K: Financial and Insurance Services

Atlassian fast tracks NYSE float

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Original article by Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 12-Feb-15

Australian entrepreneurs Scott Farquhar and Mike Cannon-Brookes are currently in 35th and 36th place on the "BRW" Rich List. However, their personal wealth is likely to increase significantly if Atlassian Software lists on the US sharemarket. The company has recruited former eBay executive Erik Bardman to fill the post of CFO. Atlassian president Jay Simons has given indications that the group could pursue an IPO in 2015

CORPORATES
ATLASSIAN SOFTWARE SYSTEMS PTY LTD, EBAY INCORPORATED, GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE, NASDAQ, ORACLE CORPORATION, SAP AG, IBM CORPORATION, MICROSOFT CORPORATION, COCHLEAR LIMITED – ASX COH, UNITED STATES. NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION, T ROWE PRICE GROUP INCORPORATED, DRAGONEER INVESTMENT GROUP LLC, HORTONWORKS, NEW RELIC, BOX, CISCO SYSTEMS INCORPORATED, CITRIX SYSTEMS INCORPORATED

Apple’s pick of the crop as reality bites for other heroes

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Original article by Philip Baker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 12-Feb-15

The market capitalisation of Apple rose to $US711bn on 11 February 2015, and the IT giant may be on track to become the first company to achieve a market value of $US1trn. Apple shares have risen by more than 50,600 per cent since its IPO in 1980. Meanwhile, shares in Australian-listed Commonwealth Bank and CSL retreated on 11 February, although both remain close to record highs and are candidates to reach $A100 per share

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, CSL LIMITED – ASX CSL, APPLE INCORPORATED, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, MICROSOFT CORPORATION, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH

Australian dollar set to drop to US75c by March

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Original article by Misa Han
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 12-Feb-15

The Australian dollar remained within a narrow trading range of $US0.7764 and $US0.7794 on 11 February 2015. The upcoming release of the latest unemployment data will be the next key test for the currency, while Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens will shortly front a parliamentary committee. Westpac’s Sean Callow forecasts that the currency will fall to $US0.75 by the end of March, while National Australia Bank expects it to test the $US0.76 level

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, UNITED STATES. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERVICES

Political chaos hits business

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Original article by Jonathan Shapiro, James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 14 : 12-Feb-15

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia posted a cash profit of $A4.62bn for the first half of 2014-15 on 11 February 2015. However, the group’s shares fell by 0.79 per cent to close at $A91.86. Meanwhile, CEO Ian Narev has urged the nation’s policymakers to pursue measures aimed at bolstering business confidence, arguing that the failure to deliver "coherent" policy will hinder economic growth. Shareholders will receive an interim dividend of $A1.98 per share

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, INVESTORS MUTUAL LIMITED, PM CAPITAL LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence: Not-So-Great Expectations

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 10-Feb-15

The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rating for Australia fell by 0.6 per cent to 111.7 in the week ended 8 February 2015. The modest change likely reflects the positive impact from interest rate cuts, somewhat offset by concerns about the economy and federal government leadership speculation. Confidence in the economic outlook over the next year fell by 3.6 per cent, but expectations of household finances compared with a year ago rose by 1.3 per cent. This sub-index is most correlated with household spending

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

Credit card firms push cashless world

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Original article by Shaun Drummond
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 10-Feb-15

Credit card companies are determined to eliminate cash from financial transactions. Progress towards this aim has been particularly fast in Australia and developing countries. MasterCard’s president of international markets, Ann Cairns, says half of all MasterCard transactions in Australia are already done through its PayPass system

CORPORATES
MASTERCARD INTERNATIONAL INCORPORATED, VISA INTERNATIONAL, APPLE INCORPORATED, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, SAMSUNG CORPORATION

Shocks likely as weaker $A hits home

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Original article by Bianca Hartge-Hazelman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 10-Feb-15

Shane Lee of CIMB notes that consensus forecasts for earnings per share in the February 2015 reporting season have not been unduly affected by the sharp fall in the value of the Australian dollar. CSL, Boral and Newcrest Mining are among the stocks that could potentially have benefited from the lower currency in the first half of 2014-15. Lee notes that Boral will have greater downside risk in fiscal 2016, when less of its foreign exposure will be hedged

CORPORATES
CIMB SECURITIES INTERNATIONAL (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, CSL LIMITED – ASX CSL, BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, NEWCREST MINING LIMITED – ASX NCM, OZ MINERALS LIMITED – ASX OZL, COCHLEAR LIMITED – ASX COH, PERSEUS MINING LIMITED – ASX PRU, SONIC HEALTHCARE LIMITED – ASX SHL, TRANSFIELD SERVICES LIMITED – ASX TSE, AMCOR LIMITED – ASX AMC, ALUMINA LIMITED – ASX AWC, WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC, OCEANAGOLD CORPORATION – ASX OGC, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, ILUKA RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX ILU, ATLAS IRON LIMITED – ASX AGO, SANDFIRE RESOURCES NL – ASX SFR, MOUNT GIBSON IRON LIMITED – ASX MGX

Embrace telematics or lose share, insurers told

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Original article by Ruth Liew
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 10-Feb-15

Brian Wallace of IT group CSC believes that the introduction of telematics technology in Australia’s insurance industry is inevitable. He says car insurers in particular will need to implement telematics in order to protect their market share. Insurance Australia Group has ruled out offering such products, but QBE Insurance Group says its telematics product has resulted in cost savings of up to 30 per cent for some customers when renewing their policies

CORPORATES
COMPUTER SCIENCES CORPORATION, INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG, QBE INSURANCE GROUP LIMITED – ASX QBE, ACCENTURE, CELENT COMMUNICATIONS LLC, NRMA LIFE LIMITED, CGU INSURANCE AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Bank bosses set for big pay days

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Original article by Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 10-Feb-15

The personal wealth of the CEOs of Australia’s four major banks has been boosted by the strong gains in the banks’ share prices. Commonwealth Bank CEO Ian Narev now holds some $A30m worth of shares in the bank, while the shares and options of ANZ Bank CEO Mike Smith are worth around $A61m based on the bank’s current share price. Wilson Asset Management’s Geoff Wilson says shareholders usually do not object to the high remuneration of CEOs provided investors also benefit from increased wealth

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, WILSON ASSET MANAGEMENT, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 BANKS INDEX, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

RBA helps BoQ in its new thrust

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Original article by Shaun Drummond
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 9-Feb-15

The Bank of Queensland (BoQ) will be hoping that its mortgage lending business will be boosted by the 25 basis point reduction in the cash rate on 3 February 2015. The regional bank was quick to announce that it will reduce its fixed and variable home loan rates, as well as its business lending rates. BoQ shares closed at $A13.31 on 6 February, although the consensus share price target of analysts is $A12.71. Most analysts have a "buy" or "hold" recommendation on the stock

CORPORATES
BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, CLSA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, INVESTEC BANK (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, EZCORP INCORPORATED, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, MACQUARIE SECURITIES PTY LTD, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BELL POTTER SECURITIES LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY