E30 Building Construction

Home building hopes turn positive

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 16-Jan-20

The latest quarterly survey of the construction sector by the ANZ Bank and the Property Council of Australia suggests that building activity in the residential market will improve in the second half of 2020. The index of expectations for housing construction over the next 12 months has risen by 14.6 points in the survey for the March 2020 quarter; it is the largest quarterly gain since the three months to December 2013. PCA CEO Ken Morrison says the latest survey indicates that housing affordability will continue to be a key issue in 2020.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, PROPERTY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Construction falls for fifth quarter running

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 28-Nov-19

Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that residential construction activity fell by 3.1 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the three months to September, to $18.3bn in seasonally adjusted terms. Meanwhile, engineering construction declined by 0.2 per cent in the September quarter, to $21.1bn, although non-residential construction increased by four per cent to $11.4bn. Gareth Aird of the Commonwealth Bank says the residential construction sector continues to be a drag on the economy.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

Housing construction ticks up slightly in June

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 26 : 10-Oct-19

New figures show that residential building starts increased by 1.1 per cent in the June quarter, following declines in the previous two quarters. A 10.6 per cent decline in detached-housing starts was offset by a 21 per cent increase in apartment starts. Meanwhile, housing starts for the year to June totalled 196,867; this was the first year-on-year fall since September 2014. Ernst & Young’s chief economist Joanne Masters expects a further decline in residential construction activity.

CORPORATES
ERNST AND YOUNG, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH SECURITIES LIMITED, TAMAWOOD LIMITED – ASX TWD

Construction companies in NSW collapsing at record rate as building slowdown bites

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Original article by Nick Sas
abc.net au – Page: Online : 27-Sep-19

One hundred and sixty nine New South Wales-based construction companies went under in the June quarter, the most since the September 2015 quarter. This is according to ASIC figures, with the number of NSW construction companies that collapsed in 2018-19 being 101 up on the previous financial year. Industry experts suggest the increase in company failures is a reflection of the slowdown in the NSW housing and apartment sector, with Association of Independent Insolvency Practitioners president Stephen Hathway saying there is little doubt the industry is "stressed".

CORPORATES
ASSOCIATION OF INSOLVENCY PRACTITIONERS

Building slowdown tipped to hit bottom in 2019-20

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Original article by Nick Lenaghan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 29-Jul-19

New building starts are expected to fall by eight per cent in 2019-20, according to BIS Oxford Economics, having fallen by an estimated 12 per cent in 2018-19. An improvement in non-residential construction in 2019-20 is tipped to be outweighed by a decline in residential activity. However, BIS Oxford Economics expects building activity to rebound in 2020-21 and the years beyond, as factors such as new first-home buyer stimulus programs and cuts to interest rates help to generate a recovery in the market.

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BIS OXFORD ECONOMICS PTY LTD

Fix crisis in building industry

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Original article by Brad Norington, Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 15-Jul-19

Private building certifiers are struggling to secure professional indemnity insurance in the wake of the problems with cracks in apartment buildings and inflammable cladding that have afflicted the construction industry. Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn says the issue has the potential to see the sector grind to halt, and the MBA and other industry groups have called on the federal government to intervene to fix the crisis.

CORPORATES
MASTER BUILDERS’ ASSOCIATION

Builder insolvencies soar, subbies call for safety net

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 6-Jun-19

Data from the Australian Securities & Investments Commission highlights the impact of the slowing residential market on the construction industry. Some 153 building firms across Australia were placed in administration during March, including 64 in New South Wales. Subcontractors have backed a 2017 proposal to establish deemed statutory trusts, which would ‘ringfence’ payments to subcontractors for projects worth more than $1m.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, SUBCONTRACTORS ALLIANCE, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, SCHIAVELLO GROUP PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE AUSTRALIAN SMALL BUSINESS AND FAMILY ENTERPRISE OMBUDSMAN

Plea to RBA, APRA: Let banks lend

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Original article by Ben Wilmot
The Australian – Page: 17 & 26 : 16-May-19

Mirvac, Stockland and Dexus are among the property developers that have called for banks’ lending rules to be relaxed in the wake of a downturn in the residential construction sector. Representatives of major property group have held talks with the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and the Reserve Bank, with some developers being forced to shelve apartment projects. UBS recently forecast that growth in housing credit will fall to just two per cent year-on-year by 2020.

CORPORATES
MIRVAC GROUP – ASX MGR, STOCKLAND – ASX SGP, DEXUS – ASX DXS, CHARTER HALL GROUP – ASX CHC, PROPERTY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, apra use AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Builders at risk as approvals decline

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Original article by Michael Owen
The Australian – Page: 19 : 14-Mar-19

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that there was a year-on-year decline of 3.2 per cent in the trend estimate for total building approvals nationwide in January, while the value of total building approvals fell by 1.5 per cent. Justin Lokhorst of the ABS notes that the trend estimate for total building approvals has fallen to its lowest level since May 2013. The data also shows that Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory were the only jurisdictions that did not record a decline in building approval values in the last 12 months.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, URBAN TASKFORCE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, MASTER BUILDERS’ ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, CUBIC HOMES, JML HOME CONSTRUCTIONS, ODM GROUP, OAS GROUP, PLATINUM FINE HOMES

Lendlease slashes dividend as revenue falls

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 36 : 26-Feb-19

Lendlease has posted a 2018-19 interim net profit of $15.7m, compared with $425.7m previously. The result was marred by a $500m writedown in the value of its engineering and services division in late 2018. Lendlease’s revenue for the half-year was $7.7bn, down from $8.7bn previously. Its Australian arm has reported an EBITDA loss of $139.5m, while construction and development revenue also fell. Lendlease’s interim dividend has been reduced from $0.34 per share to just $0.12.

CORPORATES
LEND LEASE GROUP LIMITED – ASX LLC, TRANSURBAN GROUP LIMITED – ASX TCL