K: Financial and Insurance Services

Macquarie poised for record $2b annual profit

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 17 : 15-Sep-15

Australian-listed Macquarie Group has advised that its 2015-16 interim profit will be 40 per cent higher than the $A678m result for the previous corresponding period. This suggests that Macquarie’s profit for the half-year to 30 September 2015 will be around $A949m. Macquarie has indicated that its profit for the second half will be similar to the first half, which means its full-year result could be around $A1.9bn. Meanwhile, the group has made a binding offer to acquire the Esanda dealer finance business from the ANZ Bank.

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, ESANDA FINANCE CORPORATION LIMITED, MACQUARIE ASSET MANAGEMENT, MACQUARIE SECURITIES PTY LTD, SHAW AND PARTNERS LIMITED, CLSA CAPITAL PARTNERS, WHITE FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, TRANSGRID, LONDON CITY AIRPORT

Top sectors for feeding the dividend beast cited

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Vanessa Desloires
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 15-Sep-15

Beulah Capital’s Peter Mavromatis does not expect further increases in Australian companies’ dividend payout ratios. He forecasts that companies will instead pursue mergers and acquisitions as investors continue to seek high dividend yields. Mavromatis believes that local and offshore companies will target sectors such as IT, property, transport and logistics. Gerald Moser of Credit Suisse Private Bank suggests that the healthcare and IT sectors are likely to experience more consolidation.

CORPORATES
BEULAH CAPITAL PTY LTD, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, GRAINCORP LIMITED – ASX GNC, TRANSURBAN GROUP LIMITED – ASX TCL, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, FIDELITY AUSTRALIAN OPPORTUNITIES FUND, 3P LEARNING LIMITED – ASX 3PL, LEARNOSITY PTY LTD

More evidence needed to charge banks

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Clancy Yeates
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 15-Sep-15

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission has found no evidence of misconduct by banks that would warrant legal action. The corporate regulator wrote in a submission to an inquiry into the banks’ business customer defaults that it had received 61 complaints about bank behaviour in commercial finance since mid-2010. These complaints constituted less than one per cent of the total complaints received about credit.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, BANK OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, HBOS AUSTRALIA LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

Spanish ‘interest’ won’t derail NAB Clydesdale float

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by James Chessell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 11-Sep-15

There is speculation that Spain-based Sabadell may be a potential buyer of the UK’s Clydesdale Bank, which is being sold by National Australia Bank (NAB). The Spanish bank has previously paid Stg1.7bn for TSB Bank. NAB plans to offload Clydesdale via an IPO and the sale of shares directly to its own stockholders, and NAB sources say this has not changed. CEO Andrew Thorburn indicated in August 2015 that investors would be updated on the sale process in October.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, CLYDESDALE BANK PLC, YORKSHIRE BANK PLC, BANCO SABADELL, TSB BANK LIMITED, LLOYDS BANKING GROUP PLC, THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INCORPORATED

Citi says 55pc chance of global recession

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Karen Maley
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 22 : 11-Sep-15

A new report from Citigroup’s chief economist Willem Buiter has raised the prospect of an emerging market-driven global recession. Buiter rates the chances of a global recession in the next two years at 55 per cent, warning that if the Chinese economy goes into recession it will have a flow-on effect on other emerging market economies. He adds that the limited scope for further interest rate cuts in developed economies may require central banks to consider more stimulus measures.

CORPORATES
CITIGROUP INCORPORATED

Growth key in tighter IPO environment

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 11-Sep-15

The Australian Private Equity & Venture Capital Association’s 2015 conference has been told that conditions remain favourable for IPOs, although the market is not as strong as in 2014. Justin Ryan of Quadrant Private Equity says low interest rates will continue to make IPOs attractive to investors. Jeremy Tasker of Macquarie Group says IPO candidates that offer good earnings growth will receive support from fund managers in an environment of slowing economic growth.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRIVATE EQUITY AND VENTURE CAPITAL ASSOCIATION LIMITED, QUADRANT PRIVATE EQUITY PTY LTD, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, AVENTUS RETAIL PROPERTY FUND, GREENSTONE LIMITED, LINK GROUP PTY LTD, PETERS ICE CREAM, PACIFIC EQUITY PARTNERS PTY LTD, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, KKR AND COMPANY LP, ALLIER CAPITAL PTY LTD, ARCHER CAPITAL PTY LTD, HEALTHE CARE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Chinese investors lose $12b with Aussie’s fall

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Rose Powell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 10-Sep-15

Data shows that Chinese investors have injected some $A92.6 billion into the Australian economy over the last three years. However, the Australian dollar’s 34 per cent slump since the end of 2012 is estimated to have reduced the value of Chinese investments in the residential property market and resources groups by 30 per cent. This equates to a monetary loss of $A12bn.

CORPORATES
BASIS POINT CONSULTING, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX ALL RESOURCES INDEX

Fed urged to avoid panic with rate hike

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jonathan Shapiro, Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 24 : 10-Sep-15

The US Federal Reserve is not expected to lift the cash rate in September 2015, with financial markets pricing in a 28 per cent chance. Kaushik Basu, chief economist at the World Bank, has expressed concern that emerging markets in particular are likely to experience an increase in volatility if the US tightens monetary policy.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, WORLD BANK, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT, BT INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX BTT

$A overshoots as iron ore export volumes up again

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Mark Mulligan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 26 : 10-Sep-15

The Australian dollar is trading at around $US0.70, having recently fallen to $US0.6896. However, Annette Beacher of TD Securities argues that the rebound in the iron ore price means the currency should be trading at the $US0.76 level. Meanwhile, Beacher says the Reserve Bank is likely to maintain the cash rate at two per cent in the wake of the currency’s recent downturn.

CORPORATES
TD SECURITIES, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, CAPITAL ECONOMICS LIMITED, GROUP OF TEN (G-10)

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence down 6.6pts to 106.7

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 8-Sep-15

The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rating for Australia fell by 6.6 points to 106.7 in the week ended 6 September 2015, reaching its lowest level since July 2014. This follows three weeks where confidence remained surprisingly resilient in the face of financial market volatility, holding up above its long-run average. However, consumers clearly remain sensitive towards bad news in Australia, notably last week’s newsflow around Australia’s weak economic growth. The subindexes on economic conditions fell by 5.7 per cent and household finances fell by 4.5 per cent.

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