Author: roymorgansocial

Argus warns Shorten on silly class war

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Original article by Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 22-Jan-19

Former BHP chairman Don Argus says Labor leader Bill Shorten could divide the nation if he contests the 2019 election on the basis of class warfare. Argus adds that despite Shorten’s rhetoric, the majority of employers and workers recognise the need to work together. Wesfarmers chairman Michael Chaney and AustralianSuper chair Heather Ridout are among the other business leaders who have cautioned Shorten against engaging in populist politics.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX, SIMS METAL MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX SGM, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, BLUESCOPE STEEL LIMITED – ASX BSL, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP

No wonder business is nervous, says Shepherd

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 2 : 22-Jan-19

Former Business Council of Australia president Tony Shepherd says the nation’s economy is solely dependent on resources exports, which in turn are dependent on global economic growth. Shepherd has also warned that Australian policymakers have become complacent after 27 years of economic growth. Meanwhile, federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says unions would be the biggest risk to the economy under Labor’s industrial relations policy.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP

CBA dividend cut on the cards as sell-offs create an earnings hole

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Original article by Misa Han
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 22-Jan-19

Richard Wiles of Morgan Stanley suggests that the Commonwealth Bank of Australia may have to reduce its dividend payout ratio following a series of asset sales. CBA exited the life insurance sector in 2018 and secured a deal to sell Colonial First State Global Asset Management. It also proposed to spin-off its wealth management and mortgage broking operations. CBA paid a fully franked full-year dividend of $4.31 per share in fiscal 2018, an increase of $0.02.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GLOBAL ASSET MANAGEMENT, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GROUP LIMITED, COUNT FINANCIAL LIMITED, FINANCIAL WISDOM LIMITED, AUSSIE HOME LOANS LIMITED, COUNTPLUS LIMITED – ASX CUP, MORTGAGE CHOICE LIMITED – ASX MOC, SOCIETYONE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

WA digs deeper on BHP royalties

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Original article by Ben Butler
The Australian – Page: 15 & 16 : 22-Jan-19

Western Australia’s Treasurer Ben Wyatt says the state government will pursue BHP for backdated iron ore royalties totalling between $200m and $300m. He claims that an audit undertaken in 2016 had revealed that the resources group had underpaid royalties since the early 2000s. BHP had reached a $529m settlement with the Australian Taxation Office regarding its Singapore marketing hub in November 2018.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND

Rio Tinto eyes cash returns, record tonnage

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Original article by Melissa Yeo
The Australian – Page: 16 : 22-Jan-19

Glyn Lawcock of UBS says Rio Tinto could potentially expand its share buyback program and pay a special dividend in 2019 using the proceeds of asset sales. He estimates that the resources group still has about $U4.4bn on hand from asset sales that could be returned to shareholders. Meanwhile, UBS forecasts that Rio Tinto will produce 353 million tonnes of iron ore in 2019, compared with the miner’s own guidance of 338 million to 350 million tonnes.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Danger of global slide, IMF warns

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Original article by David Uren, Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 22-Jan-19

The International Monetary Fund has downgraded its forecast for global economic growth in 2019 from 3.7 per cent to 3.5 per cent. Chief economist Gita Gop­inath says global economic growth is slowing at a faster pace than had been expected, warning that there is a heightened risk of a more significant downgrade in the IMF’s growth forecasts. The downgrade has coincided with the release of data showing that economic growth in China fell from 6.8 per cent to 6.6 per cent in 2018, its lowest level in almost three decades.

CORPORATES
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, CHINA. NATIONAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Bias against vocational training needs fixing

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Original article by Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 6 : 21-Jan-19

Former New Zealand skills minister Steven Joyce is currently reviewing the vocational education and training sector for the federal government. Submissions to his review are due by 25 January, and he is due to present his findings in March. Joyce says it has become clear to him that there is a bias against VET in Australia in favour of universities, and that he was surprised about the lack of information on VET pathways being given to school leavers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

ALP’s tax reforms will sting its voters

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Original article by Adam Creighton, Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 5 : 21-Jan-19

Sixteen per cent of those who voted Labor at the 2016 federal election owned an investment property, according to research by the Australian National University. With Labor planning to make changes to negative gearing if it wins the next election, ANU professor Ian McAllister notes that 16 per cent of Labor voters "equates to a lot of voters". He says the fact that Labor plans to grandfather its changes could reduce the possible impact to its vote. Meanwhile, a study of Australian Taxation Office data indicates that over 200,000 voters in Labor-held seats could be affected by its plans to increase capital gains tax.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Kennett tells Coalition veterans it’s time to go

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Original article by Joe Kelly, Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 21-Jan-19

Former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett has called on long-serving federal Coalition MPs to follow the example of Kelly O’Dwyer and step down at the next election. Kennett says he does not think O’Dwyer was retiring because she did not believe she could retain her seat; O’Dwyer has stated she is stepping down to spend more time with her family, and Kennett says he takes at "face value" her reasons for not seeking re-election. Kennett said that Kevin Andrews and Julie Bishop were two Coalition MPs that should step down, while Prime Minister Scott Morrison has rejected Bill Shorten’s claim that his MPs were resigning because they thought the government would lose heavily at the next election.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

One Nation pulls Palmer preference lifeline

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Original article by Jamie Walker, Andrew Burrell
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 21-Jan-19

Businessman Clive Palmer is targeting the marginal seat of Herbert in Queensland as he seeks a return to federal politics. Palmer was elected as MP for the seat of Fairfax in 2013 under what was then the Palmer United Party, but chose not to recontest the seat at the 2016 election. Palmer will seek election under the rebadged United Australia Party, but One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has said it will place the UAP last on its how-to-vote card in Herbert. Palmer’s collapsed Queensland Nickel company is said to owe $300 million, and Hanson says One Nation could not consider giving preferences to Palmer until he pays all his former workers their entitlements

CORPORATES
PALMER UNITED PARTY, ONE NATION PARTY, UNITED AUSTRALIA PARTY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL-NATIONAL PARTY OF QUEENSLAND, KATTER’S AUSTRALIAN PARTY, QUEENSLAND NICKEL PTY LTD