Author: roymorgansocial

Lowy calls time on retail empire

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Original article by Ben Wilmot, Bridget Carter
The Australian – Page: 17 & 22 : 17-Oct-19

The Lowy family has sold more than 206 million shares in Scentre Group via a block trade. The $815m transaction comprised some 3.9 per cent of the real estate investment trust’s shares, and it marks the family’s exit from the owner of Westfield shopping centres in Australia and New Zealand. Steven Lowy, the son of Westfield’s co-founder Sir Frank Lowy, resigned from Scentre’s board in April. Peter Lowy also stepped down from the board of Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield earlier in 2019.

CORPORATES
SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, UNIBAIL-RODAMCO-WESTFIELD – ASX URW

Regrets, GetUp has a few, over hard-right assault

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Original article by Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 6 : 17-Oct-19

GetUp’s national director Paul Oosting has told the National Press Club that he is proud of the activist group’s campaign during the 18 May federal election. However, he concedes that GetUp erred in targeting conservative MPs in traditionally safe seats, with five of the six seats that it focused on having been retained by the Coalition. Oosting says GetUp choose this strategy as it had expected Labor to win the election.

CORPORATES
GETUP LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

PM to keep his cool on economy

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Original article by Rosie Lewis, Simon Benson, Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 17-Oct-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has downplayed concerns about the outlook for the Australian economy, arguing that good economic and financial management is needed in times of uncertainty. Labor leader Anthony ­Albanese has responded to the International Monetary Fund’s latest downgrade of its economic growth forecast for Australia by calling for a stimulus package. Former federal treasurer Peter Costello has in turn urged supply-side reforms, arguing that fiscal and monetary policy have reached the limits of their effectiveness.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. FUTURE FUND MANAGEMENT AGENCY, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION

Nine fights tech giants with new ad model

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 : 17-Oct-19

Nine Entertainment Company has used its annual ‘upfronts’ to reveal that it will adopt a cost per completed view model for advertising across its digital platforms. Clients will be charged only if a video ad is viewed in full. The move is aimed at technology giants Facebook and Google, which have attracted scrutiny over their own advertising policies. Nine has also advised that it has amalgamated the data that has been gathered across its digital platforms.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, YOUTUBE INCORPORATED, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED

Regionals undercut bigger bank rivals

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis, Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 17 & 21 : 16-Oct-19

Analysis by RateCity shows that some of Australia’s regional banks are currently offering much lower variable home loan interest rates than the ‘big four’ bank. However, Victor German of Macquarie Group notes that existing customers at some of the smaller banks are also paying much higher mortgage interest rates than new customers. The mortgage pricing of smaller banks is among the issues that will be examined by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s new inquiry into the sector.

CORPORATES
RATECITY PTY LTD, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, SUNCORP BALANCED PROPERTY FUND, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, MACQUARIE BANK LIMITED – ASX MBL, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ, AMP BANK LIMITED, ING BANK (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

APRA urges more capital be held against NZ banks

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 & 17 : 16-Oct-19

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has warned that the nation’s major banks may need to increase the amount of capital they hold domestically in response to proposed changes to capital requirements in New Zealand. APRA is concerned that the Reserve Bank of NZ’s reforms may prompt banks to shift capital to NZ, where they are the dominant players in the banking sector. The ANZ Bank estimates that APRA’s proposal would reduce its common equity tier 1 capital by about 75 basis points; Westpac in turn says its tier 1 capital would be reduced by about 40 basis points.

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

Water’s worth its weight in gold as big producers run dry in the drought

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 17 & 24 : 16-Oct-19

The Cowal gold mine in western New South Wales accounted for nearly 40 per cent of Evolution Mining’s total production for the September quarter. However, COO Bob Fulker has warned that production at Cowal may be hit by the end of 2019-20 if the drought in NSW persists and Evolution’s efforts to reduce the mine’s water consumption do not pay off. CEO Jake Klein notes that Evolution now recycles about 50 per cent of the water used at Cowal. The drought may also affect output at Newcrest Mining’s Cadia mine.

CORPORATES
EVOLUTION MINING LIMITED – ASX EVN, NEWCREST MINING LIMITED – ASX NCM, GLENCORE PLC, AUSTRALIA. BUREAU OF METEOROLOGY

Young losing trust in democracy is a threat to society

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 2 : 16-Oct-19

The University of Western Australia has used its submission to a Senate inquiry to highlight the declining trust in democracy, particularly among younger Australians. The UWA submission has also called for greater emphasis on civics and citizenship in the national curriculum. In addition, the UWA has advocated allowing dual citizens to be elected to parliament by repealing section 44(i) of the Constitution.

CORPORATES
UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA, MONASH UNIVERSITY

Southern Cross hit hard by sell-off

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 19 : 16-Oct-19

Southern Cross Media Group has advised that EBITDA for the first half of 2019-20 is expected to be within the range of $60m to $68m, compared with $82m for the same period in 2018-19. The group has also reported that revenue for the first quarter was 8.5 per cent lower than previously, due to challenging conditions in the advertising market. CFO Nick McKechnie says the group has no plans for further asset sales after selling its broadcast transmission assets in August.

CORPORATES
SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, BROADCAST AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Cup day rate cut less likely on minutes

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 16-Oct-19

Financial markets have priced in a 36 per cent chance that the Reserve Bank will reduce the cash rate in November, following the release of the minutes from the central bank’s October board meeting. Amongst other things, board members expressed concern about the impact of historically low interest rates on savers and the housing market. The general consensus of economists is that the cash rate will remain on hold until February.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA