Author: roymorgansocial

NAB to face legal pain over fee rort

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 13 & 14 : 18-Dec-19

National Australia Bank’s annual general meeting on 18 December will be overshadowed by allegations that it engaged in unconscionable conduct. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission has filed a statement of claim in which it outlines some 8,700 instances in which NAB is alleged to have charged fees for services that were not provided between December 2013 and February 2019. Amongst other things, ASIC also alleges that NAB failed to issue adequate product disclosure statements. NAB has indicated that it has already paid $37.8m in compensation to customers who were affected by the fee-for-no-service scandal.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP

Australia’s top Premium Brands – Vintage Cellars, Audi & American Express

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 18-Dec-19

As the economy slows, the Roy Morgan Research Institute conducted a national survey of Australia’s high-spending premium consumers and compared them with traditional consumers to identify the brands that attract the most premium consumers. Australia’s top-10 premium brands are Vintage Cellars (Coles Group), Audi, American Express, Qantas (international), Harris Farms Markets, David Jones, UniSuper, Zara, Emirates and Lexus. Of that list, the most surprising is Harris Farms Markets, which operates 26 grocery stores in NSW. The other winners are national or international brands, so for a single-state brand to have sufficient support is both unusual and a plaudit for Harris Farms. Vintage Cellars is the standout premium brand both nationally and in the Coles Group retail stable. And despite its recent challenges, the David Jones brand appears to retain attractiveness to premium spenders. Roy Morgan conducted in-depth face-to-face interviews in the homes of over 50,000 Australians per year over the five years to September 2019 to determine which leading brands attract Australia’s premium consumers. Australia’s top 10 premium brands are those that attract the highest proportion of premium consumers (NEOs) as a part of their customer base. Table-topping Vintage Cellars (54%), Audi (52%) and American Express (51%) all have customer bases of which over half are premium consumers – NEOs.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, VINTAGE CELLARS (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, AUDI AG, AMERICAN EXERGEN CORPORATION, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, HARRIS FARM MARKETS PTY LTD, DAVID JONES LIMITED, UNISUPER LIMITED, ZARA, EMIRATES AIRLINES, LEXUS

Fast-tracked income tax cuts unlikely

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 18-Dec-19

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has not ruled out bringing forward the next stage of the federal government’s income tax cuts package, which is due to take effect in mid-2022. However, sources have indicated that this is unlikely given the reduction in projected Budget surpluses over the next four years. Meanwhile, Chris Richardson of Deloitte Access Economics argues that bringing forward the second stage of the tax cuts to 2020-21 would require the iron ore price to remain about $US15 per tonne higher throughout that financial year.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, SOUTH AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence down to 108.0

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 18-Dec-19

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence fell 0.9% to 108.0 in the week ended 15 December. Current financial conditions fell 1.5%, while future financial conditions gained 3.7%. Current economic conditions rose 1.6%, while future economic conditions were down 1.2%. The ‘time to buy a household item’ sub-index fell 6.4% and the four-week moving average of inflation expectations was up 0.1ppt to 4.0%.

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

Dollar’s fall lifts retailers’ spirits

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 21 : 10-Dec-14

The latest Deloitte Access Economics retail forecasts study shows that the sector can expect higher margins during the 2014 Christmas period, due to the fall of the Australian dollar against the US currency. The overall sales growth figure for the calendar year is tipped to be 5.4%, compared with 3% on average per annum since 2010. The Australian National Retailers Association (ANRA) also forecasts turnover in the second week of December to reach $A7.6bn. However ANRA CEO Anna McPhee notes that retail sector margins have declined in the past three years

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL RETAILERS ASSOCIATION LIMITED, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Woodside’s Apache bid may kill Browse

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 20 : 10-Dec-14

Insiders claim that Australian-listed Woodside Petroleum has made a pitch to US partner Apache ­Energy, to acquire the latter’s 13% stake in the Wheatstone LNG development offshore Western Australia. The likely price tag is $US1.8bn ($A2.17bn), and other potential suitors appear to have abandoned their bids due to the recent decline of the crude oil price. If Woodside goes ahead, it may no longer want to pursue its stalled Browse LNG project. A floating LNG production platform has been proposed for it by Woodside and allies Royal Dutch Shell and BP

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, APACHE ENERGY LIMITED, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, BP PLC, TEMASEK HOLDINGS (PTE) LTD, HARBOUR ENERGY LIMITED, NOBLE GROUP LIMITED, EIG GLOBAL ENERGY PARTNERS, PAVILION ENERGY PTE LTD, ORBIS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

Catalogues hit the mark with shoppers

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Dec-14

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that 53 per cent of Australians aged 14+ read one or more store catalogues in an average week during the year to September 2014. Some 56 per cent bought a product as a result of seeing it in a catalogue. The survey also shows that 41 per cent of Australians read supermarket catalogues in an average week, and 58 per cent of these people buy items from the catalogues. Meanwhile, 38 per cent of readers buy something from a chemist’s catalogue, followed by liquor store catalogues (33 per cent)

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, DICK SMITH HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX DSH, WESFARMERS BUNNINGS LIMITED, IKEA TRADING PTY LTD

Scale of Qantas turnaround catches Joyce by surprise

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Original article by Steve Creedy
The Australian – Page: 20 : 10-Dec-14

Alan Joyce, CEO of Qantas Airways, admits that he and his management team had not expected their cost-cutting strategy to bear fruit so rapidly. He has been able to forecast a 2014-15 interim underlying profit pre-tax of up to $A350m, after the previous loss. The carrier’s stock on 9 December closed $A0.01 lower at $A2.38, but had gained nearly 14% the day before when the news was released. Meanwhile independent senator Nick Xenophon wants the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission to look into whether Qantas’s refusal to lower its fuel surcharge despite a falling crude oil price constitutes misleading and deceptive conduct

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, BOEING COMPANY, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, AIRBUS SAS, NICK XENOPHON GROUP

Patients wait too long for life-saving care – report

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Original article by Nicole Hasham
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 11 : 10-Dec-14

The Auditor-General’s office in New South Wales (NSW) has issued the latest survey of public hospital emergency department performance. It shows an improvement on 2013, despite a rise in patient numbers to close to 2.7 million. However waiting times at hospitals in the Sydney, Central Coast and Western NSW health districts were unacceptably long, as the facilities failed to meet the standard of four fifths of patients being treated within 10 minutes. Ambulance response times meanwhile have fallen to 10.8 minutes, in the biggest improvement since 2009

CORPORATES
NEW SOUTH WALES. AUDITOR GENERAL’S DEPT, NEW SOUTH WALES. MINISTRY OF HEALTH, GOSFORD HOSPITAL, ROYAL PRINCE ALFRED HOSPITAL, CONCORD HOSPITAL, CANTERBURY HOSPITAL, AMBULANCE SERVICE OF NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Robots to take 500,000 jobs

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 10-Dec-14

The Department of Industry’s "Australian Industry Report 2014" suggests that many white-collar jobs that involve routine tasks could automated in coming years. These include roles such as accountants, bank tellers, supermarket cashiers and pharmacists. Some 78.6 per cent of people in roles that are risk from automation hold a university degree. A report in 2013 found that around 47 per cent of jobs in the US could potentially be replaced by automation

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, OXFORD UNIVERSITY. OXFORD MARTIN SCHOOL