Author: roymorgansocial

St Barbara confident of Atlantic gold

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 20 : 16-May-19

Gold producer St Barbara will finance its proposed $768m acquisition of Canada-based Atlantic Gold via a non-renounceable rights offer and cash holdings. Paul Hissey of RBC describes Canada as a "relatively safe move" for St Barbara. Atlantic has forecast that its gold production in 2019 will be within the range of 92,000-98,000 ounces. Newcrest Mining and Northern Star Resources are among the other Australian miners to have bought North American assets in the last year.

CORPORATES
ST BARBARA LIMITED – ASX SBM, ATLANTIC GOLD CORPORATION, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS, NEWCREST MINING LIMITED – ASX NCM, NORTHERN STAR RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX NST, ALLIED GOLD

FWC queries unions’ living wage

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 16-May-19

The Fair Work Commission heard the final day of evidence in its review of the minimum wage on 15 May. The ACTU wants the minimum wage to be increased to 60 per cent of median earnings over two years, in order to lift all workers out of poverty. FWC President Iain Ross warned that doing so could result in pay increases for all workers on the minimum wage, rather than just those living below the poverty line. He also said the tax and transfer system could be a more efficient way to address the issue of poverty than an increase in the minimum wage. The FWC’s decision on the minimum wage is expected to be announced by the end of May.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Coalition’s legacy of record low growth takes hit

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Original article by Michael Roddan, Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 16-May-19

Official data shows that wages grew by 0.5 per cent in the March quarter and 2.3 per cent in the year to March. George Tharenou of UBS says the rate of growth in wages is not sufficient to put upward pressure on inflation. Marcel Thieliant of Capital Economics says wages growth should have been higher given that the unemployment rate fell to an eight-year low in the quarter and the under-utilisation rate has fallen one per cent over the last year. ACTU secretary Sally McManus says Australia has recorded its lowest rate of wages growth since World War II under the Coalition.

CORPORATES
UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, CAPITAL ECONOMICS LIMITED, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

ASIC to rank companies by complaints

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 20 : 16-May-19

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission aims to increase the financial services industry’s accountability with regard to the handling of customers’ complaint. It will rank banks, insurers and superannuation funds on their performance on this issue, with the first data expected to be released by mid-2021. The move to increase the sector’s transparency has been welcomed by David Locke, the CEO of the Australia Financial Complaints Authority; it has received around 6,000 complaints per month since it was established in late 2018.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL COMPLAINTS AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN CONSUMERS’ ASSOCIATION

Plea to RBA, APRA: Let banks lend

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Original article by Ben Wilmot
The Australian – Page: 17 & 26 : 16-May-19

Mirvac, Stockland and Dexus are among the property developers that have called for banks’ lending rules to be relaxed in the wake of a downturn in the residential construction sector. Representatives of major property group have held talks with the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and the Reserve Bank, with some developers being forced to shelve apartment projects. UBS recently forecast that growth in housing credit will fall to just two per cent year-on-year by 2020.

CORPORATES
MIRVAC GROUP – ASX MGR, STOCKLAND – ASX SGP, DEXUS – ASX DXS, CHARTER HALL GROUP – ASX CHC, PROPERTY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, apra use AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Shorten reaches out to miners

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 10 : 16-May-19

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has indicated that Labor may be open to industrial relations reforms that would allow greenfields enterprise agreements to be struck for the life of a resources project rather than having to be renegotiated every 3-4 years. He argues that this would provide greater certainty for workers, unions, employers and global investors. Shorten also intends to hold a national economic summit in early June if Labor wins the federal election; the agenda will include industrial relations, wages, productivity and the economy.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL

Secret plans for anti-graft body

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Original article by Chris Merritt
The Australian – Page: 8 : 15-May-19

Former Victorian Court of Appeal judge Stephen Charles says Labor has a detailed plan for its proposed federal anti-corruption commission. Charles says he is a member of a group of retired judges who drafted the plan, which has been accepted by Labor’s legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus. A spokeswoman for Dreyfus has rejected suggestions that Labor has a "secret plan". Labor has previously stated that it has only developed a series of ‘design principles’ for the anti-corruption watchdog, and it will consult with legal experts if it wins the election.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, COURT OF APPEAL (VICTORIA), THE AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE LIMITED, NEW SOUTH WALES. INDEPENDENT COMMISSION AGAINST CORRUPTION, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT

Coalition rejects interest rate risk on loan plan

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 15-May-19

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann has downplayed concerns that the Coalition’s First Home Loan Deposit Scheme could prompt banks to impose higher interest rates on participants in the scheme. He is confident that banks will want to be involved in the scheme and will not charge higher interest rates, arguing that banks’ exposure will still be restricted to a maximum loan to value ratio of 80 per cent. The New Zealand government introduced a similar scheme in 2003.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, KEYSTART HOME LOANS, NEW ZEALAND. MINISTRY OF HOUSING, HOUSING NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION

BHP puts faith in nickel again

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 21 : 15-May-19

BHP intends to retain its Nickel West business, which posted underlying EBIT of $US42m for the first half of 2018-19. BHP had previously deemed its nickel division to be a non-core asset and made several attempts to sell the business in recent years. However, CEO Andrew Mackenzie says that although there are still risks associated with Nickel West, it could potentially regain its status as a tier-one asset. The upbeat outlook is based on factors such as growing demand for batteries and limited supply of quality nickel sulphide.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, NICKEL WEST

Forrest in $654m payday from surprise Fortescue dividend

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Original article by Brad Thompson, Lucas Baird
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 & 22 : 15-May-19

Pure-play iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group will pay a fully franked dividend of $0.60 per share on 14 June, ahead of possible changes to the franking credits regime if Labor wins the federal election. Fortescue chairman Andrew Forrest will earn $654m in dividend payments from his 35 per cent stake, lifting his total payout for 2018-19 to $981m. Fortescue has previously paid an interim dividend of $0.19 per share and a special dividend of $0.11 per share. CEO Elizabeth Gaines say Fortescue will continue to pay fully franked dividends, regardless of any change in government policy.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, SHAW AND PARTNERS LIMITED