Author: roymorgansocial

Fortescue slumps but talks up asset values

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Original article by Amanda Saunders
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 25-Aug-15

Fortescue CFO Stephen Pearce says the company’s "world class" mining and port and rail assets in the Pilbara region of Western Australia are worth more than the $A20 billion it cost to develop them. Fortescue CEO Nev Porter put the 14.6 per cent fall in Fortescue’s share price down to a "flighty" market. UBS calculates the net valuation of the assets at $A12 billion.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, HEBEL, TEWOO GROUP

ABC, SBS making ‘noise’ to compete

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Original article by Michael Bodey
The Australian – Page: 23 : 24-Aug-15

Australia’s public broadcasters, the SBS and ABC, are ratings-driven despite reassurances to the contrary. They recently tried to use terrorist sympathiser Zaky Mallah to increase their ratings which was an exercise in cynicism. ABC MD Mark Scott keeps saying that the public broadcaster does not need to seek higher ratings but this is just rhetoric.

CORPORATES
SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Hockey to outline tax cuts

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Misa Han
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 : 24-Aug-15

Treasurer Joe Hockey will talk about the benefits of tax cuts in his speech to be delivered to the Tax Institute and Chartered Accountants of Australia & New Zealand in Sydney on 24 August 2015. Hockey will stress the importance of income tax relief in stimulating economic growth. In his view, "tax bracket creep" has negative consequences for the economy and must be combatted.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, TAXATION INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA, CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Global appetite grows for Sydney offices

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Original article by Larry Schlesinger
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 24-Aug-15

Sydney has become a global investment destination. Real estate services group DTZ estimates in its latest report that $US8.2 billion ($A11.2 billion) was invested in Sydney’s commercial real estate in the year to June 2015, or 16 per cent more than in 2013-14. This figure makes Sydney the second most traded real estate market in the Asia-Pacific region behind Tokyo.

CORPORATES
DTZ AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CHINA INVESTMENT CORPORATION, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, DALIAN WANDA GROUP COMPANY LIMITED, PERPETUAL TRUSTEE COMPANY LIMITED, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED

More Australians now read catalogues than metro newspapers

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

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that catalogues continue to expand their reach, with more Australians (14+) now reading catalogues during an average week than either Newspapers (excluding Local/Community) or Local/Community Newspapers. The survey shows that almost 10.5 million Australians read or looked into one or more catalogues during an average week in the year to June 2015, back up to a level not seen since 2012, and the growth looks set to continue. From over 11 million in 2011, catalogue readership declined to around 9.5 million Australians in 2013. But catalogue readership rebounded, bucking the continuing downward trend for newspapers. At the end of last year, catalogue readership surpassed that for non-community Newspapers, and the gap has continued to widen. Today, catalogues reach over 600,000 more readers in an average seven-day period than these newspapers, and around 4.3 million more than local/community newspapers. The combined net weekly reach of all newspapers including local and community papers in the year to June 2015 is 12.3 million Australians, down from 14.6 million in the year to June 2012.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED

Aussies using only their Mobile or Tablet to bank triples in 3 years

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

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that an estimated 1.1 million (5.8 per cent of) Australians use only their mobile phone or tablet to conduct banking activities in an average four week period. In three years, the number of Australians doing "mobile-only banking" has tripled. This means they do not use any other banking channel, such as website, branches, adviser/banker or the telephone, to deal with their bank. By June 2015, 33 per cent of Australians conducted internet banking using a mobile phone or tablet (app) in an average four week period. This has resulted in a group of people that only deal with their banks via a mobile or tablet. As assumed, younger generations take up digital channels at higher rates than older ones, with close to one out of ten people under 34 years old doing "mobile-only banking".

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED

BHP tipped to cut spending as rout bites

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Original article by Amanda Saunders
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 24-Aug-15

BHP Billiton will unveil its annual results on 25 August 2015. The company is expected to announce weaker revenue and profit because of depressed commodity prices. Its cost-cutting target is likely to be raised, from the current level of $US4 billion ($A5.4 billion) by 2017. BHP may experience difficulties with adhering to its policy of increasing or at least maintaining its dividend in US dollar terms.

CORPORATES
SOUTH32 LIMITED – ASX S32, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, WORLEYPARSONS LIMITED – ASX WOR, PALADIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX PDN, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP

New front opens in activists’ war

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Original article by
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 24-Aug-15

HESTA’s decision to sell its stake in Transfield Services is a sign of things to come. Australian-listed companies must be prepared to be challenged by environmental and social activists. Divestment campaigns are no longer limited to tobacco, gambling or weapons. Environmental and social issues are now also scrutinised by activists. For investors, this is a worrying development.

CORPORATES
TRANSFIELD SERVICES LIMITED – ASX TSE, HEALTH EMPLOYEES’ SUPERANNUATION TRUST AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ALLAN GRAY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WILSON SECURITY SERVICES, AUSTRALIAN NURSING FEDERATION, HEALTH SERVICES UNION OF AUSTRALIA, UNITED VOICE

Talk radio takes new direction

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Original article by Michael Bodey
The Australian – Page: 25 : 24-Aug-15

The nominations for the Australian Commercial Radio Association Awards indicate that a generational change is occurring in talk radio. Former 3AW station manager Shane Healy says the style of Derryn Hinch and Alan Jones can be compared to preaching where listeners are told to accept the presenter’s opinions as their own. Young broadcasters are closer to listeners and do not take themselves as seriously as their older colleagues.

CORPORATES
COMMERCIAL RADIO AUSTRALIA LIMITED, RADIO 2UE SYDNEY PTY LTD, MACQUARIE RADIO NETWORK LIMITED – ASX MRN, 3AW SOUTHERN CROSS RADIO PTY LTD, 6PR SOUTHERN CROSS RADIO PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Commission exposes deals unions and bosses want to hide

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Original article by Grace Collier
The Australian – Page: 20 : 22-Aug-15

The Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance & Corruption has revealed that unions and companies act in collusion to extract money from workers. The unions and the Australian Labor Party (ALP) are trying to shut down the commission because they want to protect their financial interests. The Coalition could use the findings of the commission to portray the ALP as the party whose interests are not necessarily aligned with those of workers. Voters would no doubt support a political platform of eradicating business-union deals.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION