Author: roymorgansocial

Digital giants to feel watchdog’s bite

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Original article by Leo Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 24 : 29-Jul-19

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims says the proposed code of conduct for digital platforms would be compulsory, and any breaches of the code would attract large penalties. He adds that the code would result in new sources of revenue for media companies, and argues that in many ways digital platforms are publishers and should therefore be treated like publishers. The code of conduct is amongst the recommendations in the ACCC’s final report on its inquiry into digital platforms.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY

Internode tops for satisfaction and customers least likely to switch

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Jul-19

Internode has won Roy Morgan’s Internet Service Provider Customer Satisfaction Award for June 2019, with a customer satisfaction rating of 82%. Internode’s victory comes on the back of an 18% improvement in customer satisfaction since June 2018, the largest increase of any of the leading ISPs. It is followed by iiNet with a customer satisfaction rating of 79% (a 4% point increase on a year ago) and TPG on 75% (up 7% points). Internode and iiNet are both owned by TPG. Meanwhile, in-depth research shows that just 4.5% of Internode customers are likely to switch fixed broadband service providers in the next year, ahead of Westnet (4.9%) and Foxtel (5%).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, INTERNODE SYSTEMS PTY LTD, IINET LIMITED, TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM, WESTNET PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

Inflation data set to drift further from RBA target

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 29-Jul-19

The consensus of economists polled by Bloomberg is that Australia’s underlying inflation rate eased from 1.6 per cent to 1.5 per cent in the June quarter. The CPI data to be released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on 31 July is likely to heighten expectations that the Reserve Bank will further ease monetary policy by October, while it might also boost the local sharemarket.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX

Why not all – chocolate that is! 2 million Australians love bars, blocks & boxes

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Jul-19

Research carried out by Roy Morgan in the year to March 2019 shows that 14.2 million Australians aged 14+ consume chocolate in an average four weeks. Nearly 11 million Australians (77.5%) eat chocolate bars, just over 8.9 million (62.9%) consume chocolate blocks, and 4.4 million (31.1%) indulge in boxed chocolates. Meanwhile, over 2 million Australians eat all three in an average four weeks, equating to 15.1% of chocolate consumers. The most popular combination for mixing and matching types of chocolate is those who consume both chocolate bars and blocks in an average four weeks, numbering some 4.22 million (29.8%) of all chocolate consumers. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says that while chocolate boxes find their greatest appeal amongst the older Generation X, chocolate bars are the top pick of Millennials, and the most likely generation to indulge in boxed chocolates are in fact the younger Generation Z.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

1-in-10 Australians now buy home products online

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Jul-19

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey shows that 10.4% of Australians aged 14+ bought home products online in an average three months during the year to March 2019; this is up 2.7% points since 2014. Meanwhile, some 4.9% of Australians now purchase homewares and manchester online, up 1.2% since 2014. The number of Australians who buy home decorations online has risen by 0.7% to 2.3%, followed by baby and nursery products (up 0.6% to 2.4%), and furniture (up 1% to 2.2%). Analysis shows that over two-thirds of Australia’s online home products buyers are women and particularly Millennial women aged in their 30s or 40s, while the average household income for online home products buyers is well over $120,000 per year.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Super, insurance chiefs to face MPs

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 26-Jul-19

The CEOs of insurance companies and superannuation funds will be required to appear before federal parliament’s Standing Committee on Economics at least once a year. Bank CEOs have had to front the committee regularly since 2016, and the heads of industry groups such as the Australian Banking Association will now also be asked to do so. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has defended the government’s slow response to implementing the Hayne royal commission’s recommendations, stressing the need to proceed with caution to avoid any unintended consequences.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STANDING COMMITTEE ON ECONOMICS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN BANKING ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Health insurance exodus continues at alarming rate

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Original article by James Fernyhough
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 26-Jul-19

The percentage of Australians aged between 20 and 28 with private health insurance cover for hospitals fell by 6.9 per cent in 2018, according to data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority. The overall percentage of Australians with hospital cover at the end of 2018 was 44.6 per cent, the lowest level since December 2006. The latest data follow a recent report from the Grattan Institute which claimed that the private health insurance sector is in a "death spiral" because of the continued decline of people with cover.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, GRATTAN INSTITUTE, NIB HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NHF, MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL

MJ Bale compensates underpaid staff, echoes call for award revamp

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 26-Jul-19

Menswear retailer MJ Bale has become the latest prominent retailer to have been found to be underpaying its staff under the general retail industry award or under enterprise agreements. Company founder and CEO Matt Jensen says the underpayments were inadvertent and highlight the need for the retail award to be simplified, with his comments being echoed by Australian Retailers Association CEO Russell Zimmerman. MJ Bale has compensated the affected staff.

CORPORATES
MJ BALE, AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION, SUPER RETAIL GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUL

Netflix comes to Foxtel, but it’s no cheaper

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Original article by Tegan Jones
gizmodo.com.au – Page: Online : 24-Jul-19

Foxtel subscribers will be able to access content from Netflix under an alliance between the two companies. Foxtel users with an IQ4 set-top box have begun to receive software upgrades that will enable them to view Netflix content, while those with an IQ3 box will have to wait a bit longer. Foxtel will also provide customers with a new remote control with a dedicated Netflix button as part of the changes, although customers who have been Foxtel for less for eight years will have to pay for it. Foxtel customers with a package worth at least $49 will be able to get Netflix for free for six months; after that they will have to pay the same as it currently costs for a stand-alone Netflix subscription.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED

ASIC sues ANZ over $50m unlawful customer fees

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Original article by Samantha Bailey
The Australian – Page: 24 : 26-Jul-19

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission has filed Federal Court action against the ANZ Bank, alleging that periodic payment fees that some 460,000 customers paid between August 2003 and February 2016 were unlawful. ASIC will contend that the bank failed to disclose the fact that the fees may have been illegal until January 2014, despite being made aware of the issue in mid-2011. Affected customers were not informed until September 2015, and ANZ did not begin compensating them until August 2016. ANZ has indicated that it will "vigorously defend" the civil lawsuit.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA