Author: roymorgansocial

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence continues recovery – up 9% to 78.2

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 16-Jan-20

The weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Rating was up 9% to 78.2 on the Easter weekend, and now up 20% since a record low of 65.3 two weeks ago. Driving the increase are more Australians saying they expect to be ‘better off financially’ this time next year – up 7% to 32%, while 27% (down 1%) say they expect to be ‘worse off’. This is the only index question in positive territory, however compared with the previous week there were improvements across the other four Consumer Confidence questions. The two weeks of increases follow the Federal Government’s announcement of a $130 billion wage subsidy in late March and shows how important it is to measure sentiment in the Australian economy on a real-time weekly basis rather than over the longer monthly time period.

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

Trust in most media during the Coronavirus pandemic is brittle

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 16-Apr-20

Australians need to be able to rely on media for the latest advice and information during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet trust in media outlets remains disappointingly low, as a special media industry distrust risk survey by Roy Morgan has found. Research firm Roy Morgan measures consumer distrust, and the risk it poses to companies, across 25 industries. As a whole, media is the third most distrusted of the 25 industries and it has had the largest increase in distrust of any industry over the past 8 months. The key media brands which buck the trend, those which are highly trusted by Australians, are the ABC, SBS and Netflix, while the most trusted key tech brands, a significant conduit for media content, include Apple and Microsoft. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says amid the first global pandemic in a century, consumer trust is critical for all businesses, but particularly so for media, which is delivering vital information in a rapidly changing environment. Roy Morgan’s ongoing risk monitor shows that levels of trust and distrust for individual companies can change quickly. This variability means regular tracking of the pulse of the community is vital.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), NETFLIX INCORPORATED, APPLE INCORPORATED, MICROSOFT CORPORATION

Covid and the Great Exodus

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 16-Apr-20

Net overseas migration accounted for 63 per cent of Australia’s population growth in the year to September. The nation’s population increased by 371,000 during this period; meanwhile, the federal government’s April 2019 Budget had forecast net overseas migration of 271,000 in 2020. However, data from Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge shows that the number of temporary visa holders fell by 260,000 to 2.17 million in the March quarter. Economist Warren Hogan warns that the decline in net ­migration will have an impact on consumer spending and the housing market.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SYDNEY

Catalano’s Australian Community Media to suspend some print titles

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Original article by Zoe Samios
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 15-Apr-20

Australian Community Media has responded to the coronavirus-induced downturn in the advertising market by suspending publication of some non-daily regional print newspapers. Four of its printing facilities will also be closed until late June. ACM’s joint owner Antony Catalano says he recently approached Communications Minister Paul Fletcher about financial support for regional media groups. Catalano contends that consolidation in the regional media sector is necessary.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA

Westpac flags $1.4b first-half hit, expects more to come

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 18 : 15-Apr-20

Westpac has advised that its financial accounts for the first half of fiscal 2020 will include provisions of $1,030m associated with Austrac’s money-laundering probe. Westpac will also increase its provisions for customer remediation and legal costs by $260m. The financial hit will reduce Westpac’s common equity tier 1 capital ratio by about 30 basis points, to 10.5 per cent. Dermot Ryan of AMP Capital expects Australian banks that report their half-year results in May to slash their dividend payouts.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED

News Corp warns of hit to Foxtel, Kayo and real estate classifieds

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 15-Apr-20

News Corp expects to lose more Foxtel and Kayo Sports subscribers due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on live sports events. Foxtel’s broadcast and commercial subscriber base fell to 2.268 million in the December quarter, compared with 2.326 million in the September quarter, while its churn rate rose from 14.4 per cent to 16 per cent. Meanwhile, Kayo boasted 402,000 paid subscribers in early November, but this had fallen to around 370,000 by early February. News Corp also expects its property listings businesses in Australia and the US to be hit by the pandemic.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, KAYO SPORTS, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, MOVE INCORPORATED

Virgin ups ante with threat of administration

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Original article by Lucas Baird, Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 15-Apr-20

Shares in Virgin Australia Holdings were placed in a trading halt on 14 April as the embattled carrier continues to seek financial assistance. The federal government is resisting Virgin’s push for taxpayers’ support, prompting Virgin to warn that it may appoint voluntary administrators within a month if it does not receive a bailout. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has emphasised that any government assistance for the aviation sector must be industry-wide. Labor leader Anthony Albanese contends that the government could take an equity stake in Virgin and sell it in the future.

CORPORATES
VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

High Court to rule on warrant AFP used to raid journalist Annika Smethurst’s Canberra home

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Original article by Elizabeth Byrne, Matthew Doran
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 15-Apr-20

The issue of press freedom will come under scrutiny again on 15 April, when the High Court decides on the validity of a search warrant used in a media raid in June 2019. News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst has challenged the legal validity of the search warrant issued to Australian Federal Police officers who raided her home in Canberra. Her lawyers have argued amongst other things that the law under which the warrant was issued was invalid because it breached the implied constitutional right to freedom of political communication. The ABC has unsuccessfully challenged the search warrant used in a separate raid on its Sydney premises.

CORPORATES
HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

‘We’re winning but we’ll never get rid of it’

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Original article by Rachel Baxendale, David Tanner
The Australian – Page: 5 : 14-Apr-20

The global death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 125,896; more than 1,990,000 people worldwide have been diagnosed with the respiratory illness. There are 6,400 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Australia, and the nation’s death toll has risen to 62. However, the coronavirus curve continues to flatten, with only 36 new cases reported nationwide on 15 April. Microbiologist Peter Collignon warns that the virus is unlikely to be completed eradicated in Australia, and that some lockdown restrictions may need to remain in place until at least the end of winter. Meanwhile, the death toll in the US has risen to 25,830 after an additional 2,190 deaths were reported in the last day.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

Worst year since Great Depression

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 15-Apr-20

The International Monetary Fund has forecast that the Australian economy will contract by 6.7 per cent in 2020 due to the coronavirus lockdown. However, the IMF expects the domestic economy to rebound by 6.1 per cent in 2021, assuming that measures to contain the virus are successful. The IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook also forecasts that global GDP growth will fall by three per cent in 2020, compared with just 0.1 per cent during the global financial crisis. The IMF has warned of the potential for a second wave of the coronavirus if a vaccine is not developed.

CORPORATES
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND