Author: roymorgansocial

Local content propels pay TV

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Original article by Jess Malcolm
The Australian – Page: 19 : 26-Apr-21

Foxtel’s chief commercial and content officer Amanda Laing has downplayed the need for local content rules to apply to streaming services. She says that locally-produced content already accounts for 50-70 per cent of the 10 most popular shows on Foxtel’s streaming platforms. Laing also notes that the Australian offices of overseas-based streaming providers are also actively commission local content. Fetch TV CEO Scott Lorson told the same virtual conference that YouTube is making "huge inroads" into the subscription TV market.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, FETCHTV PTY LTD, YOUTUBE INCORPORATED

Deloitte reveals extent of workplace complaints

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Original article by Edmund Tadros, Hannah Wootton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 22-Apr-21

Professional services firm Deloitte has disclosed that it has investigated about 15 workplace complaints annually over the last three years. The firm’s voluntary disclosure follows recent media reports which revealed that rival firm KPMG received nearly 100 workplace complaints between 2014 and March 2019, an average of about 17 per year. The majority of these complaints were allegations of bullying or sexual harassment. Workplace experts agree that the number of complaints lodged at KPMG does not reflect the true extent of the problem.

CORPORATES
DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Economy gets caffeine hit as spending soars

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 22-Apr-21

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that retail sales increased by 1.4 per cent nationwide in March, after falling by 0.8 per cent in February. Retail sales grew by 5.5 per cent in Western Australia and four per cent in Victoria, with both states having been affected by snap COVID-19 lockdowns in February. Consumer spending totalled $30.7bn overall in March, which is 10.6 per cent above pre-pandemic levels. The growth in retail sales has been driven by service-oriented businesses such as cafes and restaurants.

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AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Experts eye Melbourne-made mRNA vaccines

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Original article by Paul Sakkal, Melissa Cunningham, Liam Mannix, Rachel Clun, Emma Koehn
The Age – Page: Online : 22-Apr-21

The Victorian government has announced that it will contribute $50m to the cost of establishing a facility to manufacture mRNA-based vaccines in Melbourne. Professor Colin Pouton of Monash University believes that this amount of funding would be sufficient to establish a facility for the local manufacturing of the COVID-19 vaccines that were developed by Pfizer and Moderna. He says Australia could begin producing these vaccines within a year, adding that this could be accelerated if CSL – which is producing AstraZeneca’s adenovirus-based vaccine – becomes involved. Australia currently receives limited supplies of the Pfizer vaccine.

CORPORATES
MONASH UNIVERSITY, PFIZER INCORPORATED, MODERNA INCORPORATED, ASTRAZENECA PLC, CSL LIMITED – ASX CSL

PM’s global tech fix for emissions

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 22-Apr-21

The federal government has committed to spending $566m over eight years on the development of low-emission technologies in partnership with other countries. This follows the government’s previous announcement that it will spend $540m on hydrogen and carbon capture and storage projects. Prime Minister Scott Morrison contends that international collaboration is the most effective way to address the issue of carbon emissions, a point he will emphasise during the upcoming virtual climate change summit that will be hosted by US President Joe Biden.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Axe falls on Andrews’ BRI deal with China

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Original article by Ben Packham, Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 22-Apr-21

Australia’s strained relations with China may worsen after the federal government used the Foreign Relations Act to cancel Victoria’s agreement to participate in the controversial Belt and Road Initiative. Foreign Minister Marise Payne has used the new powers to veto the state government’s 2018 memorandum of understanding with regard to the BRI, as well as a subsequent framework agreement. Payne has also deemed that the Victorian government’s scientific co-operation agreement with Syria and an education and training deal with Iran are not in the national interest.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE

Westpac could halve its network: analysts

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 17 : 22-Apr-21

Brendan Sproules of Citigroup says Westpac could significantly reduce costs by rationalising its network of bank branches and divesting non-core assets. Westpac currently has 958 branches nationwide, but Citigroup’s modelling suggests that there is scope to reduce this to just 518. Westpac’s chief financial officer Michael Rowland will outline a cost-cutting strategy when the bank releases its interim results on 3 May.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

Wage freeze needed due to vaccine delays

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 5 : 22-Apr-21

The Restaurant & Catering Industry Association has urged the Fair Work Commission to take into account the delay in the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines when deciding whether to increase the minimum wage. The RCIA contends that the minimum wage should either be left at its current level in 2021-22 or any increase for workers in hard-hit industries should be delayed until February 2022. ACTU secretary Sally McManus argues that a minimum wage freeze would result in a pay cut in real terms for one in five workers at a time when domestic spending is essential to Australia’s economic recovery.

CORPORATES
RESTAURANT AND CATERING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, ACTU

Record production in sight for BHP

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 16 : 22-Apr-21

BHP’s quarterly activities report shows that it shipped 66 million tonnes of iron ore from the Pilbara in the March quarter. This compares with 70.8 million tonnes in the December quarter and 68.5 million tonnes during the first three months of 2020. However, the fall in export volumes had been flagged by BHP in early 2021. The resources giant will only need to ship 73.1 million tonnes in the June quarter to exceed its 2019-20 export total of 283.3 million tonnes. BHP’s full-year profits will be boosted by the continued strength of the iron ore price, which has reached a 10-year high of $US189.61 a tonne.

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BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP

Netflix growth slows as economies reopen

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Original article by Micah Maidenberg
The Australian – Page: 19 : 22-Apr-21

Subscription video-on-demand giant Netflix has posted a profit of $US1.71bn for the March quarter, compared with $US542.2m for the same period in 2020. Revenue rose from $US6.64bn previously to $US7.16bn, but Netflix added just four million new subscribers globally. This is well below the 15.8 million new subscribers it gained in the March 2020 quarter, amid the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The easing of lockdown restrictions and growing competition from rival SVODs services are among the challenges facing Netflix.

CORPORATES
NETFLIX INCORPORATED