Author: roymorgansocial

Labor pledges end to live sheep exports

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 4-May-18

Labor’s agricultural spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon says it intends to phase out Australia’s live sheep export trade. Its decision pre-empts the findings of a review into the sector, which was prompted by revelations concerning sheep being transported to the Middle East in dreadful conditions in 2017. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has accused Labor of making a reckless decision based on emotion, rather than on science and information. Western Australian Farmers Federation president Tony York says banning the live sheep trade would have a detrimental impact on regional and rural communities.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, THE WESTERN AUSTRALIAN FARMERS FEDERATION (INCORPORATED), ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS, AUSTRALIAN LIVESTOCK EXPORTERS COUNCIL LIMITED, ANIMALS AUSTRALIA

Sandfire builds war chest for next big find

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Original article by Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 4-May-18

Sandfire Resources CEO Karl Simich is hopeful of more discoveries in the DeGrussa and Monty region, and he plans to boost exploration activity on the back of improved cash flow. Sandfire owns the DuGrassa copper and gold mine, which is currently slated to operate until 2022. Sandfire recently spent $A2 million to acquire a 7.7 per cent in Adriatic Metals, and Simich said he is looking forward to more exploration results from Adriatic’s zinc project, which is in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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SANDFIRE RESOURCES NL – ASX SFR, ADRIATIC METALS PLC – ASX ADT, SIRIUS MINERALS PLC, INDEPENDENCE GROUP NL – ASX IGO

Rare allies back a Big Australia

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Original article by Simon Evans
The Australian – Page: 1 & 10 : 4-May-18

The ACTU, United Voice and the Australian Industry Group are among the organisations that will sign a National Compact on Permanent Migration. The compact, which is an initiative of the Migration Council, calls for the existing goal of a yearly permanent migrant intake of 190,000 to be retained, with future numbers to be adjusted in proportion to the population. The compact is seen as a "circuit breaker" to the current debate on immigration, which has developed overtones of xenophobia, while it contains a consensus between business and union bodies on temporary migration programs, but with such programs being more strongly scrutinised.

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ACTU, UNITED VOICE, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, MIGRATION COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, FEDERATION OF ETHNIC COMMUNITIES COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, SETTLEMENT COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, WELCOME TO AUSTRALIA

Barnesy portrait a knockout winner

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Original article by Linda Morris
The Age – Page: 2 : 4-May-18

The 58 finalists for the 2018 Archibald Prize were announced on 3 May, with the winner to be revealed on 11 May. Meanwhile, Jamie Preisz has won the Packing Room Prize – which is awarded by staff of the Art Gallery of New South Wales – for his portrait of singer Jimmy Barnes. The finalists for the Wynne and Sulman prizes were also announced. Meanwhile, the second volume of Barnes’ memoirs has been shortlisted for biography book of the year in the annual Australian Book Industry Awards.

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ART GALLERY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Stokes sees value in media mergers

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith, Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 4-May-18

Seven Group Holdings CEO Ryan Stokes says a merger between a newspaper publisher and a TV network could have synergies, although he argues that such deals should only proceed if they will deliver value for shareholders. Stokes notes that the cross-media model has worked well for Seven West Media, which owns newspaper assets in Western Australia. Stokes has also indicated that Seven Group is likely to eventually offload its investment portfolio and reinvest the proceeds in "active" assets.

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SEVEN GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SVW, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, BEACH ENERGY LIMITED – ASX BPT, SGH ENERGY, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, WESTRAC HOLDINGS PTY LTD, COATES HIRE LIMITED, LATTICE ENERGY LIMITED, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC

NAB joins bank retreat from wealth

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 20 : 4-May-18

National Australia Bank CEO Andrew Thorburn has refuted suggestions that its decision to sell the MLC wealth management unit has been prompted by the banking royal commission. However, he concedes that the commission’s revelations have meant that banks must change their approach to business. Thorburn also notes that the NAB is aware that it may not be able to sell MLC as a single unit if the commission decides that financial planners should no longer be able to work for businesses that manufacture investment and superannuation products.

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NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, MLC LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NIPPON LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, CLIME ASSET MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, ONEPATH AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ZURICH FINANCIAL SERVICES AG, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GLOBAL ASSET MANAGEMENT, BT INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX BTT, JBWERE LIMITED, NABTRADE, GREAT WESTERN BANK, CLYDESDALE BANK PLC

Fed holds rates steady, June rise on cards

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Original article by Nick Timiraos
The Australian – Page: 34 : 4-May-18

Data from CME Group shows that most futures market traders expect the US Federal Reserve to increase interest rates in June, after the central bank left the cash rate on hold in May. However, futures traders rate the chances of monetary policy being tightened two more times beyond June at almost 50 per cent. The Federal Reserve has signalled that it will increase the cash rate gradually, despite recent data showing that inflation has reached its target of two per cent.

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UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, JP MORGAN CHASE AND COMPANY, DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE INDEX, NOMURA SECURITIES INTERNATIONAL INCORPORATED, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Tech giants in abuses of power

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Original article by Darren Davidson, Dana McCauley
The Australian – Page: 1 & 8 : 4-May-18

Many of the submissions to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s inquiry into digital platforms have highlighted the impact of Google and Facebook on jobs and advertising revenue in the media sector. Seven Group CEO Ryan Stokes argued that digital companies should be required to pay a fair price for distributing media content, while Foxtel said it is hard to attract new pay-TV customers when pirated content can be accessed for free on Facebook and YouTube. The Australian Association of National Advertisers called for digital platforms to be regulated in a similar way to traditional media companies.

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AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, SEVEN GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SVW, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, YOUTUBE INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATION OF NATIONAL ADVERTISERS, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS PTY LTD, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, APPLE INCORPORATED

Donut King hits on winning formula for satisfying customers

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 4-May-18

Donut King has won Roy Morgan’s customer satisfaction award for March 2018, with a customer satisfaction rating of 87%. It was Donut King’s first monthly customer satisfaction victory for coffee/doughnut stores since July 2015. Stablemate Michel’s Patisserie was ranked second on 83.8%, and it was the only leading coffee/doughnut store to improve customer satisfaction over the past year (up 5.9%). Muffin Break was third on 83.5%, and it has experienced the biggest fall (6.6%) since March 2017. Leading Australian retailer Retail Food Group, which owns both Donut King and Michel’s Patisserie, has performed exceptionally well early in 2018 with a third franchisee, Gloria Jean’s, in fourth position with a customer satisfaction rating of 79.9%.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, DONUT KING, MICHEL’S PATISSERIE, MUFFIN BREAK PTY LTD, GLORIA JEAN’S COFFEES PTY LTD, RETAIL FOOD GROUP LIMITED – ASX RFG

Business pushes its case for restraint

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Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 4 : 3-May-18

A report released by the Business Council of Australia ahead of the Federal Government’s May 2018 Budget warns that achieving a surplus in 2020-21 is highly dependent on commodity prices remaining strong. The BCA also says Australia faces the prospect of large Budget deficits in the future unless action is taken to boost productivity. The employers’ group notes that growth in productivity has averaged just 1.2 per cent over the last decade.

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BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY