Author: roymorgansocial

AUSTRAC, Westpac head to court

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 9-Jun-20

Westpac and AUSTRAC are having difficulty agreeing on an agreed statement of facts as the two parties prepare to heard for court. AUSTRAC has accepted Westpac’s admission that it broke the law 23 million times, but AUSTRAC has indicated it plans to pursue Westpac for a series of "unquantifiable" breaches. Justice James Allsop said on 30 March that Westpac and AUSTRAC should be ready to go to trial "sooner than later" in a case that may well cost Westpac more than $1 billion to settle.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE

More than 2 million thwarted overseas holiday-makers ready to be wooed by domestic tourism

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Jun-20

With Australians unable to holiday overseas for the foreseeable future there is a huge opportunity for local travel and tourism operators to win ‘bonus’ business from nearly 2.2 million people. That’s how many who, as recently as March, were planning to head off on an international jaunt in the next 12 months. The data comes from the latest Roy Morgan Leading Indicator Report: Holiday Travel Intention, which also captures the difference in length of domestic and overseas holidays planned pre-pandemic, revealing millions of nights which were to be spent elsewhere and are now potentially convertible into travel within Australia.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

No time for protests alert as jail rates surge

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Richard Ferguson, Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 6 : 5-Jun-20

Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton has urged people to stay away from Black Lives Matter protests planned for Melbourne on 6 June. Black Lives Matter protests have already been staged in Sydney and Perth, and thousands are tipped to attend the Melbourne protest. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called for people not to "import" racial tension from the US, but indigenous leader and acad­emic Marcia Langton says protests need to occur while indig­enous Australians remain in jail in such high numbers and they continue to die in custody. Langton says indig­enous Australians are the most incarcerated people in the world.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Insurers face big loss from income policies

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 5-Jun-20

The Australian individual disability insurance sector has lost a combined $5 billion over the past five years. Australian Prudential Regulation Authority executive member Geoff Summerhayes warned in late 2019 that individual disability insurance products may soon become unviable in Australia if the industry did not take suitable action. However, despite his warnings and the sector’s ongoing losses, individual disability insurance providers are continuing to sell unsustainable products during the COVID-19 shutdown.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, CLEARVIEW WEALTH LIMITED – ASX CVW, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP

Tighter test for foreign investors

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 5-Jun-20

The federal government will announce a revamp of Australia’s foreign investment regime on 5 June; the government wants to close what it contends are ‘national security’ gaps in the current rules. One of the changes will see the Foreign Investment Review Board apply a National Security Test to assets defined as a ‘sensitive national security business’; such assets include water, telecommunications and energy. The government intends to legislate the changes in July, with the intention of having them come into effect in January.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD

Qantas triples flights to nose ahead of Virgin

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: 15 : 5-Jun-20

Qantas has advised that it will be operating at 15 per cent of its domestic capacity prior to the coronavirus pandemic from 22 June, and it aims to lift this to 40 per cent by the end of July. The progressive increase in flights will enable about 2,000 of the carrier’s employees to resume working. CEO Alan Joyce says a growing number of customers are starting to plan and book flights for coming months. Failed rival Virgin Australia is currently operating about 76 return flights each week, which are being subsidised by the federal government.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH

Worst slump in history decimates retailing

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 4 : 5-Jun-20

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that retail turnover fell by an unprecedented 17.7 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms during April. Clothing and footwear sales fell by 50 per cent as coronavirus lockdown restrictions took effect, while turnover at cafes and restaurants was down 35 per cent. Food retailers’ sales fell by 17 per cent after being boosted by panic buying in March. Australian Retailers Association CEO Paul Zahra says the worst may not be over for retailers, given that the economy is officially in recession and the unemployment rate is set to rise in coming months.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION

The Government’s HomeBuilder scheme offers $25k for home renovations – but not everyone will qualify

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jordan Heyne
abc.net au – Page: Online : 5-Jun-20

People wanting to apply for grants of $25,000 to build a new home or renovate an existing one under the federal government’s HomeBuilder scheme must meet a range of criteria. They income thresholds and limits on the value of homes to be newly built, including the land. Contracts for new homes or renovations must be entered into before the end of 2020, and construction must begin within three months of the contract date. People wanting to use the money for a renovation must spend at least $150,000 of their own funds, and the home being renovated must be worth less than $1.5 million prior to the renovation. Investment properties do not qualify for the scheme.

CORPORATES

What crisis? Bull market rages on as beaten-down banks lead value charge

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 5-Jun-20

The S&P/ASX 200 has gained more than 30 per cent since reaching a seven-year low of 4,402.5 points on 23 March. Morgan Stanley estimates that the benchmark index is currently trading on a record 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio of about 19.55 times. While there has been strong support for some defensive growth stocks, value stocks continue to outperform; Chris Nicol of Morgan Stanley says there will be further upside for value stocks if there is a V-shaped economic recovery.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Aeris adds gold to copper with $125m Cracow buy

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 24 : 5-Jun-20

Copper miner Aeris Resources has confirmed a $125 million deal to acquire Evolution Mining’s Cracow gold mine in Queensland. The Cracow mine is forecast to produce between 70,000 and 75,000 ounces of gold in fiscal 2021, while Aeris predicts that Cracow will yield net mine free cash flow of more than $100 million over the first two years of its ownership at the current price of gold. Aeris executive chairman Andre Labuschagne has described the deal as "transformational" for the company. Evolution’s executive chairman Jake Klein says it has no plans to sell other gold mines.

CORPORATES
AERIS RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX AIS, EVOLUTION MINING LIMITED – ASX EVN