Author: roymorgansocial

Cook tries to ease Santos bid tax concerns

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 19 & 30 : 6-Apr-18

Harbour Energy CEO Linda Cook has given her assurance that Santos will remain an Australian company if Harbour Energy’s $A13.5 billion bid for the oil and gas company succeeds. Responding to concerns that Harbour Energy is registered in the Cayman Islands and that corporate tax from Santos might be reduced if Harbour Energy assumes control of it, Cook stressed that the company Harbour Energy has established to acquire Santos is Australian, and therefore subject to the same amount of tax that Santos pays at the moment.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, HARBOUR ENERGY LIMITED, ENN GROUP, HONY CAPITAL, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC, CHRYSAOR, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

ACCC suggests breaking up NBN

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 6-Apr-18

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has called on the Federal Government to break the NBN up prior to selling it. The ACCC noted that it had held this view since the 2014 Vertigan review, which had called for the NBN to be broken up. ACCC chairman Rod Sims says the government should try to expose the NBN to as much competition as possible, and that this should be at the forefront of its thinking when it comes to privatising the NBN, rather than how much profit it can make.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, NBN CO LIMITED

Facebook’s reckoning is fast approaching

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Original article by John McDuling
The Age – Page: 20 : 6-Apr-18

Despite the recent data breach controversy involving Cambridge Analytica, Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg still believes that he is the right person to run the social media company, while he does not seem to think the scandal has affected Facebook’s advertising business to any great extent. Zuckerberg will shortly testify before the US Congress, and Facebook’s executives in Australia are also likely to face scrutiny given that more that 300,000 local users may have been affected by the scandal. Facebook is also the subject of investigations by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission and the Federal Privacy Commissioner.

CORPORATES
FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA LLC, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PRIVACY COMMISSIONER, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED

ASIC’s Shipton warns banks to restore trust – or else

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis, James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 12 : 6-Apr-18

Australian Securities & Investments Commission chairman James Shipton has urged banks to adopt standards that are comparable with those of a "genuine profession". He says that if they cannot do this themselves, then ASIC is quite prepared to impose further regulations on them. His comments come during the course of the banking royal commission, which is tipped to be quite critical of the sector when it hands down its findings.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, COMMITTEE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF AUSTRALIA, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Howard in warning on mega-union

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 6-Apr-18

Former prime minister John Howard says the Federal Government should press ahead with its Ensuring Integrity Bill, which would subject union mergers to a public interest test. The bill was recently shelved after it was not passed by Parliament prior to the formal completion of the merger between the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union and the Maritime Union of Australia. Howard is concerned that the merger will lead to an "ultra-­concentration" of union power. Chris Corrigan, the former CEO of stevedoring firm Patrick Corporation, has expressed similar concerns.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, PATRICK CORPORATION LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS

BHP quits coal body over climate views

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 30 : 6-Apr-18

BHP Billiton has confirmed that it will cease being a member of the World Coal ­Association, citing factors such as differing stances on energy and climate policy. BHP has also indicated that it derives little benefit from being a member of the WCA. However, the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility’s executive director Brynn O’Brien has criticised BHP’s decision to remain a member of the US Chamber of Commerce. BHP said that while the USCC’s stance on climate policy still differs to its own, membership of the organisation has significant benefits.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, WORLD COAL ASSOCIATION, UNITED STATES CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, AUSTRALASIAN CENTRE FOR CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, APPLE INCORPORATED

Toyota latest to dismiss Warner

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Original article by Nick Tabakoff
The Australian – Page: 7 : 6-Apr-18

Disgraced former vice-captain David Warner has advised that he will not challenge a 12-month ban imposed by Cricket Australia for his role in the ball-tampering scandal. Meanwhile, car-maker Toyota has terminated its sponsorship deal with the batsman, after Asics and LG also ended their association with him in the wake of the scandal. Prior to the ball-tampering affair, Warner had been on track to earn around $A6m in 2018 from sponsorship deals and contracts with CA and the Indian Premier League.

CORPORATES
CRICKET AUSTRALIA, TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ASICS, LG ELECTRONICS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE, NESTLE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW

Amid the swings hopes for rally build

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 30 : 6-Apr-18

The S&P 500 gained 10 per cent in February 2018, while Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose five per cent in response. Equities markets may experience a similar rally in April, with Australian banks in particular having the potential to perform well given that the S&P/ASX 200 banks index is currently at its lowest level for 18 months. Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 is trading on a price-earnings multiple of 14.8 times, compared with its long-term average of about 14.4 times, according to Chris Nicol and Daniel Blake of Morgan Stanley.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S 500 INDEX, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX BANKS 200 INDEX, DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE INDEX, NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX, NYSE FANG+ INDEX

Tripadvisor, Booking.com and Qantas leading for travel website visits

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 6-Apr-18

The Roy Morgan Travel Agent Monitor Market Indicator Report reveals that tripadvisor.com.au is the number one website for Australians to visit when planning a holiday, with 15.7% of Australians aged 14+ visiting the website in an average four weeks. Booking.com and Qantas are the second and third-ranked travel websites in terms of visitations in an average four weeks, at 13.6% and 13.5% respectively. The Travel Agent Monitor Report also reveals that while online may be increasing as the dominant information source used for planning overseas and domestic trips, when it comes to booking trips overseas most Australians still choose to use a travel agent instead of a website. Some 42.5% of Australians aged 14+ used a travel agent to book their last overseas trip in the 12 months to December, while 15.5% used a travel booking website.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, TRIPADVISOR LLC, BOOKING.COM (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN

Santos suitor could offload key gas assets

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 5-Apr-18

Mark Samter of Credit Suisse has identified the Cooper Basin infrastructure at the Moomba gas plant as one of the Santos assets that Harbour Energy could potentially agree to divest in order to secure approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board. Samter says Santos’s assets in Western Australia could also be earmarked for sale if the $A13.5bn takeover bid succeeds. Approval from the FIRB is widely seen as a key risk for Harbour’s bid.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, HARBOUR ENERGY LIMITED, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, WATERMARK FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, QUADRANT ENERGY PTY LTD, SOUTH AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, HONY CAPITAL, ENN GROUP