News mulls its options in big Fox refinance

Original article by Max Mason, Tony Boyd
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 29-Apr-19

Asian investors are said to have expressed interest in a potential $2.5bn refinancing deal for pay-TV group Foxtel. Major shareholder News Corp is believed to be considering a range of options for the refinancing, rather than raising the entire amount via debt. These options are said to include an equity injection of up to $500m or a direct loan from News Corp. Foxtel is facing growing competition from subscription video-on-demand services such as Stan and Netflix; it could also potentially lose customers to its own Kayo Sports streaming service.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, KAYO SPORTS, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Monitor’s win cuts copyright payments

Original article by Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 23 : 29-Apr-19

Media monitoring firm Isentia expects a slight ­reduction in its copyright costs for 2018-19 after successfully challenging a 2018 deal between the Copyright Agency and newspaper publishers. The interim ruling could affect the revenue of news publishers, but Campbell Reid of News Corp says the company will await the final ruling. Isentia says the interim ruling will not affect its EBITDA guidance for the financial year. The company is facing growing competition from rivals such as Streem and Meltwater.

CORPORATES
ISENTIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX ISD, COPYRIGHT AGENCY LIMITED, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, STREEM PTY LTD, MELTWATER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, BAUER MEDIA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, COPYCO

Game On: Easter Roy Morgan Poll shows election race tightening: ALP 51% cf. L-NP 49% on a two-party preferred basis

The ALP 51% leads the L-NP 49% on a two party preferred basis according to a face-to-face Roy Morgan Poll conducted on the Easter weekend of April 20/21, 2019 with a cross-section of 707 electors.

The tight result at Easter means the Roy Morgan Poll has swung by 1.5% to the L-NP since the prior surveying period of April 6/7 & 13/14, 2019.

Primary Voting Intention

The L-NP now has a primary vote of 39% (up 1.5%) and clearly ahead of the ALP on 35.5% (down 1%) while Greens support is down 1.5% to 9.5%.

Support for One Nation is up 1% to 4.5% while support for Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party is up 0.5% to 2%. Support for Independents/Others is now 9.5% (down 0.5%).

Roy Morgan Government Confidence

Roy Morgan Government Confidence has improved this week with 40% of electors saying Australia is now heading in the right direction, up 1% from a week earlier while 41% (down 1.5%) say Australia is heading in the wrong direction.

These results leave Government Confidence below the neutral level of 100 and indicate the ALP is still the favourite to win with early voting opening next week although the L-NP has closed the gap significantly during the last week.

 

Electors were asked: “At the Federal election for the House of Representatives on May 18 – which party will receive your first preference?and “Generally speaking, do you feel that things in Australia are heading in the right direction or would you say things are seriously heading in the wrong direction?”

This Roy Morgan Poll on Federal voting intention and Roy Morgan Government Confidence was conducted via face-to-face interviewing on the first weekend of April. Roy Morgan interviewed 707 Australian electors aged 18+ on the weekends of April 20/21, 2019. 3.5% of electors can’t say who they support.

Visit the Roy Morgan Online Store to browse our range of Voter Profiles by electorate, detailed Voting Intention Demographics Reports and Most important Political Issue Reports (all 151 electorates ranked by an issue).

For further information:

Contact Office Mobile
Gary Morgan: +61 3 9224 5213 +61 411 129 094
Michele Levine: +61 3 9224 5215 +61 411 129 093

Hadley facing legal action over bullying

Original article by Zoe Samios
The Australian – Page: 2 : 18-Apr-19

A former employee of Sydney radio station 2GB is believed to planning to sue broadcaster Ray Hadley, claiming that bullying contributed to his mental health problems. Chris Bowen alleges that he was subject to ‘intense bullying’ over a 16-year period at 2GB. He first raised allegations of bullying via social media in March, but did not name Hadley at the time. Bowen has yet to file any documents in court.

CORPORATES
2GB, MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN, LAXON LAWYERS

For the Record: Ownership of Australian Public Opinion Polling and Market Research Companies

By Gary Morgan & Michele Levine, Directors of Roy Morgan Research Ltd publisher of ABIX

  1. Roy Morgan Research Ltd – Australian based with operations also in New Zealand, Indonesia, US and UK – 81.5% owned by Gary Morgan and family, 13.3% Michele Levine (CEO) and 5.2% present & former employees/consultants.        http://www.roymorgan.com
  1. Nielsen – US based multinational valued at about $US17b – at present for sale with 8.4% owned by hedge fund Elliott Management – throughout the world conducts retail audits, net ratings and TV ratings.
    https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/05/nielsen-acquisition-advent-goldman-apollo-considering.html
  1. Ipsos – French owned multinational conducts The Age/SMH Poll, recently purchased four divisions from GFK.
    https://www.ipsos.com/en-au/ipsos-world
  1. YouGov owners of Galaxy – a major UK based public opinion and social research company.
    https://today.yougov.com/about/about
    https://mumbrella.com.au/yougov-acquires-galaxy-research-489774
  1. Newspoll – public opinion polls conducted by YouGov and published in The Australian.
  1. Essential Poll – conducted by Essential Media Communications the holding company is The Essential Research and Communications Group Pty Ltd. The shares are held equally by Peter Lewis & James Douglas but the shares are not beneficially held (owner not known). Conduct Robo-Polling; clients as published include Shop Distributive & Allied Employees Association Nat Branch, United Firefighters’ Union of Australia-Victorian Branch and Federal Australian Education Union.
    https://www.essentialmedia.com.au/our-history
  1. uComms/ReachTEL Poll – three equal shareholders of UComms are ACTU secretary Sally McManus, CFMMEU national secretary Michael O’Connor and James Stewart, a former executive of ReachTEL who conducted Robo-Polling.
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-10/political-polling-company-ucomms-ties-to-unions-cfmmeu-and-actu/10945798
  1. ReachTEL – Known for using low-cost Robo-Polling ReachTel is a wholly owned subsidiary of Equifax – the NYSE listed data and analytics company.https://www.reachtel.com.au/about
  1. DBM Consultants – conducts customer satisfaction surveys for all major Australian bank covering both business customers and personal customers – controlled and 51% owned by an ultimate holding Chinese company –  Shanghai Illuminera Marketing Strategy Consulting Co Ltd.
    https://www.dbmconsultants.com.au/who-we-are
  1. ORC International Pty Ltd trading as Engine Asia Pacific – US based corporation recently awarded by Federal Government Tourism Research tender (Contract Notice View – CN3566082) for $18,950,385.20 (not lowest) to collected personal information on overseas tourist visiting Australia (Per year: 1.4 million Chinese spending $10.4b).
    https://enginegroup.com/apac
  1. The Social Research Centre owned by the Australian National University.
    https://www.srcentre.com.au
  1. Emma conducted by NewsMediaWorks – supplier of media information from surveys conducted by IPSOS & Nielsen – NewsMediaWorks is majority owned and controlled by News Corp.
    https://www.emma.com.au/about
  1. GFK – German multinational research company – conducts Australian commercial radio ratings.
    https://www.gfk.com/en-au
  1. Kantar Group includes Taylor Nelson – owned by WPP, the world’s largest multinational advertising agency based in the UK.
    http://www.tnsglobal.com/office/australia-1
  1. IRI – US based multinational – conducts mainly retail research.
    https://www.iriworldwide.com/en-AU
  1. Most major advertising agencies and accounting firms conduct surveys for their clients, they usually sub-contract the field work.

 

Australian Futures Project launches ‘The Perfect Candidate’ using Roy Morgan ‘Issues’ data

● New digital candidate created to shift the national conversation and end short-termism

● Powered by most comprehensive data ever compiled on Australians’ concerns

● Top 3 Issues – Cost of living, improving health services, open & honest government

In a first for Australian politics, a digital candidate powered by data insights from real Australians has entered the Federal election race, to shift our national conversation from short-term problems to long-term solutions.

Australia is stuck in a cycle of political short-termism and The Perfect Candidate is an unbiased voice of the people, driven by the most authoritative research ever released on Australians’ concerns.

The Perfect Candidate is driven by data not bias and launching their campaign today in Sydney, they aim to empower Australians to hold our politicians to account and to ignite discussion amongst leaders and citizens about our long-term future.

Created by the Australian Futures Project , a non-partisan, not-for profit organisation dedicated to ending short-termism in Australia, The Perfect Candidate allows Australians to search and understand key concerns of their local electorate and the whole country.

Using data and analysis from Roy Morgan, policy statements on the websites of the political parties and independents and insights from the Australian Futures Project, Australians can compare these concerns to what is being prioritised and talked about by politicians, ultimately holding them to account.

For example, the public can go online and ask The Perfect Candidate to show them what the political parties and independents are focused on compared to the top issues in their electorate. Users are then prompted to ‘change the conversation’ by reaching out via social media or their local talk-back radio stations to share their concerns and ask their leaders what they are doing to fix them.

Australian Futures Project Executive Director, Ralph Ashton, said the launch of The Perfect Candidate capitalised on the looming Federal election to shift our national conversation from short-term problems to long-term solutions.

The Perfect Candidate might not be a real person, but they are a real voice of the people. They listen and learn from the Australian public – evolving as they do,” Mr Ashton said.

“Politicians aren’t focused on what Australians really care about. And you can’t blame voters for switching off. The public has stopped listening because the politicians stopped listening. If politicians want to engage with Australians in a meaningful conversation, they need to focus on solutions to the big issues.

“Our intention is to empower Australians to better understand politics, so they can ultimately shift the national conversation from short-term problems to long-term solutions.

“Whether you’re conservative, progressive, or green; young, old, or middle-aged; in the country or the city, The Perfect Candidate empowers Australians to hold our leaders to account and share that knowledge – knowledge is power and when shared, that power multiplies,” Mr Ashton said.

An online conversation with The Perfect Candidate reveals that ‘keeping day to day living costs down’ is the top concern among Australians, with half (48 per cent) naming it a top three issue.

The 30-month data is representative of the concerns of Australians during the present Federal Parliament, and also shows that ‘Improving health services and hospitals’ is a top three issue among 31 per cent of Australians, followed by open and honest government’ which ranks third and is of concern for 26 per cent of voters.

Australians can engage with The Perfect Candidate via www.theperfectcandidate.org.au or by following The Perfect Candidate on Twitter @TPCandidate or using the hashtag #changetheconversation.

 

TOP 10 CONCERNS ACCORDING TO THE PERFECT CANDIDATE

30-month data from Australian Futures Project and Roy Morgan is representative of the concerns of Australians during the present Federal Parliament:

1. Keeping day to day living costs down (47.8%)
2. Improving health services and hospitals (31%)
3. Open and honest government (25.6%)
4. Global warming and climate change (22.9%)
5. Managing the economy (21.7%)
6. Improving education (20.8%)
7. Reducing crime and maintain law and order (20.7%)
8. Reducing unemployment (14.6%)
9. Managing immigration and population growth (14.4%)
10. Reducing the taxes you and your family pay (13.9%)

***Please note all when sourcing data, please refer to it as ‘Data from Australian Futures Project and Roy Morgan.’

View the full PDF of this Press Release here.

Lynas caves in over local processing

Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 9-Apr-19

Dylan Kelly of CLSA estimates that Lynas Corporation will incur costs of about $100m if it shifts the ‘cracking and leaching’ part of its rare earths processing operation from Malaysia to Australia. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad recently signalled that Lynas will be able to keep its processing plant open provided that early-stage processing is carried out in Australia. Lynas suitor Wesfarmers committed to undertaking this stage of processing in Australia in talks with the Malaysian Government.

CORPORATES
LYNAS CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX LYC, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, MALAYSIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER, CLSA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, GREENCAPE CAPITAL PTY LTD, JAPAN AUSTRALIA RARE EARTHS, JAPAN OIL GAS AND METALS NATIONAL CORPORATION, SOJITZ CORPORATION

Budget delivers 2.5% swing to the L-NP but ALP still lead on a two party preferred basis: ALP 52.5% cf. L-NP 47.5%

A face-to-face Roy Morgan Poll conducted over the weekend of April 6/7, 2019 with 809 Australian electors shows the ALP 52.5% (down 2.5% from before the Federal Budget) lead the L-NP 47.5% (up 2.5%) on a two-party preferred basis.

The ALP has a primary vote of 35% (down 1.5%) now just behind the L-NP on 37% (up 2.5%). Support for the Greens is up by 1% to 13.5%.

Support for the minor parties is led by One Nation on 4% (up 0.5%), ahead of Clive Palmer’s United Australian Party on 1.5% (down 0.5%), Australian Conservatives on 1% (unchanged) and Katter’s Australian Party 0.5% (unchanged). A further 7.5% (down 2%) support Independents and micro parties.

Right Direction down 1% as Government Confidence dips to 99.5

Following the Federal Budget Roy Morgan’s Government Confidence Rating was down by 2pts to 99.5 for the weekend of April 6/7, 2019.

Now 40.5% (down 1%) of electors say ‘Australia is heading in the ‘right direction’ and 41% (up 1%) say Australia is heading in the wrong direction’ and 18.5% (unchanged) can’t say.

Government Confidence for L-NP supporters was down slightly by 2pts to 124.5 with 54.5% (unchanged) of L-NP supporters saying ‘Australia is heading in the right direction’ compared to 30% (up 2%) that say ‘Australia is heading in the wrong direction’.

Government Confidence for ALP supporters was down by 5pts to 93 with 37.5% (down 2.5%) saying ‘Australia is heading in the right direction’ and 44.5% (up 2.5%) that say ‘Australia is heading in the wrong direction’.

Electors were asked: “If an election for the House of Representatives were held today – which party will receive your first preference? and “Generally speaking, do you feel that things in Australia are heading in the right direction or would you say things are seriously heading in the wrong direction?”

This Roy Morgan Poll on Federal voting intention and Roy Morgan Government Confidence was conducted via face-to-face interviewing on the first weekend of April. Roy Morgan interviewed 829 Australian electors aged 18+ on the weekends of April 6/7, 2019. 4.5% of electors can’t say who they support.

Visit the Roy Morgan Online Store to browse our range of Voter Profiles by electorate, detailed Voting Intention Demographics Reports and Most important Political Issue Reports (all 151 electorates ranked by an issue).

Fifield demands more efficiency from Aunty

Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 5 : 5-Apr-19

The ABC was given a modest funding increase in the April 2019 Budget, to allow the public broadcaster to increase its newsgathering capacity in regional and rural areas. Acting MD David Anderson has welcomed the increased funding for the Enhanced News initiative, but he has criticised the decision to retain a freeze on overall funding for the next three years. He says this will require some difficult decisions regarding staffing and services, but Communications Minister Mitch Fifield argues that the ABC has greater funding certainty than any other Australian media organisation.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Woolworths bites the bullet on Big W

Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 2-Apr-19

Woolworths has advised that it will close 30 of its Big W department stores, which will reduce the number of outlets by about 16 per cent. Two of Big W’s distribution centres will also be closed as part of the restructuring program, which will result in a one-off impairment charge of $370m. Woolworths has forecast that Big W will post a loss of least $80m in fiscal 2019, but CEO Brad Banducci says the retail giant is committed to restoring the chain to profitability. The store closures could result in the loss of up to 1,000 jobs, but Woolworths hopes to redeploy many employees.

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, BIG W DISCOUNT STORES, EG GROUP, PLATO INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED