New Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull gets immediate mandate from Australian electors as Better PM: Turnbull 70% cf. Shorten 24%

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

A special snap SMS Morgan Poll conducted on 15 September 2015 has found that 70 per cent of Australian electors rate new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull as the "Better PM", while 24 per cent prefer Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. Analysis by gender shows that 72 per cent of men and 67 per cent of women rate Turnbull as the Better PM. He is also rated the Better PM by 86 per cent of Liberal-National Party supporters and 50 per cent of Australian Labor Party supporters. Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan says priorities for the Turnbull government must include the recent decline in Australia’s GDP growth, the high level of unemployment and under-employment, the cash economy, wages rorts and union/employer corruption.

CORPORATES
MORGAN POLL, ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Polls put Malcolm on top of the pole

Original article by Andrew Carswell
The Daily Telegraph – Page: 9 : 15-Sep-15

Public opinion polls have consistently shown that Australians prefer Malcolm Turnbull rather than Tony Abbott as Prime Minister. An online poll by "The Daily Telegraph" on 14 September 2015 showed that 67 per cent of respondents preferred Turnbull. A Morgan Poll in July found that his rating as preferred prime minister had risen by six per cent in three months, to 44 per cent. Roy Morgan Research’s Gary Morgan noted at the time that Turnbull was also preferred by Coalition voters, who had tended to favour Abbott in the past.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, MORGAN POLL, ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Crescent lobs $215m bid for Cardno majority stake

Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 34 : 15-Sep-15

Private equity firm Crescent is seeking a controlling stake in Australian-listed Cardno. Crescent is offering $A3.15 for one of every two shares held by shareholders in the engineering firm. The announcement of the $A215 million bid triggered a rise of as much as 16.4 per cent in Cardno’s share price on 14 September 2015.

CORPORATES
CARDNO LIMITED – ASX CDD, CRESCENT CAPITAL PARTNERS LIMITED

Macquarie poised for record $2b annual profit

Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 17 : 15-Sep-15

Australian-listed Macquarie Group has advised that its 2015-16 interim profit will be 40 per cent higher than the $A678m result for the previous corresponding period. This suggests that Macquarie’s profit for the half-year to 30 September 2015 will be around $A949m. Macquarie has indicated that its profit for the second half will be similar to the first half, which means its full-year result could be around $A1.9bn. Meanwhile, the group has made a binding offer to acquire the Esanda dealer finance business from the ANZ Bank.

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, ESANDA FINANCE CORPORATION LIMITED, MACQUARIE ASSET MANAGEMENT, MACQUARIE SECURITIES PTY LTD, SHAW AND PARTNERS LIMITED, CLSA CAPITAL PARTNERS, WHITE FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, TRANSGRID, LONDON CITY AIRPORT

Chinese retreat from property in Australia

Original article by Lisa Murray, Angus Grigg
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 15-Sep-15

The introduction of tighter foreign exchange rules in China has had a negative effect on Chinese investments in Australia’s property sector. Fewer Chinese are now able to apply for the Federal Government’s Significant Investor Visa (SIV) scheme. Eligibility is restricted to those able to invest at least $A5 million in Australian assets such as venture capital and emerging companies. Only seven SIV applications have been made since 1 July 2015.

CORPORATES
PEOPLE’S BANK OF CHINA, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RP DATA LIMITED

Acxiom & Roy Morgan Research partner with major media groups to unite data and digital capabilities – kicking off with Facebook

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 14-Sep-15

Customer data solutions and marketing services provider Acxiom has announced a partnership with Roy Morgan Research and major media agency groups. As the offline and digital worlds become more connected for consumers, this partnership will give marketers an increased capacity to find and target their most valuable audiences on Facebook. This will enable marketers to go beyond standard online targeting options. By accessing insightful view of their customers, using Roy Morgan and Acxiom data, advertisers can bring media planning and buying in line with their cross-channel objectives. Dentsu Aegis Network and OmnicomMediaGroup are first to market with this solution.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, ACXIOM AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, DENTSU AEGIS NETWORK, OMNICOM MEDIA GROUP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED

Turnbull’s triumph

Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 15-Sep-15

Malcolm Turnbull has become Australia’s 29th Prime Minister – and the fifth in just five years – after ousting incumbent Tony Abbott in a leadership spill. A number of Cabinet ministers and Coalition backbenchers declared their support for Abbott prior to the spill, but Turnbull won the leadership ballot 54-44. The Coalition’s poor track record in public opinion polls was a key factor in prompting Turnbull’s move against Abbott, as well as concerns that the Coalition faces election defeat under Abbott.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Top sectors for feeding the dividend beast cited

Original article by Vanessa Desloires
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 15-Sep-15

Beulah Capital’s Peter Mavromatis does not expect further increases in Australian companies’ dividend payout ratios. He forecasts that companies will instead pursue mergers and acquisitions as investors continue to seek high dividend yields. Mavromatis believes that local and offshore companies will target sectors such as IT, property, transport and logistics. Gerald Moser of Credit Suisse Private Bank suggests that the healthcare and IT sectors are likely to experience more consolidation.

CORPORATES
BEULAH CAPITAL PTY LTD, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, GRAINCORP LIMITED – ASX GNC, TRANSURBAN GROUP LIMITED – ASX TCL, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, FIDELITY AUSTRALIAN OPPORTUNITIES FUND, 3P LEARNING LIMITED – ASX 3PL, LEARNOSITY PTY LTD

Rejected Woodside turns to PNG

Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 15-Sep-15

Woodside Petroleum CEO Peter Coleman is expected to discuss the company’s takeover bid for Oil Search with the Papua New Guinean Government, which controls 10 per cent of the takeover target. Woodside offered one Woodside share for four Oil Search shares, but Oil Search rejected the offer as inadequate. Oil Search chairman Rick Lee said the company would consider any rival offer that offers fair value to shareholders.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, BERNSTEIN INVESTMENT RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION

More evidence needed to charge banks

Original article by Clancy Yeates
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 15-Sep-15

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission has found no evidence of misconduct by banks that would warrant legal action. The corporate regulator wrote in a submission to an inquiry into the banks’ business customer defaults that it had received 61 complaints about bank behaviour in commercial finance since mid-2010. These complaints constituted less than one per cent of the total complaints received about credit.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, BANK OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, HBOS AUSTRALIA LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA