K: Financial and Insurance Services

ANZ’s Smith is $10.8m a year man

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 10-Nov-15

The ANZ Bank’s 2015 annual report shows that CEO Mike Smith was paid a cash salary of $A3.3m in 2014-15, while bonuses and an incentives scheme lifted his total remuneration to $A10.8m. In contrast, Commonwealth Bank CEO Ian Narev was paid $A8.32m in total for 2014-15. ANZ CFO Shayne Elliott will succeed Smith at the beginning of 2016, and he is expected to be paid around $A6.5m in total in his first year as CEO.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

Your insurer likes to watch

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Original article by Ruth Liew
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 10-Nov-15

MLC will undertake a pilot program in which selected life insurance customers will be issued with a device that monitors their fitness and sleeping patterns. Participants will be able to receive rewards for improving their health and fitness, such as a discount on their insurance policy. QBE Insurance Group already has a similar reward scheme for car insurance customers who use a tracking device to monitor their driving habits.

CORPORATES
MLC LIMITED, QBE INSURANCE GROUP LIMITED – ASX QBE, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, NIPPON LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED, BIG CLOUD ANALYTICS, FITBIT INCORPORATED, NIKE INCORPORATED

Australian Roy Morgan Business Confidence strengthens further in October to highest level for 2015

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Nov-15

A Roy Morgan Business Single Source survey has found that Australian business confidence rose by 5.8 per cent to 119.3 in October 2015, to the highest level since November 2014. This improvement in confidence was generally expected initially as a result of Malcolm Turnbull becoming Prime Minister, but it has strengthened further in October to be 16.3 per cent higher than prior to the leadership change in August. Roy Morgan Business Confidence is now above the five-year average of 116.9 and higher than 12 months ago (114.9). The increase in business confidence in October was a result of improvements across all components of the index. The strongest gains were in how businesses feel about the economy over the next 12 months and five years, and the encouragement this would give them to invest in their business, which is now at the highest level for the year.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Westpac to ramp up home loans, transaction accounts

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Original article by Clancy Yeates
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 9-Nov-15

The head of Westpac’s consumer banking arm, George Frazis, says his division aims to increase its customer base by 850,000 in coming years. The ambitious target is part of plans by CEO Brian Hartzer to gain an additional one million customers across Westpac’s operations by 2017. Frazis has signalled a push to increase home loan and transaction account customers. Westpac also aims to reduce its cost-to-income ratio from 43.8 per cent in 2014 to less than 40 per cent within three years.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, BANK OF MELBOURNE LIMITED, ST GEORGE BANK LIMITED, BANK OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA LIMITED, RAMS HOME LOANS PTY LTD, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, BELL POTTER SECURITIES LIMITED

$A tipped below US70c by year end

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Original article by Vanessa Desloires
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 9-Nov-15

The Australian dollar was buying $US0.7032 on the weekend of 7-8 November 2015, after dipping to $US0.7023. The currency was sold down in response to stronger-than-forecast growth in US jobs during October, which has heightened expectations that the Federal Reserve will increase the cash rate in December. Joseph Capurso of the Commonwealth Bank believes that the Australian dollar could be trading within the range of $US0.68 to $US0.69 by the end of 2015.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

Australian M&A fires up as global uncertainty weighs on executives

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Original article by Vanessa Desloires
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 9-Nov-15

A global survey of senior executives by EY Oceania shows that more than 50 per cent of Australian companies intend to pursue acquisitions in the next 12 months, compared with 44 per cent in the previous six-monthly survey. Mergers and acquisitions activity in Australia is particularly strong in sectors such as food services, consumer retailing and life sciences. Meanwhile, 64 per cent of respondents in Australia and New Zealand, plus 74 per cent globally, expect equity valuations to remain stable.

CORPORATES
ERNST AND YOUNG, WOODSIDE PARK STUD PTY LTD, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, ASCIANO LIMITED – ASX AIO, QUBE HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX QUB, BROOKFIELD INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERS LP, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED

Analysts cool on CBA’s $2.4b profit

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Original article by Clancy Yeates
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 17 : 6-Nov-15

The Commonwealth Bank has posted an unaudited profit of $A2.4bn for the September 2015 quarter, which is four per cent higher year-on-year. The major bank’s trading update also indicated that its exposure to impaired and doubtful loans fell from $A6bn to $A5.5bn during the period, while deposits accounted for 63 per cent of its funding. The group’s tier one capital ratio rose to 9.8 per cent during the quarter following a $A5.1bn equity raising.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, WATERMARK FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, ALPHINITY INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, FOLKESTONE MAXIM ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED

Nib upgrades profit forecast for 2015-16

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Original article by Tim Binsted
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 22 : 5-Nov-15

Australian-listed private health fund NIB Holdings has advised that its 2015-16 statutory profit is likely to be within the range of $A90m to $A100m. The group had previously forecast a profit of $A85m to $A90m and has attributed the improved forecast to a strong performance in the first quarter. Chairman Steve Crane says NIB gained more than 23,000 additional policyholders in 2014-15, and now provides health insurance for more than one million people.

CORPORATES
NIB HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NHF, BUPA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence Consolidates

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 4-Nov-15

The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rating for Australia rose by 1.6 per cent to 115.2 in the week ended 1 November 2015. Despite recent moves by the big four banks to raise variable mortgage rates, this week’s result confirms that overall consumer confidence remains on an upward trend, most likely reflecting the increased faith in the new Prime Minister. The four-week moving average is now at its highest level since February 2014. The subindex "economic conditions in the next 12 months" has risen by 5.1 per cent, and is now 25 per cent higher than prior to the change in Prime Ministership.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, PROPERTY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Dollar jumps as RBA wrong-foots punters with cash rate

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Original article by Mark Mulligan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 32 : 4-Nov-15

The Australian dollar was fetching $US0.7199 late in trading on 3 November 2015. The currency reached an intra-day high of $US0.7209 after the Reserve Bank left the cash rate on hold. Central bank governor Glenn Stevens indicated that there may be potential for further rate cuts given the low inflation rate. Felicity Emmett of the ANZ Bank expects the cash rate to be left on hold again in December before being reduced in February.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, JAMIESONCOOTEBONDS PTY LTD, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD