Federal Election bounce over – Business Confidence drops to lowest since April

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Nov-19

In Australia, Business Confidence fell 4.6pts (-4.2%) to 106.0 in October 2019, according to the latest Roy Morgan Business Single Source survey. Business Confidence is now at its lowest level since the Federal Election in mid-May; it is also 7.1pts lower than a year ago and 9.5pts below the long-term average of 115.5. Now 41.8% (down 9.9ppts) of businesses expect the business to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 20.3% (up 2.1ppts) expect the business to be ‘worse off’. Meanwhile, 40.7% (down 5.8ppts) of businesses expect the Australian economy to have ‘good times’ economically over the next year, while 52.4% (up 4.2ppts) expect the economy to have ‘bad times’. Some 50.4% (down 2.1ppts) of businesses say the next year will be a ‘good time to invest in growing the business’, while only 35.8% (down 2.8ppts) say it will be a ‘bad time to invest’. Roy Morgan Business Confidence results in October are based on 1,104 interviews with a cross-section of Australian businesses.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Greens playing with fire

Original article by Greg Brown, Andrew Clennell, Craig Johnstone, Olivia Caisley, Ean Higgins
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 12-Nov-19

Greens leader Richard Di Natale has attracted criticism for attempting to link the bushfires in New South Wales and Queensland to the major political parties’ climate change polices. National Party leader Michael McCormack has labelled the comments as disgraceful and disgusting, while shadow agriculture minister Joel Fitzgibbon has accused the Greens of hypocrisy given that they opposed Labor’s carbon pollution reduction scheme. Meanwhile, NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro says the state’s National Parks Service should have undertaken more backburning before the bushfire season commenced.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN GREENS, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, NEW SOUTH WALES. NATIONAL PARKS AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG, NEW SOUTH WALES RURAL FIRE SERVICE, SHINE ENERGY

Michel’s knows what its customers want, serving up record highs in coffee shop satisfaction

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Nov-19

Michel’s is the winner of Roy Morgan’s Coffee Shop of the Month Award for September 2019, with a customer satisfaction rating of 91%. Over the past two months, Michel’s has recorded its two highest satisfaction ratings, and is now in a strong position to win the annual satisfaction award for the first time since 2014. Michel’s is followed by Donut King (86%), The Coffee Club (85%) and Gloria Jean’s and Muffin Break (both on 83%). These customer satisfaction ratings have been drawn from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey, derived from in-depth face-to-face interviews with over 1,000 Australians each week in their homes.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, MICHEL’S, DONUT KING, THE COFFEE CLUB PTY LTD, GLORIA JEAN’S COFFEES PTY LTD, MUFFIN BREAK PTY LTD

Hundreds of schools to be shut down across Sydney, Wollongong and Newcastle as New South Wales faces catastrophic bushfire risk

Original article by
abc.net au – Page: Online : 12-Nov-19

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has declared a seven-day state of emergency as many parts of the state face ‘catastrophic’ bushfire conditions on 12 November. Around 600 schools across the state will be closed, along with childcare centres in high-risk areas. The NSW Rural Fire Service states that live embers could travel up to 30 kilometres from fire fronts, while it has warned people that it might not have enough time to warn them about some fires. Transport for NSW is warning people to avoid non-essential travel on roads and public transport.

CORPORATES
NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, TRANSPORT FOR NSW, NEW SOUTH WALES RURAL FIRE SERVICE

New mega union swings Labor to left

Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 11-Nov-19

The new United Workers Union will boast more than 150,000 members and a potential membership base of two million. The merger of United Voice and the National Union of Workers will be formally completed on 11 November. The new union will be aligned with Labor’s Left faction, whereas the NUW was aligned with the Right. The new union will have a national body rather than autonomous state branches.

CORPORATES
UNITED WORKERS UNION, UNITED VOICE, NATIONAL UNION OF WORKERS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Morrison close on scrapping medivac

Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 5 : 11-Nov-19

Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick says his party is close to reaching agreement with the federal government on its Ensuring Integrity Bill. Attorney-General Christian Porter has agreed to several concessions to secure Centre Alliance’s support for the bill, including a demerit-points system for union officials who breach workplace laws. The government is also hopeful of gaining sufficient numbers in the Senate to repeal Labor’s medivac bill.

CORPORATES
CENTRE ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, LAW COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

King Karl’s cut-price rescue bid

Original article by Leo Shanahan, Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 23 & 25 : 11-Nov-19

Clemenger BBDO Sydney CEO Peter Bosilkovski says the return of Karl Stefanovic should generate renewed interest in Nine’s ‘Today’ show, but he adds that the bold move may not necessarily result in a sustained ratings boost. Nine has confirmed that Stefanovic and Allison Langdon will co-host the breakfast show in 2020, a year after the former was sacked. Ratings have slumped in 2019, with new hosts Georgie Gardner and Deb Knight failing to resonate with viewers. Gardner responded to Stefanovic’s appointment by quitting the ‘Today’ show, effective immediately.

CORPORATES
NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, CLEMENGER BBDO (SYDNEY) PTY LTD, SPINACH ADVERTISING PTY LTD, IPG MEDIABRANDS, VIZEUM, OZTAM PTY LTD

Cancer of complacency puts economy at risk, says Chalmers

Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 11-Nov-19

Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers will use a speech on 11 November to tell Labor think-tank the John Curtin Research Centre that the Australian economy is "running on fumes". Chalmers will accuse the federal government of a "cancer of complacency" when it comes to economic management, while he will state that he has identified four key elements required for an economic strategy as a result of consultations with business. These include the introduction of an investment allowance and a ‘responsible’ increase in unemployment benefits.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, JOHN CURTIN RESEARCH CENTRE

First home buyer risk riles banks

Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 11-Nov-19

Major banks are doubtful that the federal government’s scheme to assist first-home buyers will start on its proposed date of 1 January. The scheme, announced during the final days of the May election campaign, will see the government provide up to 10,000 first-home buyers each year with free lenders’ mortgage insurance for people with deposits of as little as five per cent and less than 20 per cent. The big banks want the ability to charge higher interest rates for participants in the scheme, claiming that they will be a greater risk because of the low deposits involved.

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

Orocobre swims as its lithium rivals experience sinking feeling

Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 11-Nov-19

The share price of lithium miner Orocobre has fallen by just 13.7 per cent so far in 2019, while some of its peers have shed more than 50 per cent of their value. Orocobre also defied the general downtrend in the lithium sector by posting an underlying profit of $US24.8m ($36m) for 2018-19 and cashflow from operations of $US8.48m. Orocobre’s focus is on lithium carbonate, the price of which has not fallen as sharply as that of spodumene concentrate, which is produced by its major rivals.

CORPORATES
OROCOBRE LIMITED – ASX ORE, GALAXY RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX GXY, PILBARA MINERALS LIMITED – ASX PLS, ALTURA MINING LIMITED – ASX AJM, MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN, ALITA RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX A40, LIVENT INCORPORATED