking forward, 32% (unchanged) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 33% (also unchanged) expect to be ‘worse off’. Now 9% (unchanged) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 33% (down 2ppts) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 19% (down 2ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items (the lowest figure for this indicator so far this year), while 52% (up 3ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’ (the highest figure for this indicator so far this year).

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

Taxman’s take about to hit an 18-year high

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 2 : 15-May-24

The 2024 budget papers have revealed that total tax receipts as a share of GDP will increase from 23.5 per cent in 2022-23 to 23.8 per cent in 2023-24, making it the highest share since 2005-06. The impact of the stage three tax cuts will then see total taxation receipts as a share of GDP decline to 23.3 per cent in 2024-25. Australians will pay $299.4 billion in income tax in 2023-24, with that figure falling to $293.7 billion in 2024-25 as a result of the tax cuts taking effect.

CORPORATES

War crimes whistleblower jailed for nearly six years

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Michael Pelly
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 15-May-24

Defence whistleblower David McBride will spend a minimum of 27 months in prison for providing classified military documents to journalists. The ACT Supreme Court has sentenced McBride to five years and eight months in jail, and he will be eligible for parole in August 2026. Justice David Mossop said the former military lawyer’s actions were a "gross breach of trust" of his position in the Australian Defence Force, and others must be deterred from engaging in similar conduct. The leaked documents were subsequently used as the basis for a series of media reports on Australian solders’ alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.

CORPORATES
SUPREME COURT OF THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY, AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCE

ANZ Roy Morgan Financial Wellbeing Indicator March 2024

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 15-May-24

Financial wellbeing is the extent to which someone is able to meet all of their current commitments and needs comfortably, and has the financial resilience to maintain this in the future. The ANZ Roy Morgan Financial Wellbeing Indicator is reported as a 12-month moving average, with regular updates showing the changes in aspects of financial wellbeing across locations and for a range of segments in the community. The FWBI is a useful measure of how people are faring in their financial lives in Australia over time. This update examines how financial wellbeing changed in the December quarter of 2023 and year-on-year. While the financial wellbeing of Australians declined further in the December 2023 quarter, the quarterly decline was the smallest since March 2022. Indeed, the spot results show some improvement since June 2023 coinciding with the RBA (November excepted) leaving interest rates on hold during the September and December 2023 quarters. Download the full report.

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

Warning on jobs rate if productivity stalls

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 15-May-24

The 2024 budget papers indicate that productivity has grown for two consecutive quarters, and that it is expected to continue to pick up if economic conditions improve. However, Treasury has warned that if productivity does not improve as expected, it could lead to a rise in unemployment. Meanwhile, the budget papers have forecast that annual wages growth will decline from 4 per cent to 3.25 per cent over the next two financial years before rising to 3.5 per cent in the subsequent years of the forward estimates, while lower forecast inflation will result in real wages growth of 0.5 per cent each year over the forward estimates.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Purge of consultants heralds public service jobs boom

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Ross
The Australian – Page: 11 : 15-May-24

The number of federal public servants has increased from 173,142 to more than 197,000 since Labor took office in May 2022. The budget papers show that the number of public servants is forecast to rise by 12,042 over the next year, while this is on track to be 36,000 higher than in 2021-22. The growth in public service numbers is at least partly due to the government’s push to reduce the cost of using external consultants, with thousands of these roles to be converted into in-house positions.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Labor splashes billions on cost of living relief

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 15-May-24

The 2024 budget papers show that the federal government expects to post a surplus of $9.3bn for 2023-24. However, there will be a combined budget deficit of $122bn over the forward estimates period. Meanwhile, the budget features $7.8bn of new spending on cost-of-living relief, headlined by a $3.5bn energy rebate; this will provide every household with a $300 credit on their electricity bill, to be paid in four quarterly instalments. Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the cost-of-living measures will reduce the inflation rate by 0.75 of a percentage point in 2024 and 0.5 per cent in 2025. The Treasury expects inflation to fall to 3.5 per cent by June and 2.75 per cent by mid-2025.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Miners hail $17.6b in tax credits – but BHP nickel still on death row

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 15-May-24

Australia’s critical minerals industry has welcomed the federal government’s decision to provide the sector with a 10 per cent production tax credit. However, the budget measure may not ensure the future of BHP’s nickel operations in Western Australia, given that the tax credit will not be availabe until 2027. The potential closure of BHP’s nickel mines, refinery and smelter would result in the loss of about 3,000 jobs; BHP has previously warned that tax credits may not be enough to save the Nickel West business, which is contending with a glut of low-cost nickel produced in Indonesia with Chinese backing.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, NICKEL WEST

Anglo unveils radical restructuring plan

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 25 & 26 : 15-May-24

Anglo American has announced a major restructuring of its global operations in the wake of a spurned takeover approach from BHP. Anglo American intends to focus primarily on its copper and iron ore assets, and CEO Duncan Wanblad says any potential suitors will have to pay an "enormous amount of money" to acquire the company after the two-year overhaul is completed. Amongst other things, Anglo American will sell its coking coal mines in Queensland, demerge its platinum assets and put the Woodsmith potash project in the UK on hold indefinitely.

CORPORATES
ANGLO AMERICAN PLC, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP

Bendigo Bank, Bankwest & ING home loan customers are the most satisfied with their bank after two years of interest rate rises

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 15-May-24

New financial data from Roy Morgan’s Single Source shows that Bendigo Bank has topped the banking customer satisfaction ratings among home loan customers in early 2024. Bendigo Bank’s home loan customer satisfaction is a market leading 87.7% in March. In second place was Bankwest with customer satisfaction among home loan customers at 86.6%. Filling out the top four banks are ING on 84.6% and Macquarie on 79.9%. The latest data covers the six months to March 2024, and overall home loan customer satisfaction amongst Australia’s top banks collectively was at 74.9% during this period. This represents a collective decrease of 1.1% points from a year ago. CBA had the highest home loan customer satisfaction among the big four banks, with a rating of 76.1% in March. Average home loan customer satisfaction with the big four banks as a group was 72.7%.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, BENDIGO BANK, BANKWEST, ING BANK (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, MACQUARIE BANK LIMITED – ASX MBL, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA