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Fairfax clean bowled by Gayle force victory

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian – Page: 5 : 31-Oct-17

Fairfax Media has advised that it may appeal against a court ruling that it defamed West Indian cricket player Chris Gayle in a series of articles which claimed that he had exposed himself to a female masseuse. The four-person jury also found that Fairfax published the contentious articles out of malice. Amongst other things, Gayle had sought aggravated and special damages from the media company.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Ten loses hits as Fox rips up deal

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 4 : 31-Oct-17

US media giant 21st Century Fox has formally terminated its program supply deal with the Ten Network, which will no longer be able to broadcast popular shows such as "The Simpsons" and "Modern Family". Ten had suspended broadcasts of Fox shows earlier in October after negotiations for a new content deal stalled. Court approval is the final hurdle for the acquisition of Ten by Fox rival CBS Corporation. Ten will present its 2018 "upfronts" in early November.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, CBS CORPORATION, MULTI CHANNEL NETWORK PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED

‘Enormously damaging’: Hounsell strikes back at Lew

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 21 : 31-Oct-17

Gary Hounsell has urged Myer shareholders to elect him and two other independent directors to its board at its AGM on 24 November. The election of Hounsell, who is Myer’s chairman-designate, and the other two directors is opposed by Solomon Lew’s Premier Investments, which is Myer’s largest shareholder. Lew has requested three seats on the Myer board, but Hounsell says this would amount to him controlling 43 per cent of non-executive director roles. Hounsell has told Myer shareholders that Lew appears to want to gain control of the company without them benefiting from any takeover premium.

CORPORATES
MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, PREMIER INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX PMV, DOTTI, PORTMANS PTY LTD, PETER ALEXANDER SLEEPWEAR PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, JUST JEANS PTY LTD, JAY JAY’S JEANS WAREHOUSE PTY LTD, JACQUELINE EVE GROUP, SMIGGLE PTY LTD

Exposing sources a ‘slippery slope’

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Original article by Dana McCauley
The Australian – Page: 26 : 30-Oct-17

The right of journalists to protect confidential sources of information is under scrutiny in the wake of revelations that a police raid on Australian Workers’ Union offices had been leaked to the media. The Nine Network’s chief political editor Chris Uhlmann says he would never reveal his sources, while the Seven Network’s chief political reporter Mark Riley stresses that there can be no exceptions to the Media Entertainment & Arts ­Alliance’s Journalist Code of Ethics.

CORPORATES
NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, BUZZFEED PTY LTD, SKY NEWS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, GETUP LIMITED

Bunnings ‘sizzling’ with high customer satisfaction

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 30-Oct-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that Bunnings Warehouse has pipped rival Home Timber & Hardware to be Australia’s leading Hardware Store in September 2017 with a customer satisfaction rating of 89.0%, up 0.1% from a year ago. Home Timber & Hardware has a customer satisfaction rating of 88.6%, virtually unchanged from a year ago, and enough to beat out Mitre 10 in third with a customer satisfaction rating of 86.9%. Rounding out the Hardware Store "Big 4" is True Value Hardware with a customer satisfaction rating of 76.3%, down slightly on a year ago. Roy Morgan Research CEO Michele Levine says Home Timber & Hardware has performed consistently well over the past few years, winning the Annual Roy Morgan Hardware Store Customer Satisfaction Award in four out of the last five years, although the 2017 Annual Award looks set to go down to the wire with Bunnings aiming for its first victory in the category since 2011.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, HOME TIMBER AND HARDWARE, MITRE 10 LIMITED, TRUE VALUE HARDWARE LIMITED

JB Hi-Fi leads Ikea & The Good Guys for satisfaction

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 30-Oct-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that JB Hi-Fi is Australia’s leading furniture and electrical retailer, with a customer satisfaction rating of 90.1% in September 2017. Its customer satisfaction has fallen 1% from a year ago. Behind JB Hi-Fi in second place is an improving Ikea on 88.9%, up 3.1% on a year ago, followed by JB Hi-Fi stablemate The Good Guys on 88.6%. However, the biggest improver in the category over the past year is 2015 Annual winner Betta Home Living/Betta Electrical, which surged 6.9% to a customer satisfaction rating of 88.2%. Harvey Norman rounds out the top 5 with 86.8% of its customers satisfied. Roy Morgan Research CEO Michele Levine says the strong performance of JB Hi-Fi, and recent purchase The Good Guys, sets the two retailers up for a good showing at the 2017 Annual Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards, due to be held early in 2018.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, IKEA TRADING PTY LTD, THE GOOD GUYS, BETTA ELECTRICAL PTY LTD, HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX HVN

Woolworths denies Myer interest

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 27-Oct-17

Solomon Lew’s Premier Investments acquired a 10.8 per cent stake in department store chain Myer earlier in 2017, but the value of his investment has fallen by 35 per cent over the last six months. This has prompted Lew to launch a range of attacks against its board and its "new Myer" strategy. South African firm Woolworths Holdings has denied rumours that it was planning to launch a takeover bid for Myer at around the time that Lew made his investment. Lew in turn refutes suggestions that his investment was made to stop a possible Woolworths bid.

CORPORATES
PREMIER INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX PMV, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, WOOLWORTHS HOLDINGS LIMITED, DAVID JONES LIMITED, COUNTRY ROAD LIMITED, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, TREASURY WINE ESTATES LIMITED – ASX TWE

Wesfarmers’ Scott eyes the long game

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 24 : 26-Oct-17

Grocery giant Coles has reported an 0.3 per cent decline in sales for the September quarter, to $A9.4bn. Same-store food and liquor sales increased by just 0.4 per cent, down from 0.7 per cent growth in the previous three months and well below the forecasts of some analysts. Wesfarmers’ incoming MD Rob Scott remains upbeat about the outlook for Coles, forecasting that it will return to sales growth in the second half of 2017-18. Meanwhile, Kmart has reported same-store sales growth of 4.9 per cent, but Target has posted a 6.4 per cent decline.

CORPORATES
COLES GROUP LIMITED, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TARGET AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, OFFICEWORKS SUPERSTORES PTY LTD, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, VIVA ENERGY AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Seven tries to gag reporter’s critical tweet

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Original article by Dana McCauley
The Australian – Page: 11 : 26-Oct-17

The Seven Network has declined to comment on claims that it has asked ex-employee Amy Taeuber to delete a tweet which directs Twitter users to an article she wrote for the MamaMia website. Lawyers have written to Taeuber on Seven’s behalf requesting the tweet’s removal. The article had been highly critical of Seven, and blamed unnamed female employees of the network for her dismissal after she made a sexual harassment complaint.

CORPORATES
SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, MAMAMIA.COM.AU PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Economist eyes growth potential

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 26-Oct-17

The global circulation of "The Economist" is about 1.5 million, including just 20,000 in Australia. However, chief marketing officer Michael Brunt is upbeat about the venerable magazine’s prospects in the Australian market, suggesting that it has a potential readership of about one million, based on the characteristics of the magazine’s typical reader. "The Economist" is using an experiential marketing campaign to boost local subscription numbers.

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THE ECONOMIST GROUP