O75 Public Administration

The price was right, says Cormann

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 27-Nov-14

Shares in Medibank Private closed 2.1 per cent lower at $A2.10 on 26 November 2014, after peaking at $A2.23 on debut in the previous trading session. Federal Finance Minister Mathias Cormann believes that the pricing of the IPO was appropriate, and has benefited both taxpayers and investors who bought shares in the float. The Australian Government is widely tipped to pursue further asset sales

CORPORATES
MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEFENCE HOUSING AUSTRALIA

Lot release ‘too slow in NSW’

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Tim Binsted
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 26-Nov-14

Brickworks MD Lindsay Partridge believes that the limited supply of land for residential development is contributing to the rising cost of homes in New South Wales. He has urged the State Government to accelerate the release of new housing lots, arguing that it should be making 10 times more lots available than at present. Meanwhile, Brickworks achieved 14 per cent growth in revenue year-on-year in the first quarter of 2014-15

CORPORATES
BRICKWORKS LIMITED – ASX BKW, CIMB SECURITIES INTERNATIONAL (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD

Doctors criticise parties for vague poll bed promises

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Kate Hagan
The Age – Page: 5 : 26-Nov-14

Tony Bartone, president in Victoria of the Australian Medical Association, has said neither major political party is convincing on health in the campaigns for the 29 November 2014 state election. He criticised the Government’s failure to issue details on where a supposed 800 new hospital beds have been allocated. Meanwhile the pledge to invest $A200m in under-utilised hospitals by the Australian Labor Party was also not addressing the longer-term issue of an ageing population. The Coalition has vowed to open a further 800 beds if re-elected

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (VICTORIA) LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF HEALTH AND WELFARE, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, ANGLISS HOSPITAL, CASEY HOSPITAL, MONASH MEDICAL CENTRE, NORTHERN HOSPITAL, BALLARAT HEALTH SERVICES

A lot of fizz but no pop for Medibank IPO

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jessica Gardner, Joyce Moullakis, Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 26-Nov-14

Medibank Private’s stock closed at $A2.14 on 25 November 2014, after peaking at $A2.23 on its first day of trading. Retail investors paid $A2 per share in the $A5.7bn IPO, while institutional investors paid $A2.15. Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said the stock was priced appropriately, but Glenn Rosewall of BBY says Medibank shares were priced higher than some market watchers had anticipated. The Federal Government is considering the privatisation of more public assets

CORPORATES
MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, BBY LIMITED, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, AUSTRALIA. DEFENCE HOUSING AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA POST, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GLOBAL ASSET MANAGEMENT, GOLDMAN SACHS AND PARTNERS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX, CSL LIMITED – ASX CSL, JAPARA HEALTHCARE LIMITED – ASX JHC, NIB HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NHF, ALIBABA GROUP HOLDING LIMITED, NATIONAL COMMERCIAL BANK, AHM HEALTH INSURANCE, MACQUARIE CAPITAL PTY LTD, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, MARTIN CURRIE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED

Free TV gets back on the licence fee warpath

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Lara Sinclair
The Australian – Page: online : 25-Nov-14

Free TV Australia CEO Julie Flynn has revived the lobbying body’s campaign for the Federal Government to significantly reduce the licence fees paid by commercial free-to-air TV networks. The trigger this time is a plan by the Government to allow public broadcaster SBS to lift the length of advertising slots by 100%, and gain as much as $A200m extra in half a decade. That decision had been meant by Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull to compensate SBS for funding cuts worth $A53.7m

CORPORATES
FREE TV AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Baird to launch new sales pitch for poles, wires

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Sean Nicholls
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 3 : 25-Nov-14

Public opinion polling by Fairfax/Ipsos indicates that New South Wales (NSW) Premier Mike Baird may be making gains in his attempt to convince voters of the merit in electricity distribution asset sales. He is linking the funds to be raised in the privatisation to investment in new infrastructure. This includes an extra $A300m for bus lanes, and $A600m for cultural projects such as new arts precincts, maintenance work at the Sydney Opera House, and a new Sydney Modern wing for the Art Gallery of NSW

CORPORATES
NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE, ART GALLERY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, INFRASTRUCTURE NEW SOUTH WALES, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, IPSOS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Medibank pressure to perform

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jessica Gardner
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 24-Nov-14

The Australian Government will gain $A5.7bn from the sale of Medibank Private, after the institutional bookbuild price was set at $A2.15 per share. Jan van der Schalk of CLSA values the health fund at between $A1.55 and $A1.64 per share, noting that Medibank’s management will face a lot of pressure to achieve results due to the high issue price for the stock. Retail investors will pay $A2 per share for Medibank stock, which will debut on the sharemarket on 25 November 2014

CORPORATES
MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL, CLSA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ARGO INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX ARG, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN ETHICAL INVESTMENT LIMITED – ASX AEF, JAPARA HEALTHCARE LIMITED – ASX JHC, NIB HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NHF, RAMSAY HEALTH CARE LIMITED – ASX RHC, HEALTHSCOPE LIMITED – ASX HSO

Dan Andrews set to be new Victorian Premier in a week’s time

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Morgan Poll Update – Page: Online : 21-Nov-14

An SMS Morgan Poll on state voting intention ahead of the 2014 Victorian election has found that support for the Australian Labor Party on a two-party preferred basis has risen by 1.5 per cent to 55 per cent. The poll, which was carried out on 19-20 November, also shows that support for the Coalition has fallen by 1.5 per cent to 45 per cent. Meanwhile, 52.5 per cent of electors now believe that Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews would make the better Premier. Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan says the Coalition Government may be the state’s first one-term government since the 1950s

CORPORATES
MORGAN POLL, ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF VICTORIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN SEX PARTY, FAMILY FIRST PARTY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Shark alert app copied

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Nick Sas
The West Australian – Page: 22 : 21-Nov-14

The Western Australian Government may face legal action over allegations that it infringed a software developer’s intellectual property. Paul Holliday invested $A140,000 in the development of iKoast, an app that warns users about shark sightings on the state’s coast. The app was launched in March 2014, and Holliday claims that the Government’s Sharksmart website is based on his app

CORPORATES
WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FISHERIES, SURF LIFE SAVING WESTERN AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED

Deficit heads for $40bn

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 21-Nov-14

Citigroup believes that the Australian Government’s forecast for a 2014-15 Budget deficit of $A30bn will have to be revised up by $A10bn, with a major factor the fall in the iron ore price and the effect on the nation’s terms of trade. Treasurer Joe Hockey, who will soon release the Mid-Year Financial and Economic Outlook data, concedes that the commodities slump is an issue. However, he also stresses that there is great potential to boost services sector exports

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MACROECONOMICS.COM.AU PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY