Author: roymorgansocial

Waislitz chips in $30m for papers

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Original article by John Stensholt
The Australian – Page: 21 : 9-Jul-19

Thorney Opportunities, the listed investment company of businessman Alex Waislitz, will finance 25 per cent of the deal to acquire the regional newspapers of Nine Entertainment Company. Waislitz’s private company, Thorney Investment Group, will also finance 25 per cent of the deal, while former Domain CEO Antony Catalano will contribute the balance. Waislitz and Catalano recently finalised the $115m deal to buy the regional assets from Nine.

CORPORATES
THORNEY OPPORTUNITIES LIMITED – ASX TOP, THORNEY INVESTMENT GROUP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED, DOMAIN HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX DHA

Stick to surplus to keep AAA

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 9-Jul-19

S&P Global Ratings upgraded Australia’s credit rating outlook to ‘stable’ in September 2018. S&P’s Anthony Walker says the federal government must retain its target of returning the Budget to surplus in 2019-20 in order to retain its triple-A credit rating. He has stressed the need for the government to have a strong public balance sheet so it can respond with fiscal stimulus if there is an external shock to the economy in the future. Martin Petch of Moody’s Investors Service in turn says the Australian economy will be boosted by factors such as the government’s income tax cuts, official interest rate cuts and spending on infrastructure.

CORPORATES
S&P GLOBAL RATINGS, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Uber set to overtake taxis in Australia

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Jul-19

New research from Roy Morgan shows that 4.4 million Australians aged 14+ (21.5% of the population) now use Uber in an average three months, while 4.5 million (21.7%) use taxis. Uber officially launched in Australia in late 2012, and it has really taken off over the last three years. Patronage of Uber has grown from 6.6% in mid-2016 to 21.5% now, an increase of 14.9ppts in less than three years. During the same time, fewer Australians are using taxis but the decline has been far gentler down from 24.4% in mid-2016 to 21.7% now, a drop of only 2.7ppts. Analysis using Roy Morgan’s Technology Adoption Segments shows that Uber has been a big hit with "Technology Early Adopters", with 40% travelling by Uber in an average three months (compared to 30% that have travelled by taxi). Those in the "Digital Life" segment are also more likely to have travelled by Uber (23%) than by taxi (16%). However taxis (30%) still hold a marginal advantage amongst the "Professional Technology Mainstream", ahead of Uber (26%). Taxis are also the preferred personal transportation vehicle of choice for "Technophobes"; nearly twice as many travel by taxis (17%) than travel by Uber (10%).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, UBER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Morgan Stanley puts cat among the pigeons

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 28 : 9-Jul-19

The S&P/ASX 200 recorded its third-biggest daily loss for 2019 on 8 July, after gaining two per cent in the previous week. Morgan Stanley’s move to downgrade its equity market recommendation from ‘equalweight’ to ‘underweight’ contributed to the pullback, and Andrew Sheets of Morgan Stanley says the investment bank’s global equity weight is now at its lowest since coverage began in 2014. Meanwhile, with the US earnings season set to begin shortly, Tobias Levkovich of Citigroup says consensus estimates for earnings in the June quarter could be too low.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, MORGAN STANLEY AND COMPANY INCORPORATED, CITIGROUP INCORPORATED, STANDARD AND POOR’S 500 INDEX, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

Local staff to be hit hard in Deutsche cull

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis, Bridget Carter
The Australian – Page: 17 & 22 : 9-Jul-19

Deutsche Bank’s decision to close its global equity division will result in the loss of at least 50 jobs in Australia. The move will affect staff working in equities trading, sales, ­research and ­equity capital markets, while sources have indicated that jobs in its advisory operations will also be cut. Deutsche’s exit from equities trading is part of a broader restructuring which will result in the loss of 18,000 jobs worldwide. Restructuring costs are forecast to result in Deutsche posting a loss of EUR2.8bn for the second quarter.

CORPORATES
DEUTSCHE BANK AG, NOMURA AUSTRALIA LIMITED, CIMB SECURITIES INTERNATIONAL (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, CLSA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, JEFFERIES AND COMPANY, WILSONS ADVISORY AND STOCKBROKING LIMITED, CRAIGS INVESTMENT PARTNERS LIMITED

Australia set to emit 13pc of all carbon

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Original article by James Fernyhough
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 8-Jul-19

A report commissioned by the Australian Conservation Foundation contends that the nation will be responsible for up to 13 per cent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions by 2030. Prepared by German think tank Climate Analytics, the report takes into account emissions from Australian fossil fuel exports that are burnt in other countries. The Minerals Council of Australia estimated in 2018 that demand for imported thermal coal in Asia could rise by up to 400 million tonnes by 2030, while Gavan McFadzean from the ACF rejects the suggestion that Australia should not be responsible for what other countries do with its fossil fuels.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INCORPORATED, CLIMATE ANALYTICS, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

China: iron ore import prices too high

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Original article by Michael Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 8-Jul-19

The price of iron ore for delivery to China recently peaked at $US126 per tonne. However, the iron ore price retreated on 5 July after the Chinese government indicated that it could intervene after the nation’s steel mills claimed that futures traders are manipulating the iron ore market. The China Iron & Steel Association’s vice-president Qu Xiuli is said to have indicated that the government intends to address ‘irregularities’ that have been identified by the nation’s steel makers. The reports prompted a sharp fall in the share prices of BHP and Rio Tinto.

CORPORATES
CHINA IRON AND STEEL ASSOCIATION, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, MYSTEEL.COM LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE

Labor’s deeming rate reduction predicted to cost $1b

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 8-Jul-19

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the federal government will change the deeming rate for pensioners by the end of 2019, and that over 25 per cent of pension recipients will be better off as a result. Shadow social services minister Linda Burney says a change in the deeming rate is urgently needed, and that cutting it by 1.25 per cent would see pensioners $3,875 a year better off. The deeming rate has not been changed since 2015, while cutting it by 1.25 per cent would reduce the Budget bottom line of at least $1 billion.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Kelty: cut the top tax rate

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Original article by Jennifer Hewett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 8-Jul-19

Former ACTU secretary Bill Kelty warns that Australia’s income tax system will remain uncompetitive unless there is broader reform than the federal government’s tax cuts package. Kelty argues that any reforms to the tax system should be in response to the demands of the future, negating Labor’s view that the stage-three tax cuts should have been put on hold due to uncertainty about the economic outlook in five years’ time, when they are slated to take effect. Kelty also says Australia’s top marginal income tax rate is too high, and changes to the enterprise bargaining system are needed.

CORPORATES
ACTU, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA

RBA, tax cuts are more than enough boost

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 8-Jul-19

Stephen Koukoulas of Market Economics and Andrew Charlton from Alphabeta say that further fiscal stimulus is not needed at present to boost the Australian economy. They argue that the federal government’s income tax cuts, the Reserve Bank’s latest official interest rate reduction and an easing of credit restrictions should be sufficient, and in fact may provide a greater economic boost than many observers anticipate. They add that too much fiscal stimulus could put a return to a Budget surplus at risk.

CORPORATES
MARKET ECONOMICS PTY LTD, ALPHABETA, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA