Author: roymorgansocial

Lexus wins Best of the Best Award

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

Vehicle manufacturer Lexus has again been named as the winner of the Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Award – ‘Best of the Best’ – taking the mantle from fellow car manufacturer Isuzu UTE. The ‘Best of the Best’ award goes to the company that achieved the highest customer satisfaction of all 41 winners at the Annual Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards. Lexus also won the prestigious ‘Best of the Best’ Award in 2017 and had an unbroken run of eleven consecutive monthly victories in a row in the competitive Car Manufacturer of the Year category from February of last year through to December. Other car manufacturers to perform exceptionally well in 2019 included last year’s winner Isuzu UTE as well as the highly rated Mazda, KIA and Toyota.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, LEXUS AUSTRALIA, ISUZU UTE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MAZDA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, KIA MOTORS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Domain calls stumps on Test naming rights in middle of four-year deal

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Original article by Chris Barrett, Daniel Cherny
The Age – Page: Online : 20-Feb-20

Property listings group Domain Holdings has advised Cricket Australia that it will not extend its naming rights sponsorship deal for men’s Test matches. Domain replaced Magellan Financial Group as naming-rights sponsor in June 2018, in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa. Domain’s four-year deal included an option to walk away from the arrangement after two years. Cricket Australia will seek a new sponsor, while it is holding talks with Domain about its future involvement in the sport.

CORPORATES
CRICKET AUSTRALIA, DOMAIN HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX DHA, MAGELLAN FINANCIAL GROUP LIMITED – ASX MFG

Forrest’s payout tops $2bn as Fortescue’s profit rises

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 19 : 20-Feb-20

Fortescue Metals Group has posted a 2019-20 interim net profit of $US2.5bn ($3.7bn), which is 281 per cent higher than previously. The pure-play iron ore miner has reported underlying EBITDA of $US4.2bn and revenue of $US6.5bn for the half-year. Fortescue’s shipments totalled 88.6 million tonnes for the period, and its average realised price for the steel input was 73 per cent higher than the previous corresponding period. Shareholders will receive an interim dividend of $0.76 per share, boosting the wealth of founder Andrew Forrest.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

ACT and Victoria lead the way for residents planning a holiday

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

Roy Morgan’s Holiday Travel Intention Report shows that 74.4% of ACT residents (257,000) intend taking a holiday in the next 12, months followed by Victoria with 70.7% (3,869,000). These are the only two holding up the national average; well behind are residents of South Australia/Northern Territory on 64.4% (1,028,000), New South Wales on 64.2% (4,287,000), Queensland on 64.2% (2,670,000), Western Australia on 61.9% (1,322,000) and Tasmania on 60.5% (270,000). These travel intention findings have been drawn from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey, which is compiled by in-depth face-to-face interviews with over 50,000 Australians each year in their homes.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Virus fears cloud BHP outlook

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 17 & 22 : 19-Feb-20

BHP has posted a 2019-20 interim net profit of $US4.87bn ($7.29bn), which is 29 per cent higher than previously. Underlying EBITDA rose by 15 per cent to $US12.1bn, with a rise in the price of iron and copper boosting this figure by $US1.5bn. CEO Mike Henry says the coronavirus has had a limited impact on BHP to date, but he warns that commodity exports may be affected if the outbreak is not contained by the end of March. Shareholders will receive a record half-year dividend of $US0.65 per share.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP

Top unis face $1.2bn virus hit

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Original article by Tim Dodd, Adam Creighton, Jill Rowbotham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 19-Feb-20

The value of Australia’s education exports to China topped $12bn in 2019; analysis by the Centre for Independent Studies suggests that this could fall by up to 40 per cent in 2020, even if the coronavirus outbreak has been contained by June. Meanwhile, 10 of Australia’s top universities – including the so-called Group of Eight – could lose up to $1.2bn worth of fees from Chinese students who have been affected by the federal government’s travel ban. It has prevented about 65,000 students from arriving in Australia for the start of the academic year.

CORPORATES
THE CENTRE FOR INDEPENDENT STUDIES LIMITED, THE GROUP OF EIGHT LIMITED

Drop car tax, Treasurer told

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Original article by Patrick Commins, Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 19-Feb-20

Tim Wilson, Craig Kelly and Jason Falinski are among the Liberal MPs who argue that the federal government’s luxury car tax should be abolished, given that it was introduced to protect local car manufacturers. The tax on imported vehicles raised some $675m in 2018-19, and this is expected to rise to $750m by 2022-23. Motor Trades Association of Australia CEO Richard Dudley describes it as an "unconscionable tax" that should have been scrapped when local car manufacturing ceased in 2017.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, MOTOR TRADES ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence increases to 109.1

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 19-Feb-20

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rose 1.2% to 109.1 in the week ended 16 February, with the bushfires over and Australians going back to business. Consumer Confidence increased and more than reversed last week’s loss, continuing the recent sawtooth pattern. The gains have been a little more than the losses, so the index reached its 2020 high last week. Current finances gained 2%, while future finances were down 0.1%. Current economic conditions gained 6.5% compared to a fall of 4.1% in the previous week, while future economic conditions were flat. The ‘Time to buy a major household item’ subindex fell 0.9%, adding to the loss of 5% seen in the previous reading. The four-week moving average for inflation expectations fell by 0.1ppt to 4.0%, while the weekly reading remained stable.

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

Firms too slack on getting wages right

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 5 : 19-Feb-20

The federal government’s crackdown on wage theft could include ‘naming and shaming’ companies that underpay their staff and disqualifying executives from holding board seats. Attorney-General Christian Porter says companies that underpay their employees could face a range of penalties in addition to civil or criminal ones. He has dismissed suggestions that the growing issue of wage underpayments is due to the complexity of the modern awards system.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT

Coles managers go back to time sheets

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 10 : 19-Feb-20

The Fair Work Ombudsman will investigate Coles Group following revelations that salaried managers of its supermarkets and liquor stores had not received their correct overtime payments for six years. Coles will provide affected employees with $15m in backpay, as well as $5m in interests and costs. It will also require staff to clock on and off at the start and end of their shifts; Gerard Dwyer of the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees Association says this policy has not been strictly enforced in the past. The Australian Retail Association contends that the majority of underpayments are due to the complexity of industry awards.

CORPORATES
COLES GROUP LIMITED – ASX COL, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION