Author: roymorgansocial

Joyce circles after minister quits

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Original article by Greg Brown, Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 3-Feb-20

Agriculture Minister Bridget McKenzie has resigned from the portfolio and as deputy leader of the National Party, after an investigation by top bureaucrat Phil ­Gaetjens found that she had breached the ministerial code of conduct. Gaetjens concluded that sports grants had not been improperly allocated during McKenzie’s previous role as sports minister; however, he found that McKenzie’s failure to declare her membership of a gun club that received a grant constituted a breach of the ministerial code. Some Nationals MPs are believed to have approached Barnaby Joyce about challenging Nationals leader Michael McCormack at a partyroom meeting on 4 February, when they will elect a new deputy.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF AGRICULTURE AND WATER RESOURCES, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Virus fears, rate uncertainty push $A to worst January since 2015

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Original article by Timothy Moore
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 3-Feb-20

The Australian dollar has shed 4.7 per cent so far in 2020, and factors such as the coronavirus and the prospect of further interest rate cuts could see the currency test a new post-global financial crisis low. The Reserve Bank of Australia is now widely tipped to reduce the cash rate in April, although Prashant Newnaha of TD Securities says a rate cut in March is still possible. The RBA is expected to downgrade its economic growth forecasts on 7 February, and National Australia Bank economist Kaixin Owyong says this means that further rate cuts will be necessary.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, TD SECURITIES, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

Coronavirus: foreign arrivals from mainland China will not be allowed into Australia, Scott Morrison says

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Original article by
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 3-Feb-20

The federal government has raised its travel advice warning for mainland China to level four, recommending that Australians should not travel to the country due to the coronavirus outbreak. The government has also announced that it will not allow anybody travelling from China to enter Australia unless they are Australian citizens or permanent residents. Meanwhile, Qantas will suspend all direct flights to mainland China from 9 February until 29 March, while the Trump administration will temporarily ban entry to the US by any foreign national who has travelled to China in the last 14 days.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN

Cat strikes back at weak Domain

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Original article by Leo Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 24 & 26 : 3-Feb-20

Australian Community Newspapers’ owners Antony Catalano and Alex Waislitz have paid about $10m for a 33 per cent stake in Realestateview.com.au. Catalano will join the board of the unlisted classified advertising group. Realestateview.com.au CEO Toby Balazs notes that combining its property listings with ACN’s portfolio of regional newspapers means it will have a digital audience of 5.4 million. Catalano expects the new venture to be a serious rival to Domain, although he concedes that Realstate.com.au is likely to remain the leading player in the sector.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA, REALESTATEVIEW.COM.AU LIMITED, DOMAIN HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX DHA, REALESTATE.COM.AU, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC

Flu or no, Fortescue eyes export record

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 31-Jan-20

Fortescue Metals Group’s iron ore shipments from the Pilbara topped 88.6 million tonnes in the first half of 2019-20. A similar performance in the second half would see the group beat its previous full-year record of 170.4 million tonnes. CEO Elizabeth Gaines says the pure-play miner has not yet received any requests from steelmakers in Hubei to delay shipments, despite the temporary closure of the province’s ports due to the coronavirus outbreak.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

Drought to hit Newcrest mine

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 20 : 31-Jan-20

Newcrest Mining has advised that it produced 551,000 ounces of gold in the December quarter, which is eight per cent higher than previously. Its all-in-sustaining cost of production fell by $US40 an ounce to $US859. Newcrest’s flagship Cadia mine in New South Wales produced 239,722 ounces of gold and 26,478 tonnes of copper during the quarter. However, Newcrest has warned that the declining water supply at Cadia means that production cuts may be necessary before the end of the year if the drought persists.

CORPORATES
NEWCREST MINING LIMITED – ASX NCM

UK open for quick trade talks

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 31-Jan-20

Britain is set to formally exit the European Union on 31 January, after the European Parliament approved the Brexit deal. Australia’s Trade Minister Simon Birmingham is optimistic that a free-trade agreement with the UK can be finalised by the start of 2021, when the 11-month Brexit transition period ends; he notes that the two nations have already struck some deals that will take effect at that time. Former trade minister Andrew Robb says ensuring that Australian farmers have better access to the British market will be crucial to a trade deal.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE

Hayne casualties in limbo a year after the inquiry

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Original article by James Frost, Aleks Vickovich, James Eyers, Sally Patten
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 10 : 31-Jan-20

Terry McMaster claims the Hayne royal commission, which handed down its final report in February 2019, was a waste of time and money. McMaster, the former head of Dover Financial, is the only person to be convicted as a direct consequence of the commission thus far. A number of high-profile executives left the financial services sector after appearing before the commission, or being implicated in evidence presented to it; only a small number of those individuals have returned to corporate life. One witness has stated they felt they were abandoned by their company after appearing before the commission, while some hold the view that women wore the burden of the commission disproportionately to men.

CORPORATES
DOVER FINANCIAL ADVISERS PTY LTD, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, IOOF HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX IFL, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

Agent of interference: How Labor’s top lawyer steered bureaucrats against ex-PM

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 31-Jan-20

Andrew Cooper, the Australian organiser of the 2019 Conservative Political Action Conference, was asked to register under the federal government’s Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme. The request was made by the Attorney General’s Department. According to documents released under freedom of information laws, Labor frontbencher Mark Dreyfus encouraged department officials to investigate whether the CPAC would trigger registration requirements under the scheme at a meeting in July. The Department also asked former prime minister Tony Abbott to register under the scheme as he was to speak at the event; both Cooper and Abbott rejected the requests. A spokesperson for Dreyfus says the opposition cannot tell public servants to do anything.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Why Atlassian is more profitable than it looks

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Original article by Yolanda Redrup
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 31-Jan-20

Workplace collaboration software company Atlassian’s net income is not a true reflection of its profitability. This is due to its use of a debt instrument known as ‘exchangeable senior notes’, and which does not exist in Australia. Investors wanting to get a better idea of Atlassian’s actual profitability are urged to compare its operating income or free cash flow year-to-year. Company co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes has previously observed that Australian investors tend to overvalue profits and undervalue growth.

CORPORATES
ATLASSIAN CORPORATION PLC