Author: roymorgansocial

Westpac open to settlement

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 17 & 21 : 10-Dec-19

The Federal Court has been told that Westpac and Austrac could potentially finalise a statement of agreed facts with regard to the bank’s breach of anti-money laundering laws by late February. Westpac has also advised that it will not contest the bulk of the 23 million civil charges that it is facing, which could allow the case to be settled quickly. Westpac is also under scrutiny by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, while the bank could face a board spill at its annual meeting.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Gordon, Catalano block Seven West bid for Prime

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Original article by Leo Shanahan, Nick Tabakoff, Zoe Samios
The Australian – Page: 17 & 28 : 10-Dec-19

Seven West Media has offered a fully franked special dividend of $0.03 per share for regional affiliate Prime Media Group, in addition to the initial offer of 0.4582 of its shares. However, two of Prime’s biggest shareholders – WIN Corporation owner Bruce Gordon and Australian Community Media’s Antony Catalano – will oppose the bid. The former has stated that Australia’s outdated media ownership laws have stymied rival bids for Prime, while Catalano has reiterated his interest in acquiring Prime in order to build ACM into a diversified regional media group.

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA

Boost Mobile and ALDImobile locked in tight race for annual satisfaction award

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 10-Dec-19

Boost Mobile is the winner of Roy Morgan’s Mobile Phone Service Provider of the Month Award for October 2019, with a customer satisfaction rating of 89%. Boost Mobile now sits equal with ALDImobile on four monthly satisfaction wins for 2019, setting up a close finish for the annual award. Boost Mobile is followed by ALDImobile (85%), TPG (79%) and Belong (79%). It is important to note that Boost Mobile is not itself a network provider but rather a ‘Mobile Virtual Network Operator’, which utilises the underlying Telstra mobile network to provide its service. When it comes to underlying mobile networks, the Vodafone network with an overall customer satisfaction rating of 77% is narrowly ahead of the Telstra network on 76% and the Optus network on 74%. These ratings have been drawn from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey, derived from in-depth face-to-face interviews with around 50,000 Australians each year in their homes.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, BOOST MOBILE, ALDIMOBILE, TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM, BELONG PTY LTD

TerryWhite Chemmart’s impressive rise in customer satisfaction levels pays off

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 10-Dec-19

TerryWhite Chemmart is the winner of Roy Morgan’s Chemist/Pharmacy of the Month Award for October 2019, with a customer satisfaction rating of 94%. The pharmacy chain’s recent ratings improvement has resulted in back-to-back monthly satisfaction awards. It is followed by Guardian (92%), Chemist Warehouse (90%), Priceline Pharmacy (90%) and Discount Drugstores (90%). The ratings are drawn from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey, which is based on in-depth face-to-face interviews with over 1,000 Australians each week in their homes.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, TERRYWHITE CHEMMART, GUARDIAN PHARMACY, CHEMIST WAREHOUSE, PRICELINE PHARMACY, DISCOUNT DRUGSTORES PTY LTD

Penfolds loss in China counterfeit wrangle

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 19 : 9-Dec-19

The Beijing High Court has overturned a previous decision by a Beijing intellectual product court. The latter had thrown out a trade mark used by winery Rush Rich, with its labelling similar that used by Treasury Wine Estates’ Penfolds brand. Treasury Wine Estates has been trying to get the ‘copycat’ Rush Rich label outlawed by the Chinese courts for two years, while it prosecuted an intellectual property case against Rush Rich earlier in 2019 and was awarded $375,302 in compensation.

CORPORATES
TREASURY WINE ESTATES LIMITED – ASX TWE, PENFOLDS WINES PTY LTD, RUSH RICH, HIGH COURT OF BEIJING

Hayne rebukes directors, PM on climate risk failure

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Original article by James Fernyhough
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 9-Dec-19

Royal commissioner Kenneth Hayne says there is no excuse for inaction when it comes for the need for directors to deal with climate change risk. Hayne says it is now international expert consensus that such risk exists, and that Australia’s financial regulators are all clear that climate change represents real and measurable financial risks. Hayne was speaking at a recent gathering of business leaders, regulators and government officials that was organised by the Centre for Policy Development.

CORPORATES
CENTRE FOR POLICY DEVELOPMENT LIMITED, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, QBE INSURANCE GROUP LIMITED – ASX QBE, COLES GROUP LIMITED – ASX COL

Seven, Prime buff up terms of merger deal

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 9-Dec-19

Seven West Media and regional affiliate Prime Media Group have declined to comment on speculation that investors may be offered a special dividend to make their proposed merger more attractive. Seven’s offer values Prime at between $0.183 and $0.206 per share, but an independent expert’s report has valued Prime at between $0.21 and $0.24 per share. Paying a cash dividend and utilising Prime’s franking credits would lift the bid to a range that is closer to this valuation.

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, LONERGAN EDWARDS AND ASSOCIATES LIMITED, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, BIRKETU PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA, REGAL FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

2020 visions: big calls for new year

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 & 31 : 9-Dec-19

The CEOs of Australian media, digital media and advertising groups have shared their views on the outlook for their company in 2020 and the media sector in general. Bauer Media Australia CEO Brendon Hill says the deal to acquire Pacific Magazines will increase the publisher’s stability and allow it to increase its focus on the creation of compelling branded content, while Foxtel CEO Patrick Delaney says the pay-TV group’s large customer base will be its biggest advantage in 2020. Southern Cross Media Group CEO Grant Blackley says factors such as weak consumer sentiment and its flow-on effect on the advertising market will be the biggest challenge facing his company in 2020.

CORPORATES
BAUER MEDIA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA, SEEK LIMITED – ASX SEK, OOH!MEDIA LIMITED – ASX OML, CARSALES.COM LIMITED – ASX CAR, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, HT&E LIMITED – ASX HT1, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, DOMAIN HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX DHA, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, GOOGLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FACEBOOK AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TWITTER AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, FETCHTV PTY LTD, JC DECAUX AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

New heart drives Morrison agenda

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Original article by Simon Benson, Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 5 : 9-Dec-19

A senior Coalition source has indicated that a streamlined Expenditure Review Committee is now the ‘heart of government’. The source claims that the federal government’s major decisions and broad economic strategies are made by the ERC, and it now comprises just six permanent members, including Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. Meanwhile, some cabinet ministers have highlighted the extremely close relationship between Morrison and Frydenberg.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. EXPENDITURE REVIEW COMMITTEE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Foxtel leads ad streaming wars

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich, Zoe Samios
The Australian – Page: 25 : 9-Dec-19

Foxtel CEO Patrick Delany says streaming and data are a focus for the pay-TV group, noting that it has invested a lot of money on data in the last year. About 53 per cent of Foxtel customers with an IQ4 set-top box used video-on-demand in October, compared with 45 per cent in July. Meanwhile, the launch of Kayo Sports has attracted new advertisers to Foxtel, which has also introduced a new six-second advertising format.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, KAYO SPORTS, FOXTEL MEDIA, FOXTEL NOW, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, OOH!MEDIA LIMITED – ASX OML