Author: roymorgansocial

Pressure on Coles, Woolies at both ends

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 14-Aug-15

Aldi’s expansion will increase price competition and cut into the market share of supermarket giants Woolworths and Coles and Metcash’s IGA chain. The supermarkets are also likely to be squeezed at the top end of the market when David Jones revamps its food halls and opens stand-alone upmarket food stores. Moody’s says the twin-pronged attack by Aldi and David Jones will shake up the duopoly structure of Australia’s grocery market.

CORPORATES
ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, DAVID JONES LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, COLES GROUP LIMITED, METCASH LIMITED – ASX MTS, INDEPENDENT GROCERS OF AUSTRALIA, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, WOOLWORTHS HOLDINGS LIMITED

Devine extends debt facility as profit climbs

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 40 : 13-Aug-15

Devine has announced a first-half net profit of $A900,000 after major shareholder CIMIC earlier rejected offers from potential buyers for the listed residential property developer. It has extended its debt facility with the ANZ Banking Group for another year. The company has started apartment and mixed-use projects in a joint venture with Japanese developer Daikyo, including the Mode development in Brisbane.

CORPORATES
DEVINE LIMITED – ASX DVN, CIMIC GROUP LIMITED – ASX CIM, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, DAIKYO INCORPORATED, HUNTER GREEN INSTITUTIONAL BROKING PTY LTD

Wobbles in equity markets make real estate more attractive

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Original article by Robert Harley
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 38 : 13-Aug-15

When equities become volatile, investors turn their attention to property which may not now produce attractive returns but at least offers a higher degree of safety. DEXUS Property Group CEO Darren Steinberg stresses "a really consistent performance" of Australian-listed real estate investment trusts (REITs). The REIT sector fell only 0.3 per cent over the last three months, compared with a decline of 5.9 per cent in the S&P/ASX 200 over the same period.

CORPORATES
DEXUS PROPERTY GROUP – ASX DXS, INVESTA PROPERTY GROUP, GIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX

Senator urges crackdown on pushy SMSF spruikers

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Original article by Sally Rose
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 13-Aug-15

Senator John Williams, a member of the parliamentary committee on corporations and financial services, wants regulators to crack down on real estate agents who urge people to set up self-managed superannuation funds so they can borrow to buy investment properties. Williams will tell the Australian Securities & Investments Commission that the practice is dangerous and that real estate agents are not licenced to provide such advice.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. JOINT STATUTORY COMMITTEE ON CORPORATIONS AND FINANCIAL SERVICES, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, ELSTON PORTFOLIOS PTY LTD, FINDEX AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, 21ST CENTURY GROUP PTY LTD

AGL Energy defends 2050 coal exit date

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 13-Aug-15

AGL Energy has defended its decision to stick with coal-fired power generation until 2050, claiming an earlier exit would put jobs at risk, threaten the competitivess of some industries and increase electricity prices. CEO Andy Vesey also emphasised the importance to AGL of the Gloucester coal seam gas project in New South Wales, a target of environmental activists.

CORPORATES
AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, MACQUARIE GENERATION, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Treasurer gets no mail on exemptions

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 13-Aug-15

The Australian Labor Party (ALP) says exempting private companies from publishing their tax affairs is a capitulation to the "big end of town" and has nothing to do with wealthy families fearing kidnapping. The ALP has used a Freedom of Information request to confirm no concerns were put by email or letter to senior ministers. Shadow treasurer Andrew Leigh says the government is proposing extra secrecy within the tax laws without a single person having written of any concerns.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, TEYS BROS (HOLDINGS) PTY LTD

70pc of trial users stay: Stan

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Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 13-Aug-15

Stan is keeping seven out of 10 clients who sign up for a free trial. Netflix’s biggest Australian rival, Stan is owned by Nine Entertainment and Fairfax Media, each of which is investing up to $A50 million in the new media venture. Nevertheless, analysts remain wary of Stan’s ability to reach profitability as it faces tough competition from Netflix and Presto.

CORPORATES
STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, CITI AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM

Hockey did foreign buyers a favour

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 45 : 13-Aug-15

Real estate agents have this advice for foreign property owners ordered to sell up because they have breached foreign investment rules – do so sooner rather than later. The agents believe the Sydney market in particular has topped out. Of the six properties to be sold under orders from Treasurer Joe Hockey, one is in Sydney’s Fairfield, where prices have surged 33 per cent in 12 months. A crash is not predicted, but agents are starting to see fewer bidders at auctions.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, CENTURY 21, DOMAIN.COM.AU, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, McGRATH ESTATE AGENTS, BELLE PROPERTY PTY LTD, RAY WHITE GROUP, LAURIE KELLY REAL ESTATE

Pay rises in low-wage era few

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 13-Aug-15

Changing jobs is no longer a passport to a higher salary, according to recruitment agencies. The growth in wages in the private sector is at a record low, with only a 2.2 increase in 2014-15. Employees seeking a pay rise must demonstrate their work was critical to the employer’s goals or that they had a unique set of skills.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, RANDSTAD RECRUITMENT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN HUMAN RESOURCES INSTITUTE, YARRA VALLEY WATER

Housing ‘fascination’ won’t make us rich

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 13-Aug-15

Almost 75 per cent of the increase in the ratio of net wealth to gross domestic product since the late 1980s is due to higher land prices. This is distinct from the value of houses built on that land, according to Reserve Bank of Australia deputy governor Philip Lowe, who claims Australia’s fascination with housing is in reality a fascination with land. He also concludes the obsession with property is not making the nation better off as a whole, with low interest rates implying low returns for savers and low underlying returns on assets.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA