Author: roymorgansocial

News Corp CEO admits to ‘challenging’ ad market as Rupert Murdoch’s pay packet falls

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Original article by Miranda Ward
Mumbrella – Page: online : 2-Sep-15

News Corporation has reported a loss of $US149 million ($A201.7 million) for 2014-15. Robert Thomson, CEO of the company, said that advertising remains "challenging". New products will be developed to stimulate growth in digital subscriptions. Thomson received $US10.29 million as total remuneration in 2014-15, compared with News Corp co-chairman Rupert Murdoch’s $US5.07 million.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, WPP GROUP PLC, FOX SPORTS, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD

Big four advisory firms ramp up climate practices

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Original article by Agnes King
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 2-Sep-15

Big four professional services firms are expanding their climate change and sustainability practices. At EY, the acquisition of boutique consultancy Net Balance in 2014 increased its domestic sustainability practice from 90 to 160 staff. KPMG has developed a tool to quantify the value of an asset when social and environmental impact is taken into account.

CORPORATES
KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ERNST AND YOUNG, SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS AUSTRALIA (SBA) LIMITED, NET BALANCE MANAGEMENT GROUP PTY LTD

Roy Morgan Research and Site Tour partner to make buying outdoor advertising easier

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 2-Sep-15

Site Tour, the automated trading platform for "out-of-home" (OOH) advertising, and Roy Morgan Research, the industry standard for planning media buying, have announced a new partnership that will enable advertisers to plan, select and book OOH campaigns using the best audience data available in Australia. Roy Morgan Research’s Helix Personas will be embedded into Site Tour’s OOH buying platform. Helix Personas is a consumer profiling, segmentation and data integration tool that combines psychographic, media consumption and behavioural analytics into 56 identifiable Personas across seven Communities. Roy Morgan Research will consider extending its partnership with Site Tour beyond local shores in the near future.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, SITETOUR PTY LTD, THE BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP PTY LTD

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence Consolidates

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 2-Sep-15

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rating for Australia rose by 0.3 per cent to 113.3 in the week ended 30 August 2015. This is the third consecutive week where confidence has remained above its long term average. Views on "economic conditions in the next five years" were up 1.8 per cent when compared with the previous week. The outlook for "economic conditions in the next year" fell 4.9 per cent, declining to the lowest level in eight weeks. Consumers’ views of their "financial situation in the next year" rose 3.9 per cent when compared with the previous week.

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

Qantas lifts off year with strong July figures

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Original article by Jamie Freed
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 2-Sep-15

Qantas Airways told analysts on 1 September 2015 that debt levels were low enough so there was no need to lower them. Analysts were impressed by the figures provided by the company. Qantas International increased its capacity by 2.7 per cent and yet it managed to increase the proportion of seats filled by two percentage points to 85.4 per cent.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, JETSTAR AIRLINES PTY LTD, CITI AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, BALANCED EQUITY MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

China manufacturing weakest in three years

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Original article by Angus Grigg
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 2-Sep-15

China’s Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for August fell to 49.7 in August 2015, down from 50 the previous month. Julian Evans-Prichard, from Capital Economics, says the PMI reading should be seen in context. The lower reading for manufacturing is less alarming when the service sector PMI is taken into account. The latter fell to 53.4 in August, from 53.9 the previous month, which is not a significant decline.

CORPORATES
CAPITAL ECONOMICS LIMITED, PEOPLE’S BANK OF CHINA

ASX sheds $32b as China fears deepen

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Original article by Vanessa Desloires
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 2-Sep-15

The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 2.1 per cent or 110.6 points to 5,096.4 on 1 September 2015. The market lost $A32 billion in capitalisation. Investor sentiment was negatively affected by a fall in China’s official purchasing manager’s index, from 50 in July 2015 to 49.7 in August. BHP Billiton declined 2.1 per cent to $A24.65 and Rio Tinto fell 1.8 per cent to $A49.37.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, SYDNEY AIRPORT – ASX SYD, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, SHANGHAI COMPOSITE INDEX, ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

Myer to spend $600m going after David Jones

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 : 2-Sep-15

Myer has reported a fall of 21.3 per cent in underlying net profit to $A77.5 million in 2014-15. Net profit declined 70 per cent to $A29.8 million. Total sales increased 1.7 per cent to $A3.19 billion. Myer CEO Richard Umbers said on 1 September 2015 that the company would reorient its business model towards wealthy customers. Myer plans to invest $A600 million in new products and services.

CORPORATES
MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, WOOLWORTHS HOLDINGS LIMITED, DAVID JONES LIMITED, TOPSHOP, AUSTRALIA POST, PLATYPUS ASSET MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, PERPETUAL INVESTMENTS

Mall owners plan $8b of work to drive better returns

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Original article by Robert Harley
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 35 : 2-Sep-15

CBRE estimates that the Australian-listed real estate investment trusts will invest $A8 billion in redevelopment and extension of regional shopping centres and central business district retail outlets in the next five years. Redevelopments at Pacific Fair on the Gold Coast, Chadstone in Victoria and the Castle Towers shopping centre in New South Wales are particularly significant.

CORPORATES
CBRE PTY LTD, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, GANDEL GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED, FEDERATION CENTRES – ASX FDC, QIC LIMITED

Landmark case could cost Visa $20m in fines

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Original article by Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 2-Sep-15

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has reached a confidential settlement with Visa. The company was accused of abusing its market power. The settlement will be considered for approval by Federal Court judge Michael Wigney on 3 September 2015. Penalties of up to $A20 million are believed to be sought by the ACCC.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, VISA INTERNATIONAL, FEXCO INVESTMENTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, PURE COMMERCE PTY LTD, GLOBAL BLUE HOLDINGS AB, PLANET PAYMENTS, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, TRANSURBAN GROUP LIMITED – ASX TCL