Author: roymorgansocial

Shutdowns to hit China coal hardest

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 19-Sep-18

New Hope Corporation has posted a 2017-18 underlying profit of $253m, which is 96 per cent higher than previously. The result was underpinned by higher commodity prices and increased production. Meanwhile, CEO Shane Stephan forecasts that demand for Australian coal will remain strong over the next six months, despite looming industrial production cutbacks in China. He argues that the traditional winter shutdown in China primarily reduces demand for local rather than imported coal, which tends to be of higher quality.

CORPORATES
NEW HOPE CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX NHC, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Tax Office hunts for undeclared income

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 19-Sep-18

The Australian Taxation Office will use data-matching technology to recoup up to $1.4bn in unpaid taxes from foreign income and cash payments. As part of the crackdown, the ATO will increase its co-operation with around 100 foreign tax agencies, with data from Austrac showing that the US, the UK, New Zealand and China are among the leading countries from which Australians receive undeclared foreign income. The ATO’s assistant commissioner Kath Anderson says there is also a growing trend for taxpayers to fail to declare income from sources such as cryptocurrency trading and gig economy earnings.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE

Billiton to go as BHP gets back to its roots

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Original article by Matt Chambers, Samantha Bailey
The Australian – Page: 24 : 19-Sep-18

BHP Billiton’s 2018 AGMs in Australia and the UK will include a resolution to formally drop "Billiton" from its name. The resources group has been referring to itself simply as BHP in marketing campaigns for the last 18 months. Many of the assets that BHP gained via the merger with Billiton in 2001 have since been sold or spun off into South32. Meanwhile, BHP chairman Ken MacKenzie has indicated that "social licence" will be taken into consideration when selecting directors in the future.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, SOUTH32 LIMITED – ASX S32, ELLIOTT MANAGEMENT CORPORATION

Hanson warns against bid for gas pipelines

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 19-Sep-18

Cheung Kong Infrastructure’s $13 billion takeover of pipeline operator APA Group remains subject to approval by the Foreign Investment Review Board. However, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson opposes the deal, arguing that key infrastructure should remain locally-owned, whether by governments or the private sector. Hanson has vowed to campaign against the deal if it receives government approval, while Liberal senator Jim Molan has also called for the deal to be blocked.

CORPORATES
APA GROUP – ASX APA, CHEUNG KONG INFRASTRUCTURE HOLDINGS LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, ONE NATION PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, IFM INVESTORS PTY LTD, HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES COMPANY LIMITED, CENTRE ALLIANCE

ALP states to support Shorten if NEG revived

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 5 : 19-Sep-18

Queensland’s Energy Minister Anthony Lynham and Victorian counterpart Lily D’Ambrosio have indicated that they would back the national energy guarantee if Labor wins the next federal election. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten recently signalled that a Labor government would be open to adopting some aspects of the Coalition’s NEG. Lynham has also criticised the federal government’s lack of action regarding energy policy following its decision to abandon the NEG under new Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF ENERGY AND WATER SUPPLY, VICTORIA. DEPT OF ENVIRONMENT, LAND, WATER AND PLANNING, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS

Technology’s part in the puzzle of why wages won’t rise

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 19-Sep-18

The Reserve Bank still anticipates a gradual increase in wages growth, according to the minutes of its monthly board meeting. Meanwhile, independent economist Geoff Weir has suggested that the rate at which companies adopt new technologies is contributing to the low growth in wages. The central bank will publish a paper by Weir in which he notes that companies which act more quickly to embrace new technologies tend to enjoy higher productivity and profits, with some of these gains being passed on to employees via wage rises.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Union laws facing Senate stumbling block

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 19-Sep-18

The crossbenchers may determine the fate of the federal government’s Ensuring Integrity Bill, which will be put to the Senate on 19 September. Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick says the party may support the bill, although this would be conditional on certain amendments. Other independent senators are also still considering their stance on the bill, although Tim Storer has ruled out supporting it. He is particularly concerned about the provisions that allow union officials to be disqualified for misconduct, noting that the sanctions are tougher than those for company directors under the Corporations Act.

CORPORATES
CENTRE ALLIANCE, LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY, AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATIVES, UNITED AUSTRALIA PARTY, ONE NATION PARTY, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

RBA warns over trade war fallout

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Original article by David Uren, Cameron Stewart, Glenda Korporaal
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 19-Sep-18

President Donald Trump has vowed to escalate the trade war with China, after announcing that the US will impose a tariff of 10 per cent on $US200bn worth of Chinese goods from 24 September. This will rise to 25 per cent on 1 January. The minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s latest board meeting show that the central bank is concerned about the potential impact of the trade war on the Australian economy. Modelling by KPMG indicates that the Trump administration’s new round of tariff hikes would cut Australia’s GDP by about 0.3 per cent by the early 2020s.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CHINA. MINISTRY OF COMMERCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY. UNITED STATES STUDIES CENTRE

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence bounces to 118.0

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 19-Sep-18

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rose 1.5% to 118.0 in the week ended 16 September, more than reversing the prior week’s 1.3% fall. Households’ views towards current financial conditions improved 3.7%, partially reversing the 4.8% fall in the previous week. Sentiment towards future financial conditions fell 0.4% following three straight weekly rises. Households were a touch less optimistic about current economic conditions (down 1.2%), although sentiment towards future conditions improved by 3.3%. The "time to buy a household item" subindex reversed its 2.3% decline in the previous week to remain unchanged over a two-week period.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Lew urges Wilson to help fix Myer board

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 17-Sep-18

Geoff Wilson’s Wilson Asset Management has become a substantial shareholder in retailer Myer, with a 5.5 per cent stake. Solomon Lew, whose Premier Investments holds a 10.8 per cent stake in Myer and who has been unhappy with its performance since Premier acquired its stake in March 2017, has called on Wilson to help him toss out the Myer board. However, Wilson has indicated that he is happy to support new Myer CEO John King and his senior managers, while he has queried the rationale behind Lew’s attacks on the Myer board.

CORPORATES
MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, WILSON ASSET MANAGEMENT, PREMIER INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX PMV