Author: roymorgansocial

BHP buy bolsters nickel operation

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 15 : 22-Jun-20

BHP is believed to have paid Norilsk Nickel almost $US30m for the Honeymoon Well nickel project in Western Australia. The deposit is estimated to contain about 1.2 million tonnes of nickel; the deal demonstrates BHP’s commitment to the commodity and its Nickel West business. BHP will also shortly resume underground mining at its Leinster project. The nickel price has rebounded from a low of around $US11,000 a tonne in March to nearly $US13,000 a tonne.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, NORILSK NICKEL

CBA bid to avoid cliff for economy

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 13 & 14 : 22-Jun-20

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia estimates that about 127,000 of its customers with mortgage loans have deferred their repayments due to the coronavirus pandemic. Angus Sullivan, the head of CBA’s retail banking division, says that 15-20 of these customers are still making some repayments, while some customers have asked to resume making repayments. He adds that CBA has begun contacting all customers who have deferred their repayments to discuss their options ahead of the deferral arrangement ending in September.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

Wage-theft laws may be gazumped

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Original article by Ewin Hannan, Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 4 : 18-Jun-20

The Victorian government’s Wage Theft Bill will take effect in mid-2021 after being passed by the state’s upper house. Premier Daniel Andrews has defended the 12-month delay, arguing that a transition period is needed. The federal government’s draft bill to criminalise wage theft could be enacted before the state legislation, whose penalties include jail terms of up to 10 years for employers who deliberately underpay their staff.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Official ABS May jobless rate out today – will anyone believe figure?

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 2 : 18-Jun-20

Economist Saul Eslake says the May jobless rate would be nearer 13 per cent if those on JobSeeker and the youth allowance were counted as unemployed. Gary Morgan, the executive chairman of Roy Morgan, who conduct their own unemployment survey, says the headline ABS jobless figure is "phony" and the government needs to revise definitions. He says the current definitions were made up after the Second World War, and things have changed a lot. Morgan notes that there are now far more women and part-time workers in the workforce, and people change jobs more. Record uncertainty about the job market and doubts over the relevance of the ‘official’ ABS unemployment rate have prompted calls for more information on the number of welfare recipients and a rethink of how ‘unemployed’ is defined. ABS forecasts for the May unemployment rate will be released on 18 June.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Idle staff not all keen to return to work

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 18-Jun-20

Some employers in the retail sector say they are finding it hard to get staff who are receiving the JobKeeper subsidy to return to work. Lee Boys from the Organic Store & Kafe in Adelaide notes a ‘sense of entitlement’ among some employees, while the CEO of a large retailer says many of the company’s workers on JobKeeper are using "ridiculous" excuses to avoid coming to work. Carolyne Burns of recruitment firm Expr3ss! agrees that getting JobKeeper recipients back to work is a problem, particularly in the retail and hospitality sectors.

CORPORATES
ORGANIC STORE AND KAFE, EXPR3SS!

Australia very unlikely to allow foreign tourists this year

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Original article by Hans van Leeuwen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 18-Jun-20

Federal Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham has conceded that Australia’s borders are likely to remain closed to international visitors for the rest of 2020. He says the nation’s strict border controls have contributed to its success in containing the coronavirus’s spread. Recent data shows that there was a 99.7 per cent downturn in international arrivals in April as lockdown restrictions took effect. The federal government hopes travel between Australia and New Zealand can resume before the end of the year.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS

Tough love necessary, says News

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 22 : 18-Jun-20

News Corporation’s CEO Robert Thomson says the media group’s decision to axe the print editions of 112 regional and community newspapers was not taken lightly. The bulk of the titles will become digital-only publications, but 36 will be discontinued completely. Thomson says this was necessary to ensure the viability of the titles that will become digital-only. The number of News Corp journalists working on regional and community mastheads will be reduced from more than 1,200 to just 375.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

BHP taps CSL’s Lamont for Beaven role

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 18-Jun-20

BHP has advised that David Lamont will succeed Peter Beaven as chief financial officer in December. Lamont has been CFO of listed biotechnology group CSL since 2016, and he was previously the CFO of mining company MMG. Beaven will remain at BHP until early 2021 during a transition phase. Macquarie Group notes that BHP generally appoints internal candidates to senior executive roles. Macquarie has retained its ‘outperform’ rating on BHP.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, CSL LIMITED – ASX CSL, MMG LIMITED, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

Bauer Media offloads Aussie magazine arm for $50m, eight years after buying it for $525m

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Original article by Shannon Molloy
News.com.au – Page: Online : 18-Jun-20

Private equity firm Mercury Capital has struck a deal to acquire the Australian magazines business of Bauer Media. The sale price has not been disclosed, although it is believed to be less than $50m. Germany-based Bauer bought ACP Magazines for $525m in 2012, and it recently paid $40m for the Pacific Magazines division of Seven West Media. The Mercury Capital deal is expected to be completed in July.

CORPORATES
BAUER MEDIA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MERCURY CAPITAL PTY LTD, BAUER MEDIA KG, PACIFIC MAGAZINES PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM

Fed takes a keen interest in RBA’s bond buying

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Original article by Sarah Turner
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 18-Jun-20

The yield on three-year Australian government bonds has traded within a narrow range of 0.21 per cent to 0.28 per cent since March, when the Reserve Bank commenced a targeted bond-buying program aimed at keeping the yield at around 0.25 per cent. The success of yield curve control in Australia has prompted the US Federal Reserve to assess the strategy, although Stephen Halmarick from the Commonwealth Bank says it is unlikely to adopt this in the near-term. The Federal Reserve’s focus has been on buying a certain amount of bonds each month.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA