Author: roymorgansocial

NPS rating of big four banks declines during Finance Royal Commission

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 2-Apr-19

In January 2018, immediately prior to the Finance Royal Commission, the Net Promoter Score of Australia’s big four banks was 2.8. This fell to minus 2.8 in November 2018. The latest figure for February 2019 has shown some recovery to minus 1.6, but this remains one of the lowest levels recorded since 2014 and much lower than the latest rating of 23.2 for banks outside of the big four. Among the 10 largest MFI banks, ING has an NPS score of 51.8, well ahead of second-placed Bendigo Bank on 34.0, followed by Bank of Queensland with 19.0. These three top performers are well above the current bank average NPS of 5.3. The CBA is the only one of the big four with a positive NPS (3.8), and is followed by NAB (-5.6), ANZ (-6.8) and Westpac (-7.3). Meanwhile, satisfaction with banks has declined from 81.2% prior to the Royal Commission and has fallen to 77.9% in February. These are some of the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s ‘Advocacy Report, Financial Institutions, Monthly Report-February 2019’, which is based on in-depth interviews conducted face-to-face with over 50,000 consumers per annum in their homes.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, ING BANK (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, BENDIGO BANK, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

Coalition defuses debt bomb

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 2-Apr-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has rejected suggestions that the April 2019 Budget will be a ‘cash splash’ ahead of the federal election, stressing the government’s track record for fiscal discipline. Meanwhile, the Budget papers are forecast to show that Australia’s net debt will be reduced to zero by 2028-29 under the Coalition, compared with $370bn at present. The Budget is expected to remain in deficit for 2018-19, although it is likely to be lower than the $5.2bn that was forecast in the mid-year update. The government is tipped to bring forward the second and third stages of its tax cuts package.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. FUTURE FUND MANAGEMENT AGENCY, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION

Rio closes in on $100 share price

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 17 & 28 : 2-Apr-19

Shares in Rio Tinto closed 1.7 per cent higher at $99.63 on 1 April, putting the resources giant on track to breach the $100-per-share mark for the first time since mid-2008. Rio Tinto has advised that its iron ore production for 2019 is likely to be at the lower end of its guidance in the wake of Cyclone Veronica and a fire at its Cape Lambert processing plant in January. However, the iron ore price is likely to be bolstered by the recent global supply disruptions. BHP, Fortescue Metals Group and Roy Hill in turn should benefit more from any rise in the iron ore price than Rio Tinto, as Cyclone Veronica had less impact on Port Hedland than Cape Lambert.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, ROY HILL HOLDINGS PTY LTD, VALE SA, BANK OF AMERICA AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MERRILL LYNCH (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, MACQUARIE CAPITAL PTY LTD

ALP’s emissions trading scheme

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 1-Apr-19

Labor will released details of its climate change policy on 1 April. Amongst other things, Labor will introduce a new carbon emissions cap, which will be known as a baseline and credit scheme. It will initially apply to about 250 businesses whose carbon emissions are 25,000 tonnes a year. Labor will also seek to address the issue of vehicle emissions by mandating that electric vehicles must account for 50 per cent of all new cars that are sold by 2030.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Economists see rates on hold this year

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Sarah Turner, Vesna Poljak, William McInnes
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 & 21 : 1-Apr-19

The latest quarterly survey of economists shows that the general consensus is that the Reserve Bank of Australia will leave official interest rates unchanged at 1.5 per cent for the remainder of 2019. The previous quarterly survey had shown that respondents expected rates to rise to 1.75 by the end of 2019. Meanwhile, the median forecast for the unemployment rate is 5 per cent by mid-2019, compared with a median forecast of 5.20 per cent in the previous survey. Expectations for underlying inflation in mid-2019 have also been pegged back, from 2.10 per cent in the January survey to 1.80 per cent.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NOMURA AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, BANK OF AMERICA AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MERRILL LYNCH (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, LAMINAR CAPITAL PTY LTD, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Government Confidence rises above 100 pre Federal Budget as more Australians believe the country is going in the right direction than the wrong direction

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 1-Apr-19

Roy Morgan’s Government Confidence Rating increased by 11pts to 101.5 for the two weekends of 16-17 and 23-24 March 2019. Some 41.5% of electors (up 4.5%) now say that Australia is heading in the ‘right direction’, and 40% (down 6.5%) say Australia is heading in the ‘wrong direction’. Government Confidence is now in positive territory for the first time since Scott Morrison became Prime Minister in August 2018 as the Government prepares to deliver its pre-election Budget on 2 April. Government Confidence among L-NP supporters has increased by 16.5pts to 126.5; some 54.5% of L-NP supporters (up 6.5%) now say Australia is heading in the ‘right direction’ and only 28% (down 10%) say Australia is heading in the ‘wrong direction’. Meanwhile, government confidence among ALP supporters has increased by 4pts to 98; now 40% of ALP supporters (up 1.5%) say Australia is heading in the ‘right direction’, while 42% (down 2.5%) say Australia is heading in the ‘wrong direction’.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Demand for coal doubles exports

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 2 : 1-Apr-19

Data from Coal Services shows that the volume of coal exports from New South Wales has risen by 118 per cent since 2001. Annual exports peaked at 172 million tonnes in 2014, compared with just 75 million tonnes in 2001 and more than 164 million tonnes in 2018. NSW Minerals Council CEO Stephen Galilee notes that state government revenue from mining royalties is expected to top $8bn over the next four years. He adds that coal, gold and copper generate more than $17bn in export revenue for the state each year.

CORPORATES
COAL SERVICES PTY LTD, NEW SOUTH WALES MINERALS COUNCIL, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY

Warning on knee-jerk social media legislation

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Natasha Gillezeau, Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 1-Apr-19

Law Council of Australia president Arthur Moses has accused the federal government of a "knee jerk" response to the Christchurch mosque shootings. The government plans to introduce legislation that would see social media companies punished for not removing violent videos from their platforms, with the Christchurch attacks having been live-streamed by the alleged shooter. Moses says the government should have looked at banning hate speech on social media, which he contends is what causes people to commit such attacks in the first place.

CORPORATES
LAW COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, CRESCENT WEALTH FINANCIAL SERVICES PTY LTD

Top 10 housing stress seats all held by Labor

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 1-Apr-19

Labor is hoping to make housing more affordable if it wins the federal election by implementing changes to the negative gearing and capital gains tax regimes. Analysis conducted by the National Centre for Social & Economic Modelling indicates that the 10 electorates with the highest level of housing stress are all held by Labor, while Digital Finance Analytics estimates that the number of households facing mortgage stress now exceeds one million. The NATSEM analysis also indicates that Labor holds eight of the 10 seats with the highest level of poverty.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, UNIVERSITY OF CANBERRA. NATIONAL CENTRE FOR SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC MODELLING, DIGITAL FINANCE ANALYTICS, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Coalition’s $1bn drive to get regions moving

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 1-Apr-19

The federal government’s April 2019 Budget will include an additional $1bn for the Roads of Strategic Importance program. The extra funding will be used to upgrade regional and interstate road infrastructure. The Budget will also include one-off payments to assist people such as pensioners, veterans and the disabled with the rising cost of energy. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the Budget will focus on responsible and targeted spending, while shadow treasurer Chris Bowen says it will be a "highly political" document that will in reality be an election campaign launch for the Coalition.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, SHOOTERS, FISHERS AND FARMERS PARTY