Author: roymorgansocial

NAB pledges 3-year disaster reprieve

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Original article by Elouise Fowler
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 8-Jan-20

National Australia Bank has increased its bushfire disaster relief fund to $4m and advised that customers who have been affected by the catastrophe will be given three years to repay their loans. NAB has also indicated that it will provide emergency grants to business and agriculture customers, in addition to retail customers. The Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and ANZ Bank will also provide loan relief to customers who have been affected by the bushfires.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

APRA blasts banks over risk failures

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 8-Jan-20

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority is undertaking on-site reviews of the governance, culture, risk and accountability frameworks of the nation’s major banks. APRA chairman Wayne Byres says the initial findings show that changes to these frameworks are needed. Byres has signalled that smaller banks and other financial services providers will also be held accountable. APRA is also APRA is revising the CPS 220 prudential standard.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, ALLIANZ AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE

Equity boom helps ASX offset fall in IPOs

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 13 & 18 : 8-Jan-20

The ASX’s latest activity report shows that a total of $66.3bn in capital was raised on the Australian sharemarket in 2019, compared with $98.9bn in 2018. The number of IPOs fell from 132 to just 94 in 2019, amid volatility in the global IPO market and the cancellation of several major floats on the domestic market. Meanwhile, total trades in the ASX’s cash market were 25 per cent higher in the second half of 2019 compared with the previous corresponding period, while the total on-market value traded for the half-year was nine per cent higher than previously.

CORPORATES
ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence falters on bush fires

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 8-Jan-20

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence fell 1.7% to 106.2 in the week ended 5 January, to its lowest level in more than four years. A drop in confidence at the start of the year is unusual and almost certainly reflects the impact of the catastrophic bush fires over the weekend. ‘Current economic conditions’ were down 12.9%, while ‘future economic conditions’ fell 8.1%; current economic conditions are at their lowest level since the global financial crisis, while sentiment toward the future economic outlook is at its lowest level since 1994. In contrast, ‘current finances’ rose 4%, while ‘future finances’ were up 0.3%. The ‘time to buy a household item’ sub-index gained 4.8%, recovering from a fall of 6.4% seen in the last reading of 2019. The four-week moving average of ‘inflation expectations’ was stable at 4.0%, though weekly readings saw a sharp fall, which should result in a weaker reading in the coming week.

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

Harris Scarfe to cut 440 jobs, shut 21 stores

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Original article by Lucas Baird
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 : 7-Jan-20

Failed department store group Harris Scarfe will be restructured prior to its sale. This will result in the closure of 21 stores nationwide, including eight in New South Wales and three in Victoria. This will leave 44 stores for prospective buyers of the group, which collapsed in late December. The store closures will result in the loss of about 440 jobs; Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees’ Association secretary Josh Peak says the union’s priority will be to ensure that retrenched workers receive their full entitlements.

CORPORATES
HARRIS SCARFE HOLDINGS LIMITED, SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION, DELOITTE RESTRUCTURING SERVICES, ALLEGRO FUNDS PTY LTD, GREENLIT BRANDS

Galleries grapple with climate change and unprecedented closures

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Original article by Broede Carmody
The Age – Page: Online : 7-Jan-20

Canberra’s National Gallery of Australia will re-open on 7 January, after smoke from the bushfires forced its closure two days earlier. NGA director Nick Mitzevich says the move was necessary to protect staff, visitors and the art museum’s collections, noting that airborne particles from the bushfires could potentially cause damage to artworks such as paintings over many years. Mitzevich says the loss of revenue due to the two-day closure will be ‘material’, but he adds that this is insignificant compared with the scale of the bushfire disaster.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

Wild firestorms to trigger $700m in insurance losses

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 13 : 7-Jan-20

Australia’s insurance industry is expected to be hard hit by the bushfires, with some estimates suggesting that the total cost of claims could top $700m. The Insurance Council of Australia has advised that the industry has received more than 6,000 bushfire-related claims since September, with the bulk of them having been submitted between November and 3 January. S&P Global Ratings says insurers could ultimately receive more than 10,000 bushfire-related claims.

CORPORATES
INSURANCE COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, S&P GLOBAL RATINGS

New car sales plummet as families curb spending

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 2 : 7-Jan-20

Data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries shows that new car sales totalled 1,062,867 in 2019, which is 7.8 per cent lower than previously. Sales fell by 3.8 per cent year-on-year in December, to 84,239. FCAI CEO Tony Weber says the 2019 sales figures reflect a challenging year for the Australian economy, noting that the new car market was affected by factors such as falling house prices, low wages growth and a weaker Australian dollar. The Toyota HiLux was the top-selling vehicle for the year.

CORPORATES
FEDERAL CHAMBER OF AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRIES, TOYOTA MOTOR CREDIT CORPORATION

Australia tops LNG exports, worth $49bn

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 13 & 18 : 7-Jan-20

Data from EnergyQuest shows that Australia exported 77.5 million tonnes of LNG in 2019, overtaking Qatar as the world’s biggest exporter. Qatar had been forecast to export 75 million tonnes in 2019, although EnergyQuest notes that the Middle Eastern nation has yet to release its official export figures. The US exported 34.3 million tonnes of LNG in 2019. Meanwhile, EnergyQuest notes that Australia’s total LNG output capacity is 88 million tonnes at present.

CORPORATES
ENERGYQUEST PTY LTD, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA. NATIONAL OFFSHORE PETROLEUM SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, EQUINOR ASA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Economic cost of bushfires estimated at $2 billion and rising

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Original article by Jessica Irvine
The Age – Page: Online : 7-Jan-20

Terry Rawnsley of SGS Economics & Planning estimates that the bushfires will reduce national gross domestic product by about 0.15 per cent in 2019-20. He adds that the economic cost to bushfire-affected regions will be within the range of $1.1bn to $1.9bn. Meanwhile, Shane Oliver of AMP Capital says the bushfire crisis is likely to reduce national economic output by between 0.25 per cent and 1 per cent, while economist Saul Eslake still expects the federal government to deliver a Budget surplus for 2019-20.

CORPORATES
SGS ECONOMICS AND PLANNING PTY LTD, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED