Author: roymorgansocial

Treasurer warns of ageing bill

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 19-Nov-19

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will use a speech on 19 November to defend the federal government’s commitment to keeping the Budget in surplus. He will tell the Committee for Economic Development of Australia that a balanced Budget will enable the government to begin paying down debt, respond to disasters and address the long-term needs of an ageing nation. Frydenberg will emphasise the importance of population, participation and productivity in addressing the latter issue, noting that action is needed to boost productivity in particular.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, COMMITTEE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Crust Pizza maintains slim lead over Noodle Box in fast food customer satisfaction

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

Crust Pizza is the winner of Roy Morgan’s Quick Service Restaurant of the Month Award for September 2019, with a customer satisfaction rating of 91%. Crust Pizza finished in fourth position in January, but has since won the past four monthly awards. It was followed by Noodle Box (90.5%), Guzman y Gomez (89.1%), Oporto (88.6%) and Grill’d (88.1%) in September. These satisfaction ratings have been drawn from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey, which is compiled from in-depth face-to-face interviews with around 50,000 Australians each year in their homes. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says that achieving consistently high levels of customer satisfaction requires an ongoing effort from businesses, which must remember that they are only as good as their most recent satisfaction rating.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, CRUST GOURMET PIZZA BAR PTY LTD, THE NOODLE BOX PTY LTD, GUZMAN Y GOMEZ PTY LTD, OPORTO PTY LTD, GRILL’D PTY LTD

2019 Christmas retail sales to grow 2.6% to $52.7 billion

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

Roy Morgan’s annual Christmas retail sales forecasts conducted in conjunction with the Australian Retailers Association indicate that Australians will spend over $52.7 billion across retail stores during the Christmas trading period. This is an increase of 2.6% from the $51.4 billion of retail expenditure during the 2018 Christmas trading period. Growth in retail expenditure is predicted across all six categories measured, with spending on Food expected to grow by 3.2% from a year ago to nearly $21.7 billion. Also set to grow strongly will be Apparel, including clothing, footwear and accessories, up 3% to almost $4.2 billion. Hospitality businesses are forecast to grow by 2.3% to an expenditure of well over $7.4 billion, and an impressive $8.8 billion is expected to be spent on Household Goods this Christmas, an increase of 0.6% from a year ago. Department stores are set to experience slower growth than other categories, up by 0.5%, to overall spending of almost $3 billion. The category combining ‘Other retailing’, which includes online retailing, is predicted to experience the fastest growth of all, up by 3.7% to spending of over $7.6 billion.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION

Price expectations higher in Country Areas than Capital Cities

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

Surveyed in October, Australians as a whole expect prices to increase by 4.1% annually over the next two years. This is up very slightly (0.1%) on how they were feeling in September, but is down to a greater degree (0.4%) on their expectations a year earlier. Comparing price expectations around Australia reveals a significant divide between Country Areas with higher price inflation expectations than Australia’s Capital Cities. Australians in Country Areas expect prices to rise by 4.3% annually over the next two years, compared to only 4% in the Capital Cities. Price expectations in Country Victoria (4.8%) are higher than anywhere else in Australia and significantly higher than in the Victorian capital of Melbourne (4.1%). There is a similar dynamic at play in Country NSW (4.2%) compared to NSW Capital Sydney (3.8%) although the gap is narrower. The two exceptions to this rule are Queensland in which price expectations are at 4.4% throughout the State and South Australia. Price expectations in Adelaide (3.9%) are slightly higher than in Country South Australia (3.8%) although both are below the national average.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Fintechs slam CBA alerts as misleading

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 18-Nov-19

Raiz Invest has criticised the Commonwealth Bank of Australia for warning customers about the security risks associated with the use of fintech apps. CBA customers who use the Raiz app recently received a warning that their NetBank account had been compromised, and cautioned against sharing account log-in details with third parties. Raiz CEO George Lucas says the CBA alert was misleading and may even constitute an abuse of market power. Fintech Australia’s Rebecca Schot-Guppy says CBA’s actions are concerning given that the open banking regime is slated to begin in early 2020.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, RAIZ INVEST LIMITED – ASX RZI, FINTECH AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, ZIP CO LIMITED – ASX Z1P, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

Disney explores local tie-ups

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 18-Nov-19

Walt Disney Company’s Australian MD Kylie Watson-Wheeler has downplayed suggestions that the global media company may seek an alliance with a local telco to offer free subscriptions to the new Disney+ streaming video service. She says Disney has had talks with telcos, but stresses that the Disney+ launch is the top priority at present. Industry sources have suggested that an alliance a telco is unlikely to occur for several months after the local launch of Disney+ on 19 November.

CORPORATES
WALT DISNEY COMPANY, DISNEY+, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INCORPORATED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, HULU LLC, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM

IR class action costs ruling appealed

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 18-Nov-19

UK-based litigation funder Augusta Ventures will appeal a court ruling that it must pay security of costs up-front in a wage theft class action. The case centres on allegations that BHP and labour hire firms underpaid casual workers at the Mount Arthur coal mine. Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox warns that there is the potential for workers to receive nothing from a class action payout once a litigation funder has received its share. He has called for the sector to be subject to the same regulation as financial services providers.

CORPORATES
AUGUSTA VENTURES, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, ADERO LAW

Saracen goes for gold with $1bn swoop on Super Pit half-stake

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Original article by Perry Williams, Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 17 & 18 : 18-Nov-19

Sources have suggested that Saracen Mineral Holdings will seek to tap investors for more than $600m to help finance the acquisition of Barrick Gold’s 50 per cent stake in the Super Pit mine in Western Australia. Final bids for the stake were lodged on 15 November, and Barrick is expected to shortly announce Saracen as the successful bidder. The sale price is believed to exceed $1bn. Newmont Goldcorp is expected to seek a buyer for its 50 per cent stake in the gold mine.

CORPORATES
SARACEN MINERAL HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SAR, BARRICK GOLD CORPORATION, NEWMONT GOLDCORP, NORTHERN STAR RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX NST

Energy fix could isolate Victoria

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Original article by Mark Ludlow, Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 18-Nov-19

Federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor will shortly meet with his state and territory counterparts at the Council of Australian Governments energy council meeting. He will use a speech in Sydney on 18 November to outline his plans to negotiate a bilateral energy and climate policy agreement with each state, based on its unique circumstances. However, Taylor has warned that he will only strike deals with states that are ‘collaborative’. Energy Security Board chair Kerry Schott is supportive of state-based deals, provided they do not undermine existing national electricity rules.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS, AUSTRALIA. ENERGY SECURITY BOARD, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET OPERATOR LIMITED

Rising market driving spike in underquoting

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Original article by Duncan Hughes
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 18-Nov-19

Real estate agents have warned that underquoting is again becoming widespread in the industry, as the residential property market rebounds from the recent downturn. Underquoting was rife during the previous housing boom, and some agents are concerned that the practice is undermining buyers’ confidence. Hoskins Real Estate and one of its directors were recently ordered to pay almost $890,000 in penalties and compensation for underquoting.

CORPORATES
HOSKINS REAL ESTATE