Author: roymorgansocial

Rich Lister hemp campaigner backs Abbott

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Original article by Carrie LaFrenz
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 23-Apr-19

Barry Lambert, the chairman and biggest shareholder of hemp company Ecofibre, is urging voters in the seat of Warringah to re-elect former prime minister Tony Abbott. Lambert is keen to get medical cannabis legalised, and he says Abbott has been supportive of his campaign. Lambert has urged Labor leader Bill Shorten to legalise hemp extract for medical purposes if he wins the election; Lambert also says Shorten should exempt existing investors from Labor’s proposed franking credit reforms.

CORPORATES
ECOFIBRE INDUSTRIES LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, THOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY, COUNT FINANCIAL LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, ONE NATION PARTY

Morrison fund woos small enterprises

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 17 : 23-Apr-19

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will launch a $100 million government-backed fund that will provide equity funding to small businesses. The Australian Business Growth Fund is based on similar initiatives in the UK and Canada. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has pledged to create 250,000 new small businesses over the next five years, with 230,000 small businesses having been launched over the last five years. National Australia Bank is in charge of efforts to launch the Australian Business Growth Fund.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Palmer’s political ad spend tops $30m

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 20 & 22 : 22-Apr-19

New data from Nielsen shows that Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party has spent some $31.7m on newspaper, TV and radio advertising since September. The UAP significantly outspent the major political parties in the weeks immediately prior to the federal election being called. VMLY&R CEO Peter Bosilkovski notes that UAP has already spend more than the four major political parties during the 2016 election campaign. UAP’s advertising expenditure is expected to top $50m by election day.

CORPORATES
UNITED AUSTRALIA PARTY, VMLY&R, THE NIELSEN COMPANY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Woodside CFO upbeat on prospects for Kitimat LNG

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 23-Apr-19

Woodside Petroleum and Chevron plan to increase the proposed capacity of their Kitimat LNG project in British Columbia from 10 million tonnes a year to 18 million tonnes, and add a third production train. Woodside CEO Sherry Duhe says it is too soon to know whether Chevron’s acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum will impact on the Kitimat project. She has also downplayed concerns about a fall in LNG spot prices in Asia, citing factors such as increased global supply and a warmer-than-expected winter in the northern hemisphere.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, CHEVRON CORPORATION, ANADARKO PETROLEUM CORPORATION, ENN GROUP, CANADA. NATIONAL ENERGY BOARD, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

Cashed-up Fortescue flags higher dividend

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Weekend Australian – Page: 27 : 20-Apr-19

Fortescue Metals Group has advised in its production report for the March quarter that its average cost of production is now tipped to between $US13 and $US13.50 a tonne. It had previously advised that its average cost of production would be between $US12 and $US13 a tonne. CEO Elizabeth Gaines said its new 60.1 per cent iron grade West Pilbara Fines product has been well received by customers, while CFO Ian Wells said some of the spare cash generated by its Pilbara iron ore operations could be paid to shareholders in the form of higher dividends.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

Fightback on penalty rates

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Original article by Ben Packham, Dennis Shanahan, Alice Workman
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 22-Apr-19

Labor plans to reconvene federal parliament before 30 June if it wins the election, in order to capitalise on a Senate that may be more amenable to its proposed industrial relations reforms. Amongst other things, Labor intends to reverse cuts to penalty rates within its first 100 days in office. However, Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox has written to Senate crossbenchers warning that Labor’s workplace reforms would require more extensive consultation than would be possible by the end of June.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, CENTRE ALLIANCE

CFMEU pushing closed shop ahead of possible Labor win

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 23-Apr-19

The New South Wales branch of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union has declined to comment on claims that it has adopted a ‘no ticket, no start’ policy at construction sites in Sydney. The Master Builders Association has raised concerns about the practice, with executive director Brian Seidler fearing that the push for compulsory union membership on building sites will spread to other states. The federal government’s building code – which Labor wants to abolish – prohibits ‘no ticket, no start’ arrangements.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MASTER BUILDERS ASSOCIATION OF NEW SOUTH WALES PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION

Industry funds to back Murray for AMP chair

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Original article by Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 23-Apr-19

It is understood that the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors will conditionally back the appointment of David Murray as AMP chairman at its AGM in May. Proxy advisers have recommended that Murray be appointed. However, there is some controversy about private comments supposedly made by Murray. He is understood to have said that if there is a big vote against his appointment as a result of the controversy regarding the sale of AMP’s life business, the other two directors who were on the board when the decision was made would resign.

CORPORATES
AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SUPERANNUATION INVESTORS INCORPORATED, CGI GLASS LEWIS PTY LTD, INSTITUTIONAL SHAREHOLDER SERVICES INCORPORATED, OWNERSHIP MATTERS PTY LTD

Australians embracing robo-advisers

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Original article by Luke Housego
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 23-Apr-19

A survey of more than 1,000 Australians has found that 30 per cent would be willing to receive financial advice from ‘robo-advisers’. The survey was commissioned by consulting firm Thinque, with company founder Anders Sorman-Nilsson suggesting that consumers have become less willing to trust human financial advisers as a result of the banking royal commission. Around 80 per cent of respondents stated that financial services is the sector in which they are most worried about digital fraud.

CORPORATES
THINQUE, IRESS WEALTH MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS (RSA) PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY

Lendlease and Vicinity both takeover targets, says JPM

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Original article by Nick Lenaghan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 23-Apr-19

JP Morgan’s Global REIT Radar report suggests that a sharp fall in the share prices of Lendlease and Vicinity Centres could make them potential takeover targets. Ben Brayshaw of JP Morgan says both stocks are currently trading well below the firm’s estimate of their net asset value. The report also notes that real estate investment trusts have delivered a total return of 18.5 per cent over the last year, while global equities have returned just 7.6 per cent.

CORPORATES
LEND LEASE GROUP LIMITED – ASX LLC, VICINITY CENTRES – ASX VCX, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, CROWN ESTATE, MAURICE BLACKBURN PTY LTD, SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES