Author: roymorgansocial

RBA tips lithium, copper export boom

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 19 : 13-Aug-18

Australia accounts for 12 per cent of the world’s copper reserves, along with around 25 per cent of global lithium reserves. The Reserve Bank of Australia predicts that exports of these commodities will increase to meet rising demand for renewable energy generation and electric vehicles. The RBA forecasts that lithium exports will triple over the next five years. However, the outlook for iron ore is not so clear, with demand from Chinese steel makers viewed as being somewhat mixed.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

Coalition works on fallback tax plan

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 13-Aug-18

The Federal Government remains hopeful of gaining One Nation’s support for its full company tax cuts package when it is put to the Senate in mid-August. However, sources have indicated that the government is looking at alternative options in the event that the tax package is rejected by the upper house. These include limiting the turnover threshold for the tax cuts to $500m or bringing forward tax cuts for small businesses that have been legislated. The government may also opt to abandon any tax measures that are rejected by the Senate or put them on hold until after the next election.

CORPORATES
ONE NATION PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, CENTRE ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION

Cashed-up PE firms prowl ASX for deals

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 13-Aug-18

The value of announced mergers and acquisitions involving Australian-listed companies has topped US$39.3bn so far in 2018. Private equity investors have been particularly active; US$11.4bn ($15.6bn) worth of such deals involving both listed and unlisted assets have been announced so far in 2018, which is 47 per cent higher than at the same time in 2017. Experts anticipate that the private equity sector will continue to pursue listed companies, with Tom Story of law firm Allens noting that suitors and their targets have been more willing to agree on price in 2018.

CORPORATES
ALLENS, DEALOGIC (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, INVESTA OFFICE FUND – ASX IOF, THE BLACKSTONE GROUP LP, SIRTEX MEDICAL LIMITED – ASX SRX, CDH INVESTMENTS FUND MANAGEMENT COMPANY, BWX LIMITED – ASX BWX, SINO GAS AND ENERGY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SEH, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, HEALTHSCOPE LIMITED – ASX HSO, OAKTREE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC, BILLABONG INTERNATIONAL LIMITED, PACIFIC EQUITY PARTNERS PTY LTD, LIFEHEALTHCARE PTY LTD, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, BGH CAPITAL PTY LTD, BAIN AND COMPANY, I-MED RADIOLOGY, ACCOLADE WINES LIMITED, CHAMP PRIVATE EQUITY PTY LTD, THE CARLYLE GROUP, MANUKA HEALTH, IXOM, PEMBA CAPITAL, DEVICE TECHNOLOGIES AUSTRALIA, GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, AMCOR LIMITED – ASX AMC, NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE

Unemployment at 10% in July highest in nearly a year

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 13-Aug-18

A Roy Morgan survey shows that 12,021,000 Australians were employed in July, up 167,000 over the past year. The increase was driven by growth in both full-time employment (which was up 66,000 to 7,765,000) and an even stronger increase in part-time employment (up 101,000 to 4,256,000). The figures also show that 1,329,000 Australians were unemployed (10% of the workforce) in July, an increase of 93,000 (up 0.6%) on a year ago. In addition, 1,148,000 Australians (8.6% of the workforce) are now under-employed, working part-time and looking for more work, a fall of 78,000 in a year (down 0.8%). Roy Morgan’s real unemployment figure of 10% for July remains substantially higher than the current ABS estimate for June 2018 of 5.4%. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says the increasing casualisation of the Australian workforce has strengthened in recent years with the rise of the so-called "gig" economy, but Foodora’s impeding exit from the Australian market shows that there are limits to this type of employment model when regulatory and competition considerations are taken into account. Foodora’s exit also signifies how important it is for governments to create sensible industrial relations laws that encourage employers to take on new workers rather than penalise employers looking to grow their business.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Pay TV service Fetch breaks through 700,000 subscribers

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 13-Aug-18

FetchTV boasted revenue in excess of $155m in 2017-18m, and the number of transactions on its platform grew by 50 per cent to 2.5 million. Fetch gained around 160,000 subscribers during the financial year, and its customer base now exceeds 700,000. CEO Scott Lorson says Fetch is on track to having one million customers, although it lags well behind Foxtel with 2.8 million subscribers. He notes that Fetch is benefiting from global trends such a growing range of content options and fast broadband with limitless data.

CORPORATES
FETCHTV PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, IINET LIMITED, IPRIMUS, DODO INTERNET PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, THE A LEAGUE PTY LTD

One million potential for switching risk and life insurance policy providers

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 13-Aug-18

New research from Roy Morgan shows that in the 12 months to June 2018, 1,008,000 risk and life insurance policies (10.8% of the total market) had the potential to change companies. This potential is the sum of the 242,000 that actually switched to another company and the 766,000 that renewed with the same company after having approached other companies. Of the total switching potential of 1,008,000 risk and life policies over the last year, the 35-49 age group is the biggest segment, with 425,000 or 42.2% of the total. The second largest segment is the 50-64 age group, with 360,000 or 35.7% of the total. Meanwhile, 27.9% of switching potential is in the $60,000 to $99,000 personal income group, with 281,000 policies. These are the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s Single Source survey, which is based on in-depth personal interviews conducted face-to-face with over 50,000 Australians per annum in their own homes, including over 10,000 interviews with people holding risk and life insurance policies.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Formal ACCC probe of Nine deal urged

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 19 : 13-Aug-18

Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance CEO Paul Murphy says the proposed merger between Nine Entertainment Company and Fairfax Media should be subject to a formal review by the competition regulator. He argues that an informal review is insufficient given the impact that the merger would have on the media sector. The MEAA’s media president Marcus Strom in turn says Nine and Fairfax should be required to submit detailed information on the merger’s impact on consumers and employees of the two companies.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN, DOMAIN HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX DHA, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD

Netflix on verge of 2 million viewers in New Zealand

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 13-Aug-18

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey shows that over three million New Zealanders aged 14+ had access to some form of Pay TV/Subscription TV in the June 2018 quarter, up 13.9% on a year ago. Nearly two million New Zealanders now have a Netflix subscription, up more than 35% on a year ago. Meanwhile, viewership of the combined Sky TV/Neon is growing slower than some of its rivals, up 1.7 per cent to over 1.6 million viewers although Sky TV’s Subscription Video On Demand service Neon is growing significantly faster than its parent. Viewership of Neon is up 190.3 per cent to 295,000. Lightbox is the second most popular SVOD service with 830,000 users (up 42.9 per cent on a year ago) ahead of Vodafone TV up 19.9 per cent to 295,000. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says that in a changing media landscape the impressive performance of SVOD shows there are avenues to growth for incumbent media businesses challenged by new entrants into the market. Sky TV’s fast-growing Neon SVOD service is a prime example of an existing media company adapting to the changing consumer habits of New Zealanders.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, SKY NETWORK TELEVISION LIMITED – ASX SKT, NEON, LIGHTBOX, VODAFONE TV

Williams top shoe store ahead of The Athlete’s Foot

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 13-Aug-18

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey shows that Williams has Australia’s most satisfied shoe store customers, with a customer satisfaction rating of 90.4% in June 2018, an increase of 8% from a year ago. The Athlete’s Foot improved its customer satisfaction by 3% from a year ago to 89.6%, while customer satisfaction for third-placed Spend-less Shoes declined by 5% over the last year to 81%. Analysing shows that nearly 1.4 million Australians shop at a shore store in an average four weeks. Over three-fifths of shoppers at Australian shoe stores are women, equating to around 830,000 shoppers, compared to only 540,000 men.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, WILLIAMS, THE ATHLETE’S FOOT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SPENDLESS SHOES PTY LTD

Hydrogen industry to future-proof coal

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 4 : 10-Aug-18

Chief Scientist Alan Finkel will make recommendations on the development of a hydrogen energy industry in Australia to federal and state energy ministers. He will advise that the cheapest way to produce hydrogen energy is via the gasification of brown coal. However, the process must involve carbon capture and storage if it is to be a viable source of renewable energy. Finkel’s hydrogen strategy is backed by both the renewable energy and mining sectors. Minerals Council of Australia CEO Tania Constable says it could mean a new industry for Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, which has been impacted by the closure of the Hazelwood power station.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE CHIEF SCIENTIST, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS