K: Financial and Insurance Services

Higher bank capital to bite investors, clients

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 10 : 21-Jul-15

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has ruled that the nation’s major banks – and Macquarie Group – will need to hold more capital against residential mortgages. The average risk weighting on mortgage loans will rise from around 16 per cent to at least 25 per cent from 1 July 2016. Jarrod Martin of Credit Suisse estimates that the increased capital requirements will result in a modest rise in mortgage interest rates, while Richard Wiles of Morgan Stanley forecasts that dividend payouts will be reduced as a result of the reforms.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, CUSTOMER OWNED BANKING ASSOCIATION, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Dipping Australian dollar tipped to drop below US60c

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 21-Jul-15

Deltec International Group’s Atul Lele says further interest rate cuts and fiscal policy easing are needed in Australia due to the country’s uncertain economic outlook. He says the economic downturn in Canada is likely to be replicated in Australia, and forecasts that the Australian dollar will fall below the $US0.70 level by the end of 2015. He also warns of the potential for it to fall below $US0.60.

CORPORATES
DELTEC INTERNATIONAL GROUP, BANK OF CANADA

QSuper’s skew strikes right balance

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Sally Rose
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 : 20-Jul-15

Data from Chant West shows that QSuper’s balanced option achieved a return of 12.3 per cent for 2014-15, topping the performance charts. Brad Holzberger, the superannuation fund’s chief investment officer, attributes QSuper’s performance to its portfolio’s high exposure to long-term sovereign bonds and its lower allocation toward domestic shares. The MTAA My AutoSuper fund delivered a return of 11.7 per cent, while all of the balanced funds in the top 10 achieved a double-digit return.

CORPORATES
CHANT WEST FINANCIAL SERVICES PTY LTD, QSUPER LIMITED, MOTOR TRADES ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA SUPERANNUATION FUND PTY LTD, STATEWIDE SUPERANNUATION PTY LTD, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, VICSUPER PTY LTD, UNISUPER LIMITED, HOST-PLUS, INTRUST SUPER FUND, MLC LIMITED, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, REST SUPER PTY LTD

ANZ-Roy Morgan New Zealand Consumer Confidence – Cold Snap

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 16-Jul-15

The ANZ-Roy Morgan New Zealand Consumer Confidence Index has fallen from 119.9 in June 2015 to 113.9 in July, which is its lowest level in almost three years. Sentiment has fallen by 15 points so far in 2015 and is now below its historical average of 119.1. The Current Conditions Index has fallen from 122.6 to 119.0, while the Future Conditions Index has eased from 118.1 to 110.4. Meanwhile, a net four per cent of New Zealanders believe that they are financially better off compared with last year.

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

Medibank accused of bullying in contract talks

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jessica Gardner
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 17-Jul-15

The Australian Private Hospitals Association (APHA) has criticised Medibank Private over its dealings with private hospital operator Calvary Health Care. Medibank abandoned negotiations over a new contract with Calvary in early July 2015, and the APHA has claimed that the private health insurer used bullying tactics. Medibank has rejected the accusations and says it acted appropriately in its negotiations with Calvary.

CORPORATES
MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL, CALVARY HEALTH CARE LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN PRIVATE HOSPITALS ASSOCIATION LIMITED, RAMSAY HEALTH CARE LIMITED – ASX RHC, HEALTHSCOPE LIMITED – ASX HSO

Aussie banks ready for Apple Pay

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Shaun Drummond
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 17-Jul-15

Apple is believed to be seeking a 0.15 per cent share of banks’ credit card interchange fees when it launches the Apple Pay service in Australia. The mobile payments service was officially launched in the UK on 14 July 2015, and is being supported by most of that nation’s lenders. David Gunn of Bain & Company notes that Australian banks have considerable bargaining power as they have already made a major investment in contactless payment technology.

CORPORATES
APPLE INCORPORATED, BAIN AND COMPANY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, VISA INTERNATIONAL, MASTERCARD AUSTRALIA LIMITED, PAYPAL INCORPORATED, WAL-MART STORES INCORPORATED, SAMSUNG CORNING COMPANY LIMITED, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

Canada, NZ moves point to more RBA rate cuts

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jacob Greber, Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 17-Jul-15

The Australian dollar reached a low of $US0.7354 on 16 July 2015, after the Bank of Canada reduced its cash rate to 0.5 per cent. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand is widely tipped to ease monetary policy in July, and economists suggest that this may prompt further rate cuts in Australia before the end of the year. Citigroup anticipates a rate cut of 25 basis points in November, while Deutsche Bank forecasts that the Australian dollar will test the $US0.65 level by the end of 2016.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, BANK OF CANADA, RESERVE BANK OF NEW ZEALAND, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, ROYAL BANK OF CANADA, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Perpetual takes $1.6 billion hit

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ruth Liew, Vanessa Desloires
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 22 : 16-Jul-15

Listed wealth manager Perpetual has advised that its funds under management fell from $A34.7bn to $A30.2bn in the June 2015 quarter. Equities accounted for the bulk of the $A1.6bn worth of net outflows for the quarter. The group had reported net inflows for each of the previous seven quarters. CEO Geoff Lloyd has refuted suggestions that the rise in outflows is linked to the resignation of Matt Williams as head of equities. Perpetual shares closed 6.6 per cent lower at $A45.60 on 15 July.

CORPORATES
PERPETUAL LIMITED – ASX PPT

David Murray endorses APRA on banks’ capital

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Clancy Yeates
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 15-Jul-15

Proposed new capital requirements for banks have been described as "sensible" by financial system inquiry chairman David Murray. The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has adopted some key recommendations of the inquiry, and Murray says he is not concerned about the fact that it rejected a recommendation for the nation’s banks to be among the top 25 in the world in terms of capital ratios.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

IPO still draw for retailers

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Sue Mitchell, Simon Evans
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 15-Jul-15

KPMG’s Robert Bazzani notes that a number of retailers and consumer-oriented businesses are looking at an Australian IPO, despite recent sharemarket turmoil. However, he questions whether companies should consider an IPO if their market capitalisation would be less than $A100m, arguing that they risk being overlooked by fund managers and equities analysts, Upcoming IPOs include Beston Global Food Company, Costa Group and Amaysim.

CORPORATES
KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BESTON GLOBAL FOOD COMPANY LIMITED, COSTA GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX CGC, AMAYSIM AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX AYS, ADAIRS LIMITED – ASX ADH, BURSON GROUP LIMITED – ASX BAP, BEACON LIGHTING GROUP LIMITED – ASX BLX, GODFREYS GROUP LIMITED – ASX GFY, LOVISA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX LOV, BELLAMY’S AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX BAL, THE PAS GROUP LIMITED – ASX PGR, GREEN’S FOODS LIMITED, PACIFIC BRANDS LIMITED – ASX PBG, BRAND COLLECTIVE, KATHMANDU HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX KMD, MACPAC WILDERNESS EQUIPMENT, URBAN PURVEYOR GROUP PTY LTD