Author: roymorgansocial

APRA’s stress test draws fire on detail

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 20 : 13-Jul-18

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has released the results of its latest stress test of the banking sector. Commenting on the results, APRA chairman Wayne Byres said banks need to get improved data on customers’ overall debt position, as well as coming up with better crisis plans. Digital Finance Analytics’ Martin North is critical of the lack of public detail in the stress test, while APRA has also been criticised by some economists for its very optimistic view of the state of Australia’s $1.7 trillion mortgage sector.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, DIGITAL FINANCE ANALYTICS, CLSA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, LF ECONOMICS

ACCC’s electricity reform could crush smaller retailers

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Original article by Cole Latimer
The Age – Page: 18 : 13-Jul-18

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s recommendations arising from its review into the retail electricity sector include the adoption of a "basic price offer" and changes to electricity discounting. Both recommendations are expected to impact most on smaller electricity retailers, and could force them to merge with larger rivals. Tony Wood of the Grattan Institute notes that the current level of competition has not necessarily benefited consumers, so they may not be worse off if there are fewer electricity retailers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, GRATTAN INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY REGULATOR, MACQUARIE WEALTH MANAGEMENT

Aussie miner in trade war crossfire

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Original article by Alexandra Stevenson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 13-Jul-18

China’s domination of the global rare earths market gives the nation significant power in a trade war with the US. Rare earth minerals are an essential component of consumer goods such as smartphones and electric cars. Chinese-made goods containing rare earths are among those being targeted by the Trump administration’s latest round of tariffs. Amanda Lacaze, the CEO of Australian-listed rare earths producer Lynas Corporation, says China could easily restrict global supply if a full-scale trade war erupts. Lynas produced about 12 per cent of global rare earths supply in 2017.

CORPORATES
LYNAS CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX LYC, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, ADAMAS INTELLIGENCE

Treasury boss warns against RBA rises

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 13-Jul-18

Economists have been urging the Reserve Bank of Australia to use the opportunity afforded to it by the nation’s strong economy to lift interest rates. They are concerned that failure to do so will leave it struggling to respond to any future financial crisis. RBA governor Philip Lowe has made it clear that rates will not go up until inflation rises, while outgoing Treasury secretary John Fraser has also warned against calls for rate increases.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

NAB cuts house price forecasts for two years

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 13-Jul-18

National Australia Bank has revised its housing price forecasts for 2018 and 2019. The bank now expects house prices to fall by 1.8 per cent in 2018, compared to the 0.8 per cent decline it had forecast in April. NAB also predicts that the price of detached dwellings will fall by 0.1 per cent in 2019, having previously forecast an 0.8 per cent rise. It has also reported that property investor confidence has declined to a two-year low, while a recent ANZ/Property Council survey reported that the availability of housing finance has slumped over the past three months.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, PROPERTY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Grasberg a done deal for Rio and Indonesia

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 13-Jul-18

Freeport McMoran has entered into a heads of agreement with the Indonesian Government to reduce its stake in the Grasberg copper mine from around 91 per cent to just under 50 per cent. Control over its divested stake will be assumed by the state-owned PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium Persero. Rio Tinto does not have a direct stake in Grasberg, but it owns the rights to a certain amount of the mine’s production, and it could potentially benefit from the change of ownership to the tune of more than $US3bn ($4.1bn).

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FREEPORT-McMORAN COPPER AND GOLD INCORPORATED, PT INDONESIA ASAHAN ALUMINIUM, NEWCREST MINING LIMITED – ASX NCM

Trump warning shocks NATO

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Original article by Jacquelin Magnay
The Australian – Page: 1 & 8 : 13-Jul-18

Members of NATO have agreed to increase their defence spending to two per cent of GDP more quickly than the current target of 2024 after US President Donald Trump threatened to withdraw from the alliance unless they did so. Trump has also signalled that he will push for NATO member countries to eventually increase their defence expenditure to four per cent of GDP. Trump has stressed that the US remains committed to NATO, and he has suggested that he probably would not need approval from Congress to withdraw the US from the alliance.

CORPORATES
NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANISATION, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF DEFENCE

Hancock hopes rising as Atlas bleeds cash

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 19 : 13-Jul-18

Atlas Iron held cash on hand of $57 million at the end of June, down from $78 million at the end of March. It shipped 2.1 million tonnes of iron ore during the June quarter, but lost an average of $3 per tonne on every tonne shipped. The amount owed by Atlas to lenders increased from $83 million to $85 million over the quarter. The rise in debt and the fall in Atlas’s cash position has boosted the likelihood that shareholders will accept Hancock Prospecting’s $390 million takeover bid.

CORPORATES
ATLAS IRON LIMITED – ASX AGO, HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN

Comcast sees Fox and raises in fight for Sky

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Original article by Keach Hagey, Chip Cummins, Ben Dummett
The Australian – Page: 21 : 13-Jul-18

US media group Comcast has trumped 21st Century Fox’s revised takeover offer for pay-TV company Sky. Comcast raised its offer for Sky from Stg12.50 to Stg14.75 per share in response to Fox’s recent move to increase its own offer to Stg14.00 per share. Sources have indicated that Comcast could potentially opt to focus on its bid for Sky rather than press ahead with its $US65bn cash bid for Fox’s entertainment assets.

CORPORATES
COMCAST CORPORATION, SKY PLC, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, WALT DISNEY COMPANY, GREAT BRITAIN. THE TAKEOVER PANEL, NBC UNIVERSAL INCORPORATED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, ELLIOTT MANAGEMENT CORPORATION, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

CBA accepts undertaking over BBSW

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Original article by Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 12-Jul-18

The Australian Securities & Investment Commission has advised that the Commonwealth Bank of Australia has agreed to an enforceable undertaking with regard to the bank bill swap rate. CBA will pay $25m in fines and costs to settle ASIC’s case over allegations that the bank manipulated the BBSW. National Australia Bank and the ANZ Bank both agreed to pay $50m in total to settle their BBSW cases.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA