Author: roymorgansocial

Melbourne heading in right direction but lockdown extension likely

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Original article by Michael Fowler
The Age – Page: Online : 11-Aug-21

Victoria has recorded 20 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours; only five had been self-isolating while they were infectious, while 10 of the new cases have been linked to a shopping centre in Caroline Springs. Meanwhile, the state government is expected to extend Melbourne’s current lockdown beyond the scheduled end date of 12 August, amid concern about rising case numbers in the western suburbs. University of South Australia epidemiologist Adrian Esterman contends that the restrictions should not be relaxed until daily case numbers are in single digits. He says the four-day average of the current outbreak is still rising and is unlikely to peak for another 2-3 days.

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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA

NSW in Covid limbo

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Original article by Alexandra Smith, Lucy Cormack, Mary Ward
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 11-Aug-21

New South Wales has recorded 356 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours; at least 97 of these people were active in the community while they were infectious. The state’s toll from the current outbreak has risen to 32 following another three deaths. A fourth person has died after he contracted the coronavirus while overseas and tested positive in hotel quarantine. Meanwhile, Premier Gladys Berejiklian has rejected calls for stricter lockdown measures, such as a curfew or a ‘ring of steel’ around Sydney, and flagged the possibility that restrictions could be eased at the end of August if the state achieves its vaccination targets. However, chief health officer Kerry Chant says it is too soon to be thinking about easing restrictions, emphasising the need to reduce daily case numbers.

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NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, NEW SOUTH WALES. MINISTRY OF HEALTH

Wager addict sues Crown, seeking $4.5m

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Original article by Hannah Wootton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 11-Aug-21

Crown Resorts is already facing a number of class actions regarding its conduct over the last decade. However, Ahmed Hasna has become the first individual to pursue legal action against the casino operator. Hasna alleges that Crown took advantage of his gambling addiction and encouraged him to gamble on credit. He is seeking to recover about $4.5m that he gambled at Crown, and alleges that Crown’s treatment of him amounted to unconscionable conduct. Peter Lawrence, Crown’s head of VIP customer service, had told the Victorian royal commission that the group’s treatment of Mr Hasna was irresponsible.

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CROWN RESORTS LIMITED – ASX CWN

‘No place to hide’: pressure on Australia to end support for new fossil fuel projects after IPCC report

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Original article by Adam Morton, Graham Readfearn
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 11-Aug-21

Environmentalists have called for the federal government to halt all new fossil fuel projects in the wake of a new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Kirsty Howey from the Environment Centre Northern Territory says development of gas resources in the Beetaloo basin must not proceed in the wake of the IPCC report; the federal government is providing up to $50 million in funding for exploration in the basin. Andy Paine of Frontline Action on Coal has also urged an immediate halt to fossil fuel projects, including the Carmichael coal mine in Queensland.

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INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE, ENVIRONMENT CENTRE (NT) INCORPORATED, FRONTLINE ACTION ON COAL

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence drops below neutral level of 100 after SE Queensland & Victoria plunged into lockdown

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 11-Aug-21

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence fell 3.2pts to 98.6 on August 7/8, after new lockdowns were imposed covering South-East Queensland and Victoria and more than 15 million people were placed under stay-at-home orders. Consumer Confidence is well below the 2021 weekly average of 109.9; however, it remains 12.1 points higher than the same week a year ago (86.5). The lockdowns in South-East Queensland and Victoria helped drive Consumer Confidence under the neutral level of 100 for the first time since early November 2020. Consumer Confidence in Queensland was down 7.8% on a week ago and Victoria was down 3.0%. However, Consumer Confidence in NSW increased by 3.7% as curbs on some industries were relaxed. Now 24% (down 2ppts) of Australians say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year (the lowest figure for this indicator so far this year), while 31% (up 4ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially (the highest figure for this indicator so far this year). In addition, 34% (down 3ppts) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, and 18% (up 3ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Some 13% (up 2ppts) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 28% (down 1ppt) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 32% (down 4ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items (the lowest figure for this indicator since late August 2020), while 36% (up 4ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

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

Big carbon nations must cut too: PM

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Original article by Greg Brown, Dennis Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 11-Aug-21

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the federal government will update its 2030 emissions projections ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in November. He adds that the update will show that Australia is on track to exceed its Paris climate agreement targets. Morrison also contends that ‘catastrophic’ climate change will only be avoided if China, India and other developing nations take action to reduce their carbon emissions. China and India are regarded as developing nations, so they are not required to cut emissions immediately under the Paris agreement. Morrison is of the view that his government’s focus on reducing carbon emissions via technology rather than taxes will help to boost clean energy uptake in developing nations.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, UNITED NATIONS

NAB’s doubling down on credit cards boosts retail banking arm

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd, John Durie
The Australian – Page: 17 : 11-Aug-21

National Australia Bank CEO Ross McEwan says the deal to buy Citigroup’s Australian consumer banking division will provide NAB with scale and expertise in unsecured lending, particularly in the credit card market. However, Morgan Stanley has questioned the merits of NAB’s push to expand in the consumer unsecured lending market, which is occurring at a time when younger Australians in particular are shunning credit cards in favour of ‘buy now, pay later’ services. Ord Minnett has in turn warned of the material risk that the transaction will be blocked by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission.

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NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ORD MINNETT GROUP LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

$39 billion purchase of Afterpay highlights value of buy-now-pay-later services such as Zip, Humm and LatitudePay

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 11-Aug-21

The latest Roy Morgan Digital Payments Report shows that 16 million Australians aged 14+ (75.5%) are now aware of buy-now-pay-later services such as Afterpay, Zip, Latitude Pay, Humm and Openpay. The high and growing awareness for buy-now-pay-later services comes as Silicon Valley ‘tech giant’ Square has lodged a bid of $39 billion ($US29 billion) to buy Australian market leader Afterpay. Awareness of buy-now-pay-later services has overtaken that of traditional online payment platforms (74.5%) such as PayPal, Visa, Western Union and masterpass for the first time. Afterpay is the clear market leader, with 73.4% of Australians aware of the service in the year to June 2021, up 3.4% points since February 2021 and up 39.6% points since September 2018. Meanwhile, 52.9% of Australians are now aware of main rival Zip, an increase of 4.3% points since February 2021; awareness of Zip amongst Australians is now rising at a faster pace than Afterpay. The two main buy-now-pay-later services have been joined by a host of second-tier fintech companies in the space, including Humm, LatitudePay and Openpay – and awareness of all three is growing rapidly.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AFTERPAY LIMITED – ASX APT, SQUARE INCORPORATED, ZIP CO LIMITED – ASX Z1P, HUMM GROUP LIMITED – ASX HUM, LATITUDE PAY, OPENPAY GROUP LIMITED – ASX OPY

Coal, hard cash rolls in as thermal prices surge higher

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 11-Aug-21

The price of thermal coal has rallied since May, amid strong demand in Europe and China. Dylan Kelly of Ord Minnett notes that the price rally has boosted the cash flows of major Australian thermal coal producers; he adds that seasonal restocking in key markets could push the coal price higher in the near-term. However, ratings agency Fitch Solutions expects the price of thermal coal to peak by the end of 2021.

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ORD MINNETT GROUP LIMITED, FITCH SOLUTIONS INCORPORATED

Live music industry prepares for a quiet, sad summer

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Original article by Kelly Burke
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 9-Aug-21

The UK recently announced a Stg750 million government-backed insurance scheme to help provide the live music and entertainment sector with a financial buffer against future lockdowns, and the federal government is being urged to do the same for the Australian live music sector. Annabelle Herd, who is the CEO of ARIA and PPCA, claims it will be a "quiet and sad summer" for the live music sector if a scheme similar to the one in the UK is not put in place. It was stated that recently that over 28,000 live events have been cancelled since 1 July, leading to losses of over $84 million.

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AUSTRALIAN RECORDING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, PPCA