Author: roymorgansocial

Year of shame puts floats on ice

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jonathan Shapiro, Sarah Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 18 : 10-Dec-18

Hugh Dive of Atlas Funds Management says the financial market is approaching the end of its bull run, resulting in lower-quality IPOs. Sebastian Evans of NAOS says many companies have no good reason for listing on the Australian sharemarket, and he does not anticipate an improvement in the quality of IPOs in the near-term. Meanwhile, Andrew Stevens of UBS says investors are becoming more selective with regard to IPOs. Coronado Global Resources and Viva Energy are among the recent IPOs that have underperformed.

CORPORATES
ATLAS FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NAOS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, CORONADO GLOBAL RESOURCES INCORPORATED – ASX CRN, VIVA ENERGY GROUP LIMITED – ASX VEA, REDCAPE HOTEL GROUP – ASX RDC, SMILES INCLUSIVE LIMITED – ASX SIL, EVANS DIXON LIMITED – ASX ED1, BLUE SKY ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX BLA, PROSPA GROUP LIMITED, RAIZ INVEST LIMITED – ASX RZI, TRIMANTIUM GROWTHOPS LIMITED – ASX TGO, RCR TOMLINSON LIMITED – ASX RCR, LATITUDE FINANCIAL PARTNERS, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, TRANSURBAN GROUP LIMITED – ASX TCL

Threat to good times, says OECD

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 10-Dec-18

A new report from the OECD concludes that Australia’s housing market is likely to experience a soft landing. However, the OECD notes that the nation’s 27-year record of economic growth would be at risk if there is a hard landing in the property market. The international agency expects Australia to record economic growth of 3.1 per cent in 2018 and 2.9 per cent in 2019, although these forecasts were made prior to the release of the latest national accounts data.

CORPORATES
ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Nine holds its ground over Singo buyout

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Nick Tabakoff
The Australian – Page: 25 & 27 : 10-Dec-18

Nine CEO Hugh Marks says he has held talks with advertising industry veteran John Singleton about buying his 32 per cent stake in Macquarie Media. However, Marks has dismissed speculation that Nine will pay at least $2 per share to take full ownership of Macquarie in the wake of the merger with Fairfax Media. Marks also says Nine is committed to retaining the print editions of Fairfax’s key mastheads. He adds that the websites of Fairfax newspapers are likely to feature more of Nine’s video content, but Fairfax content will in turn largely continue to be exclusive.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN, 2GB, 3AW SOUTHERN CROSS RADIO PTY LTD, RADIO 4BC BRISBANE PTY LTD, DOMAIN HILL PROPERTY GROUP PTY LTD, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED

Rio head says the public does not trust miners

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 10-Dec-18

Chris Salisbury, the head of Rio Tinto’s iron ore division, notes that many Australians do not trust the mining sector, while many are not aware of Rio Tinto’s contribution to the domestic economy. He says the resources group contributed $42.7 billion to GDP in 2017 and paid some $5bn in taxes and royalties. Meanwhile, Rio Tinto expects to meet its deadline of 31 December to fully implement its AutoHaul project in Western Australia.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, WESTERN AUSTRALIAN MINING CLUB, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF ENVIRONMENT AND CONSERVATION, HITACHI LIMITED, ANSALDO STS, ERNST AND YOUNG

RBA set to freeze rates trigger

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 17 & 18 : 10-Dec-18

Factors such as Australia’s sluggish GDP growth in the September quarter and the outlook for the housing market have prompted some economists and market analysts to forecast that official interest rates will remain on hold until 2020. They include Paul Bloxham of HSBC and Daniel Blake and Chris Nicol of Morgan Stanley. However, Shane Oliver of AMP Capital expects the cash rate to be cut rather than increased, most likely in the second half of 2019.

CORPORATES
HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Over 1 million visit comparison sites Finder and Choice

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 10-Dec-18

New research from Roy Morgan shows that over three million Australians aged 14+ (or almost 15%) visit a comparison website in an average four weeks. Finder.com.au is visited by over 1.2 million Australians in an average four week; it is closely followed by Choice.com.au, which is visited by over 1 million. Other leading comparison websites include Canstar/Canstar Blue (visited by nearly 730,000 Australians in an average four weeks), Comparethemarket.com.au (visited by almost 430,000) and iSelect (visited by just under 400,000 Australians). These results are based on in-depth Roy Morgan Single Source interviews with more than 38,000 Australians during the nine months to September 2018.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, FINDER.COM.AU, CHOICE.COM.AU, CANSTAR PTY LTD, CANSTAR BLUE PTY LTD, COMPARE THE MARKET PTY LTD, ISELECT LIMITED – ASX ISU

Foodland edges out Aldi for customer satisfaction

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 10-Dec-18

New research from Roy Morgan shows that customer satisfaction with Foodland in the six months to October was 91%, giving the South Australia-based supermarket a third straight monthly win ahead of Aldi on 89%. Coles is on 85%, just ahead of Woolworths on 84% with IGA taking fifth position on 80%. The overall supermarket customer satisfaction across the industry was 85%, representing an overall decline of 6% in customer satisfaction compared to this time a year ago. These are the latest results from Roy Morgan’s ‘Retail Satisfaction Report-Supermarkets’, which is based on in-depth personal interviews conducted face-to-face with over 50,000 Australians per annum in their own home, including over 11,000 main supermarket shoppers.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, FOODLAND SUPERMARKETS, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS SUPERMARKETS, IGA

Fasta Pasta retains top spot for customer satisfaction

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 10-Dec-18

Fasta Pasta has held off strong competition from the Grill’d burger chain in October to win its fourth monthly Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Award in a row. The quick-serve Italian food chain, which operates mainly in South Australia and Queensland, had a 95% total satisfaction rating – the proportion of customers who were ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ satisfied with their store experience. The Satisfaction Awards are based on data collected as part of Roy Morgan’s Single Source Survey, which involves in-home, face-to-face interviews with more than 50,000 respondents per year, including more than 8,000 answering detailed questions on their experience of quick-service restaurants.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, FASTA PASTA FAMILY RESTAURANTS PTY LTD, GRILL’D PTY LTD

Volatility can’t stop deal-hungry companies

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 21 & 25 : 7-Dec-18

Herbert Smith Freehills partner Tony Damian believes that 2019 will be a stronger year than 2018 for mergers and acquisitions, and John Pickhaver of Macquarie Capital is similarly optimistic. Herbert Smith Freehills predicts that superannuation funds will show a continued willingness to be directly involved in M&A deals in 2019, while healthcare, property and infrastructure are tipped to be popular sectors for M&A activity in 2019. Announced 2018 Australian M&A deals totalled $US155.9 billion ($215.4 billion) as of 5 December, according to Refinitiv.

CORPORATES
HERBERT SMITH FREEHILLS PTY LTD, MACQUARIE CAPITAL PTY LTD, GRAINCORP LIMITED – ASX GNC, HEALTHSCOPE LIMITED – ASX HSO, COLES GROUP LIMITED – ASX COL, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, GREENCROSS LIMITED – ASX GXL, TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM, VODAFONE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, BGH CAPITAL PTY LTD, APA GROUP – ASX APA, CHEUNG KONG (HOLDINGS) LIMITED, BINGO INDUSTRIES LIMITED – ASX BIN, DIAL A DUMP INDUSTRIES PTY LTD, REFINITIV

Shorten allows encryption laws to pass

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Primrose Riordan, Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 6 : 7-Dec-18

The federal government’s encryption laws were passed by the Senate on 6 December, after Labor withdrew proposed amendments to the bill. The legislation will provide security agencies with improved access to encrypted data messages, thereby boosting their attempts to combat terrorism attacks while making it easier to pursue organised crime gangs and paedophiles. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said Labor hopes to get the government to agree to adopt its proposed amendments in the 2019 parliamentary year.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION