K62 Finance

Aldi fails to disclose tap and go charges

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Original article by Shaun Drummond
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 19-Aug-14

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission has ordered Aldi to take remedial action to display fees for contactless card transactions at the point of sale. An investigation by the corporate regulator found that Aldi had failed to disclose the fact that a surcharge of 0.5 per cent applies to payments that are made using so-called "tap and go" credit cards

CORPORATES
ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, VISA INTERNATIONAL, MASTERCARD AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Hoyts Group plans roadshow to market $900m float

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Original article by Sarah Thompson, Jake Mitchell, Anthony Macdonald
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 36 : 18-Aug-14

Pacific Equity Partners will undertake an overseas roadshow to promote the proposed sharemarket float of Hoyts Group. The private equity firm paid $A440m for the cinema group in late 2007, and the IPO is expected to be worth between $A800m and $A900m. Hoyts operates 44 cinema complexes, while it also owns a DVD distribution business and the Val Morgan cinema advertising business

CORPORATES
HOYTS CINEMAS LIMITED, PACIFIC EQUITY PARTNERS PTY LTD, VAL MORGAN AND COMPANY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, CINIPLEX, VILLAGE ROADSHOW LIMITED – ASX VRL, AMALGAMATED HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX AHD, DALIAN WANDA GROUP COMPANY LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

Bank rush for fixed-rate loans

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Original article by Clancy Yeates
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 18-Aug-14

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has matched recent moves by several rivals to reduce their most popular fixed interest rate home loans. CBA’s three-year interest rate has been reduced by 15 basis points, to 4.94 per cent, while its four-year fixed rate has been cut by 50 basis points to 5.09 per cent. CBA’s Clive van Horen notes that there has been a spike in customers opting for fixed-rate loans since its five-year rate was cut in July 2014

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, CANSTAR PTY LTD

Business satisfaction with Big Four banks highest in four years, Westpac the clear leader

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 14-Aug-14

A Roy Morgan Research Business Single Source survey has found that the overall satisfaction level of the business customers of Australia’s four major banks was 66.7 per cent in July 2014, which is 2.4 per cent higher than 12 months earlier. Westpac has the highest satisfaction rating at 71.4 per cent, ahead of National Australia Bank’s 67.1 per cent. However, smaller banks continue to outperform the "big four" in terms of business customer satisfaction, with Bendigo Bank recording a satisfaction rating of 82 per cent

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN

It’s not a bubble, says CBA

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Original article by Jonathan Shapiro, James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 10 : 14-Aug-14

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has posted a record cash profit of $A8.68bn for the 2013-14 financial year. The banking major wrote about $A12bn worth of new home loans during the year, and its mortgage book is now worth nearly $A400bn. It has benefited from low interest rates, which in turn has prompted a sharp rise in house prices, but CBA has downplayed concerns about a housing bubble. CBA shares closed 0.9 per cent lower at $A80.96 on 13 August 2014, although the stock has gained 8.6 per cent in the last year

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, BANK FOR INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENTS. BASEL COMMITTEE ON BANKING SUPERVISION, ALPHINITY INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Fails to Consolidate Recent Gains

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Aug-14

The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rating for Australia fell by 5.7 per cent to 108.5 in the week ended 10 August 2014. Consumer confidence is now back below its long-run average. There was a 9.1 per cent fall in households’ perceptions about economic conditions in a year’s time, and an 8.9 per cent fall in perceptions about economic conditions in five years’ time. The ANZ Bank still expects growth in consumer spending to remain moderate in 2014, before improving in 2015

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Wall Street wolves go quiet as junk bonds are trashed

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Original article by Philip Baker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 13-Aug-14

The yield on junk bonds has fallen to about five per cent, compared with nearly 23 per cent at the peak of the global financial crisis. Dealogic figures show that some $US210bn ($A226.5bn) worth of junk bonds were sold in the first seven months of 2014, a level not seen since 2000. Demand for corporate bonds has also been weak, with less than $US60bn worth of these bonds having been sold during the first eight days of August

CORPORATES
DEALOGIC HOLDINGS PLC, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, EMERGING PORTFOLIO FUND RESEARCH INCORPORATED, LIPPER ANALYTICAL SERVICES, BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INCORPORATED, BLOOMBERG LP

Confidence lifts but jobs lag

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 21 : 13-Aug-14

The latest data compiled by National Australia Bank on the nation’s businesses, excluding agriculture, show that both confidence and trading conditions improved in July 2014. The latter are now at levels last witnessed in 2010, while sentiment is at the best reading since the global financial crisis. New Australian Bureau of Statistics figures also indicate residential real estate prices growth of 10.1% for 2013-14. However the jobless rate for July was up as well, to 6.4%. This was the worst result in a dozen years

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, COMMONWEALTH SECURITIES LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Banks hit by class action on credit card fees

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Original article by Ben Butler, Adele Ferguson
The Age – Page: 1 : 12-Aug-14

The ANZ Bank, Citibank and Westpac have been taken to court over credit card late fees in a class action by Maurice Blackburn. The law suit is an "open class action", with every customer who paid excessive late fees to be automatically included. Maurice Blackburn is believed to be preparing other suits against National Australia Bank, American Express and Commonwealth Bank of Australia

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, CITIBANK PTY LTD, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, MAURICE BLACKBURN PTY LTD, ST GEORGE BANK LIMITED, BANK OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BANK OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Banks count on trust to fend off new players

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Original article by Michael Bennet
The Australian – Page: 21 : 12-Aug-14

Bendigo & Adelaide Bank CEO Mike Hirst has commented on the new competition posed to the banking sector in Australia and globally by electronic payment services providers such as PayPal. He noted that these challengers lack the trust consumers still have in the established banks, which also command larger holdings in their accounts. Hirst argued that the main threat to the industry was a potential serious data breach by computer hackers, which would erode the confidence customers have in the institutions

CORPORATES
BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, PAYPAL INCORPORATED, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG