Author: roymorgansocial

Movement in the Sydney CBD increased to 27% of pre-pandemic levels in the first week after lockdown ended

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 27-Oct-21

A special analysis of movement data in Australia’s Capital City CBDs since the COVID-19 pandemic began shows that movement in the Sydney CBD increased to 27% of pre-pandemic levels in the first week after Greater Sydney’s 107-day lockdown ended. The average 7-day movement level in the Sydney CBD hit a low of 8% of pre-pandemic levels in late July and had increased to 17% before the lockdown ended on Monday October 11. In the first week of re-opening average movement levels increased by 10% points to 27% – the highest level for over four months. Meanwhile, the short and sharp three-day lockdown in southern Tasmania led to a plunge in movement levels in the Hobart CBD, with the average 7-day movement levels at only 44% of pre-pandemic levels in mid-October. The Greater Melbourne area has finally emerged from its sixth lockdown and we are told this will be the final lockdown as over 70% of Victorians are now fully vaccinated. Average movement levels in the Melbourne CBD were at only 18% of pre-pandemic levels in mid-October before the lockdown ended. The movement levels in other Capital City CBDs have increased over the last few weeks as we move into the warmer months. The Adelaide CBD is again the standout with average movement levels closest to pre-pandemic ‘normal’ at 76% – the highest level of movement since early May. Roy Morgan has partnered with leading technology innovator UberMedia to aggregate data from tens of thousands of mobile devices to assess the movements of Australians as we deal with the restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, UBERMEDIA

Crown on last warning

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Original article by Rachel Baxendale, Lachlan Moffet Gray
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 27-Oct-21

Royal commissioner Ray Finkelstein has made 33 recommendations in his final report on Crown Resorts. Finkelstein found that Crown is unsuitable to operate its Melbourne casino, and stated that Crown Melbourne’s conduct was "variously illegal, dishonest, unethical and exploitative" over a number of years. However, Crown will retain its sole Victorian casino licence for two years, although it will subject to strict conditions. Among other things, Stephen O’Bryan has been appointed as a special manager to supervise Crown’s Melbourne casino, while James Packer will be required to reduce his 37 per cent stake in Crown to less than five per cent by September 2024.

CORPORATES
CROWN RESORTS LIMITED – ASX CWN, CROWN MELBOURNE LIMITED

Bring it on: PM goads Labor towards climate action poll

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 10 : 27-Oct-21

The federal government’s net zero emissions target of 2050 envisions that all sectors of the economy will bear the burden of the push for carbon neutrality. The energy sector will be required to slash its emissions by 91-97 per cent by 2050, transport’s emissions will be cut by 53-71 per cent, and the mining and manufacturing sectors’ emissions will have to fall by 18-54 per cent. The government’s own technology road map is slated to reduce carbon emissions by 40 per cent, by expanding the number of priority technologies to include ultra-low-cost solar power. The other five priority technologies are not yet commercially viable. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has signalled that climate change could be a key issue for the next federal election.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

News Corp is gaining momentum: Thomson

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Original article by James Madden
The Australian – Page: 15 : 27-Oct-21

News Corporation’s annual report shows that revenue increased by four per cent in 2020-21, including 30 per cent growth in the fourth quarter. The global media group’s profitability increased by 26 per cent in 2020-21; CEO Robert Thomson noted in the annual report that it was the group’s most profitable year since the current incarnation of News Corp was established in 2013. Thomson is upbeat about the growth outlook for News Corp, and has highlighted the strong performance of Foxtel.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

Australian firms line up to launch inevitable local Bitcoin ETFs

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Original article by Dominic Powell
Brisbane Times – Page: Online : 27-Oct-21

The lack of a custody regime for cryptocurrencies prevents the launch of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in Australia at present, although changes to the regulatory regime are expected in 2022. Betashares CEO Alex Vynokur says it is inevitable that a local Bitcoin ETF will be launched in Australia, adding that his firm would be interested in entering this market. Holon MD Heath Behncke says his firm would also be keen to launch a Bitcoin ETF. The world’s first listed Bitcoin ETF has performed well following its recent debut in the US.

CORPORATES
BETASHARES CAPITAL LIMITED, HOLON GLOBAL INVESTMENTS LIMITED

Fund managers swamped as IPO hopefuls line up

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Original article by William McInnes
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 27-Oct-21

Judo Bank and SiteMinder are among the companies with a market capitalisation of more than $1bn that will debut on the Australian sharemarket in coming weeks. Martin Hickson of 1851 Capital notes that at least seven companies with a market value of $1bn-plus are pursuing IPOs in the December quarter. Asset manager GQG Partners made its sharemarket debut on 26 October after raising $1.3bn in an IPO; the stock shed 2.5 per cent to close at $1.95, giving it a market capitalisation of $5.8bn.

CORPORATES
JUDO BANK PTY LTD, JUDO CAPITAL HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX JDO, SITEMINDER LIMITED – ASX SDR, GQG PARTNERS INCORPORATED – ASX GQG, 1851 CAPITAL PTY LTD

ABC board left out on legal costs

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Original article by James Madden, Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: 3 : 27-Oct-21

The ABC’s MD David Anderson has told a Senate estimates hearing that he made the decision to pay the legal costs of journalist Louise Milligan in a defamation case, and he did not consult the public broadcaster’s board. Anderson defended his actions by saying he had legal advice to the effect that the ABC could potentially have been held vicariously liable for Milligan’s social media posts regarding Liberal MP Andrew Laming; this could have resulted in legal costs for the ABC of up to $700,000. It is estimated that the ABC has incurred legal costs of about $184,000 arising from the case.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

PayPal usage soars to record high during COVID-19 pandemic

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 27-Oct-21

The latest Roy Morgan Digital Payments Report shows that 15.7 million Australians aged 14+ (74.2%) are aware of online payment platforms such as PayPal, Visa Checkout, masterpass and Western Union. Of the four leading online payment platforms PayPal is the clear leader with 72.5% of Australians aware of the platform. Some 23.6% are aware of Visa Checkout, followed by Western Union (16.4%) and masterpass (16.3%). The COVID-19 pandemic has provided a huge boon to online retailers, and this has also driven the increased usage of online payment platforms such as PayPal. Now 47.3% of Australians have used PayPal in the last 12 months, up nearly 10% points from 37.8% in February 2020 just before the pandemic hit Australia. Usage of PayPal had been at 40.5% of Australians in January 2018 and gradually increasing before peaking at 42% in June 2018. From mid-2018 usage of PayPal had begun to gently decline as newer forms of payment such as buy-now-pay-later services gained an increasing share of the digital payment market. Over three-quarters of Australians, 16.5 million (78.1%), are now aware of buy-now-pay-later services such as Afterpay, Zip, Latitude Pay and Humm. However, usage of these services is far lower with only 3.5 million Australians (16.6%) using a buy-now-pay-later service in the last 12 months. These new digital payment findings are from Roy Morgan Single Source, Australia’s leading consumer survey, derived from in-depth interviews with around 50,000 Australians annually.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence virtually unchanged at 106.8 as Melbourne’s sixth lockdown ends

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 27-Oct-21

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence fell 0.2pts to 106.8 on 23/24 October. Consumer Confidence remains below the 2021 weekly average of 108.2, but it is now 7.1 points higher than the same week a year ago (99.7). Consumer Confidence was up slightly in Victoria, and Melbourne, as the city began to re-open from its sixth lockdown; however, it was down slightly in NSW and Sydney nearly two weeks after that city re-opened earlier in October. Now 28% (up 1ppt) of Australians say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 28% (up 2ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. In addition, 37% (down 1ppt) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, and 17% (up 3ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Some 19% (unchanged) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 20% (also unchanged) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 39% (up 2ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 29% (down 1ppt) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

Google paid just 7.6 per cent tax on billion-dollar profit in 2020

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Original article by John Rolfe
The Daily Telegraph – Page: Online : 26-Oct-21

Google Australia booked a profit of $186m in 2020, while its gross revenue was $5.2bn. However, Google pays tax on the revenue it generates in Australia via a Singapore-based subsidiary, Google Asia Pacific. This company made a profit of $US1.62bn ($2.17bn) in 2020, but its total tax bill in Singapore was only $US123m ($165m). The effective tax rate was just 7.6 per cent, while Australia and Singapore have corporate tax rates of 30 per cent and 17 per cent respectively. Both countries are signatories to a global deal to introduce a 15 per cent minimum tax rate for multinationals.

CORPORATES
GOOGLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, GOOGLE ASIA PACIFIC PTE LTD