More join BHP Samarco class action

Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 23-Jul-18

More than 3,000 investors have agreed to participate in Phi Finney McDonald’s class action against BHP Billiton. They will seek damages for losses they incurred as a result of the Samarco iron ore tailings dam disaster in Brazil. The class action includes investors in BHP’s shares listed in Australia, the UK and South Africa. The class action will contend that BHP was aware of technical problems at Samarco and knew that there was a risk that the dam would collapse.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, PHI FINNEY McDONALD PTY LTD, VALE SA, SAMARCO MINERACAO SA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, BOART LONGYEAR LIMITED – ASX BLY, TIMBERWEST FOREST LIMITED

Tough times for builders: housing starts to fall 22pc

Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 32 : 23-Jul-18

The Housing Industry Association had forecast in February that housing starts will decline to 174,880 in 2020. BIS Oxford Economics in turn has predicted that housing starts will fall from 2018’s estimated figure of 219,000 to 171,350 in 2020, equating to a 22 per cent fall. The forecast decline in housing starts is expected to be led by a significant downturn in the construction of high-density dwellings. There have been a number of building company failures in recent months, the latest being home renovator Dowling Homes.

CORPORATES
HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, BIS OXFORD ECONOMICS PTY LTD, DOWLING HOMES, BRI FERRIER PTY LTD, BAYSIDE CONSTRUCT, PROJECT GROUP, WATERSUN HOMES

ABC pitches for massive digital grant

Original article by Stephen Brook
The Australian – Page: 28 : 23-Jul-18

The ABC is seeking a one-off funding boost to prepare it for the eventual termination of traditional broadcasting services and its shift to a pure-play online media company. As part of the public broadcaster’s online-only future, it proposes to establish a database containing its entire archive of audio-visual content. ABC chairman Justin Milne notes that it spends about $200m a year on broadcast infrastructure and spectrum, but it will no longer incur these costs when it ultimately shifts to an online-only platform.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL FILM AND SOUND ARCHIVE, AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL, OZEMAIL LIMITED, TELSTRA BIG POND

Satisfaction with electricity providers declining

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 23-Jul-18

New results from Roy Morgan show that customer satisfaction with electricity providers in Australia was only 56.6% in the 12 months to May 2018, down from 60.4% in the year to May 2017. Roy Morgan’s Net Promoter Score for electricity providers is now at minus 47.6. These low satisfaction and NPS levels show why 2.1 million customers are considering switching over the next 12 months. Red Energy has the highest satisfaction rating among the largest providers, at 70.0%, narrowly ahead of Simply Energy (65.0%) and Energy Australia (64.4%). Meanwhile, 43.7% of customers who are "very dissatisfied" with their electricity provider say that they are either "very likely" or "fairly likely" to switch companies in the next 12 months, while 36.0% of those who are "fairly dissatisfied" say they are likely to switch in the next 12 months. Roy Morgan’s "Customer Satisfaction – Electricity Providers Report" is based on in-depth personal interviews conducted face-to-face with over 50,000 Australians per annum in their own homes, including over 14,000 interviews with people who rated their satisfaction with their electricity connection.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, RED ENERGY PTY LTD, SIMPLY ENERGY, ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Autobarn overtakes Supercheap Auto for Auto store satisfaction

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 23-Jul-18

Autobarn has won Roy Morgan’s Auto Store Customer Satisfaction Award for June 2018, with a customer satisfaction rating of 90.1%. Autobarn has increased its customer satisfaction by 8.2% over the last year, and it has now won three monthly customer satisfaction awards in 2018. Runner-up Supercheap Auto has also increased its customer satisfaction over the last year (up 2.8% to 88.4%) while third-placed Repco has seen a decline in customer satisfaction (down 1.5% to 84.1%). Analysis shows that more than three million Australians shop at an Auto store in an average month; over 70% (2.16 million) are men, while less than 30% are women (920,000). The generations most likely to shop at Auto Stores are Generation X (840,000), Baby Boomers (800,000) and Millennials (730,000); these three generations comprising over three-quarters of the overall Auto Store market.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUTOBARN PTY LTD, SUPER CHEAP AUTO, REPCO

Bank customer satisfaction and NPS slip further during Finance Royal Commission

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 23-Jul-18

New results from Roy Morgan shows that bank customer satisfaction in Australia has dropped from 82.3% in January 2018, prior to the Finance Royal Commission, to 78.5% in May and 78.3% in June. Bank customer satisfaction is now at the lowest monthly level since April 2012, but it still remains above the long-term average of 73.8% since 2001, and well up on the 60.0% in January 2001. Roy Morgan’s Net Promoter Score for banks has declined in line with satisfaction, going from 0.49 in January to minus 4.03 in June. ING had the highest level of customer satisfaction of the 10 largest banks in the six months to June, at 88.6% (up 0.5% points over the last 12 months), ahead of Bendigo Bank with 87.7% (down 0.9% points over the year). CBA remained the leader among the big four banks with a customer satisfaction rating of 78.3%. All of the big four showed declines in satisfaction over the year. Roy Morgan’s "Customer Satisfaction-Consumer Banking in Australia June Report" is based on in-depth interviews conducted face-to-face with over 50,000 consumers per annum in their homes, including over 4,000 bank customers per month.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, ING BANK (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, BENDIGO BANK, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

Roy Morgan announces winners of the 2017 New Zealand Customer Satisfaction Awards

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 23-Jul-18

Roy Morgan has announced the winners of its seventh annual Customer Satisfaction Awards for New Zealand. The annual awards reward outstanding personal service across a range of industries including Retail, Finance, Telecommunications, Travel & Tourism, Automotive and Utilities. Of the 22 companies winning an award, 10 have emerged victorious for the first time in the awards’ history. A further seven have successfully defended their victory, while five former winners have returned to the winner’s circle in 2017 after coming up short in recent years. International Airline of the Year Emirates is the "Best of the Best" in 2017, coming out on top of all other 21 category winners with the highest Customer Satisfaction of any company operating in NZ.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, EMIRATES AIRLINES, HOLDEN NEW ZEALAND LIMITED, KIWIBANK LIMITED, SUPER CHEAP AUTO (NEW ZEALAND) PTY LTD, PAPER PLUS, ROBERT HARRIS CAFE, POSTIE, FARMERS, SMITHS CITY, MITRE 10 (NEW ZEALAND) LIMITED, BURGER FUEL LIMITED, NUMBER ONE SHOES, STIRLING SPORTS LIMITED, PAK ‘N’ SAVE LIMITED, TRUSTPOWER LIMITED, APPLE INCORPORATED, SKINNY MOBILE, AIR NEW ZEALAND LIMITED – ASX AIZ, POWERSHOP NEW ZEALAND LIMITED, NOVA ENERGY LIMITED

Strong Aussie Dollar drives skiers and snowboarders overseas

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 23-Jul-18

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that the travel habits of Australians going skiing or snowboarding on holiday over the last 20 years has been heavily influenced by the value of the Australian Dollar. However, this co-relation has broken down in the last three years as the dollar has stabilised at a value of between 70-80 US cents. Between March 2001 when the Australian Dollar was valued at just 49 US cents through to July 2011 when it reached a high of around $1.10 USD the soaring dollar predicted the increasing propensity of Australians to travel overseas for skiing and snowboarding holidays. In March 2001, just 25% of Australians who went snow skiing or snowboarding on their last holiday chose an overseas holiday destination, while this hit 50% in January 2012. This dipped substantially in 2014-15 to just 33% in early 2015, after the value of the currency fell sharply. However, since bottoming at 30% in late 2016 there has been a steady increase in Australians heading overseas for skiing and snowboarding holidays, which is now at 46%.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Australians spending more time online than working

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 23-Jul-18

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey shows that Australians aged 14+ spent a total of just over 21.9 billion hours on the Internet in the year to March 2018 (whether at home, at school, while at work or elsewhere), compared to 20.5 billion hours working. Some 4.6 billion of those hours online occurred at work – whether work related or not. Analysing time on the Internet more closely shows that 5.9 billion hours were spent using social media, while the balance of just under 16 billion hours was spent using the Internet for other purposes. A further 18.6 billion hours were spent watching TV and 14.6 billion hours were spent listening to radio. The 92% of Australians who watch TV in a given week average 1,004 hours each of TV viewing over the full year while the 85% who listen to radio during the week listen to an average of 851 hours per year of radio. Newspapers scored 1.8 billion hours of national attention over the year, with magazines claiming just over 820 million hours overall.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

ACCC lashes Aurizon, Pacific National deal

Original article by Jenny Wiggins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 25 : 20-Jul-18

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has launched legal action against Aurizon Holdings and Pacific National in the Federal Court. The ACCC is seeking to block the sale of Aurizon’s Queensland intermodal business and its Acacia Ridge terminal to Pacific National, its main business rival. The total cost of the two deals is $225 million, with Pacific National giving Aurizon a $35 million non-refundable deposit. ACCC chairman Rod Sims has compared the sale to Coles being sold to Woolworths.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AURIZON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX AZJ, PACIFIC NATIONAL PTY LTD, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, QUBE HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX QUB, QUEENSLAND. COMPETITION AUTHORITY, QUEENSLAND RESOURCES COUNCIL LIMITED, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, STANDARD AND POOR’S (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD