Author: roymorgansocial

CBA to cut lending for new homes

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10&8 : 10-Aug-15

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia plans to introduce restrictions on lending to first-home buyers and investors for property purchases in greenfield housing developments. The bank told brokers that the approval of finance for buyers of land lots would be delayed until all preliminary work on the project has been completed. Developers worry that the plan, if implemented, would have a negative impact on the housing sector.

CORPORATES
URBAN DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA (VICTORIA), COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, FRASERS AUSTRALAND PTY LTD, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED

Speed urged on investment reform

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 7-Aug-15

The Opposition has urged the Australian Government not to delay the changes that would enable the creation of "collective investment vehicles". The changes are necessary if Australian funds are to benefit from the liberalisation of funds management in Asia and the introduction of the Asian Region Funds Passport in 2016. Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen says the Australian Labor Party is willing to cooperate with the Government on this issue.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, FINANCIAL SERVICES COUNCIL, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, SCHRODER INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Foreign TransGrid bidders face scrutiny

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 7-Aug-15

Bidders for the New South Wales Government-owned TransGrid will soon lodge indicative offers. Their bids will be closely scrutinised by the Foreign Investment Review Board, because of the involvement of foreign parties in the bidding process. Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian said the State Government will retain influence over the privatised entities through regulatory, planning and licensing powers.

CORPORATES
TRANSGRID, AUSGRID PTY LTD, ENDEAVOUR ENERGY LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, NEW SOUTH WALES. THE TREASURY, CHEUNG KONG (HOLDINGS) LIMITED, STATE GRID CORPORATION OF CHINA, CHINA SOUTHERN POWER GRID COMPANY LIMITED, MACQUARIE INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED, CHINA INVESTMENT CORPORATION, GLOBAL INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERS, ELECTRANET SA, NATIONAL ELECTRICITY MARKET MANAGEMENT COMPANY LIMITED, JEMENA LIMITED, AUSNET SERVICES HOLDINGS PTY LTD – ASX ANV, SINGAPORE POWER LIMITED

Landlord nation: 18,000 own six or more rental properties

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Su-Lin Tan, Fleur Anderson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 7-Aug-15

New figures show that some 16 per cent of Australian taxpayers owned a residential investment property in 2012-13. More than 110,000 taxpayers owned more than three rental properties, while about 18,000 had a portfolio of at least six. Shane Garrett of the Housing Industry Association says factors such as rising house prices and population growth means a lot more people probably now own at least one investment property.

CORPORATES
HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED

Unpaid intern replaces redundant worker

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Misa Han
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 7-Aug-15

The Productivity Commission has warned Australian companies against using unpaid interns. The commission states in a report released on 5 August 2015 that interns should not be used as free labour. Interns Australia would like the matter to be considered through a parliamentary inquiry.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, INTERNS AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT OF AUSTRALIA, CROCMEDIA PTY LTD, UNIONS NSW, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Court ruling may alter class actions

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Marianna Papadakis
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 32 : 7-Aug-15

International Litigation Funding Partners (ILFP) wants to finance the Allco Finance Group class action via a common fund arrangement. The Federal Court is scheduled to rule on the Singapore-based litigation funder’s application on 7 August 2015. John Emmerig, a partner at law firm Jones Day, expects a big increase in the volume of class actions and the amount of damages sought if ILFP’s application is granted.

CORPORATES
INTERNATIONAL LITIGATION FUNDING PARTNERS PTE LTD, ALLCO FINANCE GROUP LIMITED, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, SLATER AND GORDON LIMITED – ASX SGH, IMF BENTHAM LIMITED – ASX IMF, ALLENS, HERBERT SMITH FREEHILLS PTY LTD, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Rio capex cut to shore up pay-outs

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Amanda Saunders
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1&12 : 7-Aug-15

Rio Tinto has reported a 43 per cent decline in underlying earnings to $US2.9 billion for the first half of 2015, compared with $US5.1 billion in the previous corresponding period. Commenting on the results, CEO Sam Walsh said that Rio will reduce capital investment by at least $US2.5 billion over two years. He assured investors that the cuts will not affect the company’s growth prospects.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, GLENCORE PLC, UBS AG, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, X2 RESOURCES PARTNERS LP

Roy Morgan Newspaper Readership and Cross-Platform Audience Results for June 2015

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 6-Aug-15

Roy Morgan Research has released its Print Readership and seven-day Cross-Platform Audience results for Australian newspapers for the year to June 2015. Readership of Print Monday to Friday editions have declined by 11.3 per cent overall in the total number of readers for the country’s major metropolitan papers. Meanwhile, there was an overall readership decline of 8.8 per cent for Saturday editions, while readership of Sunday newspapers fell by 7.1 per cent. "The Sunday Times" recorded the largest cross-platform audience growth overall, up 5.5 per cent to 901,000.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ

Jobless rate matches 13-year high of 6.3pc

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 7-Aug-15

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that the nation’s unemployment rate rose from 6.1 per cent to 6.3 per cent in July 2015. However, it is estimated that the economy added 38,500 jobs during the month, compared with economists’ expectations of just 10,000. Treasurer Joe Hockey says this demonstration that the transition from the construction phase of the mining boom is proceeding well, while Ivan Calhoun of National Australia Bank expects interest rates to remain on hold in the near-term.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

ACTU insider says Work Choices scare campaign will fail

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ewin Hannan, Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1&7 : 7-Aug-15

Former ACTU assistant secretary Tim Lyons dismisses comparisons between the WorkChoices regime and the Productivity Commission’s recommendations on industrial relations reform. The proposed reforms have been criticised by unions and the Australian Labor Party, but Lyons warns that younger workers in particular are unlikely to be swayed by any campaign linking the recommendations to WorkChoices. The proposed reforms have been welcomed by business leader Tony Shepherd.

CORPORATES
ACTU, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, 3AW SOUTHERN CROSS RADIO PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, PER CAPITA AUSTRALIA LIMITED