Author: roymorgansocial

States urged to sell $220b in public assets rather than increase debt

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Original article by Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 20-Jun-19

The net debt of Australia’s state governments is set to rise sharply in coming years to finance infrastructure projects, but analysis shows that they have almost $220bn worth of assets that could be privatised. This includes $67.4bn worth of public assets in Queensland and $59.bn in New South Wales. IFM Investors CEO Brett Himbury says the nation’s superannuation funds would be keen to invest in state government assets. The NSW government may be open to further asset sales, but Queensland and Western Australia have ruled out this option.

CORPORATES
IFM INVESTORS PTY LTD, INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERSHIPS AUSTRALIA, S&P GLOBAL RATINGS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSGRID PTY LTD, ENDEAVOUR ENERGY LIMITED

Millar to serve ABC a country breakfast

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 7 : 20-Jun-19

The ABC has advised that Lisa Millar will replace Virginia Trioli as the co-host of the public broadcaster’s ‘News Breakfast’ program in August. The ABC veteran has been a foreign correspondent for the last nine years, and notes that the city-country divide has become more pronounced during her absence from Australia. As a result, Millar wants to cover more stories about regional Australia in her new role.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED

Banks suffer as battle for home loans heats up

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Original article by Samantha Bailey
The Australian – Page: 21 : 20-Jun-19

Data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority shows that home loan approvals fell by 16.5 per cent year-on-year in the March quarter. The figures also show that the value of mortgage loans written by Australia’s major banks increased by just 2.6 per cent over the last year, compared with growth of eight per cent for customer-owned banks. The total assets of the latter increased by 1.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter, while the assets of the ‘big four’ banks declined by 0.4 per cent.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, CUSTOMER OWNED BANKING ASSOCIATION

Stop the copycats: Murdoch targets tech titans

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Original article by Stephen Drill
The Australian – Page: 17 : 20-Jun-19

News Corporation’s co-chairman Lachlan Murdoch has stressed the importance of investing in journalism for the global media group. He also warned that many news websites merely copy other publishers’ stories rather than producing their own content, and digital search platforms should recognise this and give prominence to companies that invest in journalism. Murdoch also said News Corp will be a growth business after selling the bulk of its entertainment assets to Disney.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, WALT DISNEY COMPANY, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SKY NEWS, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, REALESTATE.COM.AU, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, WPP PLC

Four face charges on MH17 downing

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Original article by Jacquelin Magnay
The Australian – Page: 5 : 20-Jun-19

The MH17 Joint Investigation Team has announced that four members of Russia’s military have been formally charged with the murders of the 289 passengers and crew of the downed airliner. The charges will be heard by the Criminal Court of Schipol in the Netherlands, although Russia is unlikely to allow the four men to be extradited. None of the accused was directly responsible for firing the missile that downed the Malaysia Airlines plane in July 2014, but Dutch chief prosecutor Fred Westerbeke says that under his nation’s criminal law, people who played an organising role can also be held liable.

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MALAYSIAN AIRLINE SYSTEMS

ATO plugs up cash-in-hand payments leak

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 19-Jun-19

The Australian Taxation Office has signalled that it will crack down on companies that make cash-in-hand payments to their employees. Assistant commissioner Peter Holt says that from 1 July, payments to workers will only be tax deductible if they comply with pay-as-you-go withholding and reporting requirements. The crackdown is in response to recommendations made by the federal government’s Black Economy Taskforce, which has estimated that the cash economy is worth up to $50bn a year.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE

States climb $180bn debt mountain

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 19-Jun-19

The combined net debt of Australia’s state and territory governments is set to exceed $184bn over the next four years, compared with just $81bn in 2018-19. Increased investment in infrastructure will be a key contributor to the debt blowout, and Robert Carling of the Centre for Independent Studies stresses the need for such projects to be subject to a cost-benefit analysis. He adds that New South Wales and Victoria could potentially be at risk of losing their AAA credit ratings if their net debt continues to rise, although he says this is unlikely in the near-term.

CORPORATES
THE CENTRE FOR INDEPENDENT STUDIES LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, NEW SOUTH WALES. THE TREASURY, SOUTH AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE

Defector Bernardi may turn Lib again

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Original article by Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 2 : 19-Jun-19

Senate crossbencher Cory Bernardi has signalled that he may consider rejoining the Liberal Party. Bernardi says he has not held any such talks with Prime Minister Scott Morrison, but he would be open to doing so. He adds that his main priority in the new parliament will be to support the Coalition’s legislative agenda. Eric Abetz and Dean Smith are among the Liberal senators who say Bernardi would be welcomed back into the Liberal fold. He resigned to form the Australian Conservatives party during the tenure of former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATIVES, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, CENTRE ALLIANCE, ONE NATION PARTY

Coles CEO’s $1bn refresh gambit

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 19-Jun-19

Coles Group has outlined plans to reduce costs by $1bn over the next four years in a bid to arrest the 20 per cent downturn in earnings over the last two years. The proceeds from the cost-cutting program will be redirected to initiatives such as refurbishing stores and enhancing Coles’ online operations. Coles plans to open about 10 new stores in 2020, compared with 21 in 2019. It also intends to refurbish 75 stores in 2020, up from 50 in fiscal 2019. Coles shares closed 3.44 per cent higher at $13.21 on 18 June.

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COLES GROUP LIMITED – ASX COL, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, COSTCO WHOLESALE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TARGET AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, VERTIUM ASSET MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

BHP energises coal to dodge China import restrictions

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 18 : 19-Jun-19

BHP is looking at ways to upgrade the quality of thermal coal produced at its Mt Arthur mine in New South Wales, in order to increase exports to Japan and South Korea. The move is aimed at offsetting the impact of China’s restrictions on coal imports from Australia. Coal buyers in Japan and Korea generally prefer coal that contains about 6,000 kilocalories of energy per kilogram, whereas the coal that BHP ships to China typically has 5,500 kilocalories of energy per kilogram.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, YANCOAL AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX YAL, S&P GLOBAL PLATTS