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Costco tops for discount department store satisfaction

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 7-Sep-18

New research from Roy Morgan shows Costco as Australia’s leading discount department store with a customer satisfaction of 88.6% in July, just ahead of rivals Target on 88.5% and Kmart on 88.4%. The impressive ratings for the industry underlie that 87.5% of customers of discount department stores are satisfied, an increase of 1.1% points over the year. All five leading discount department stores increased their customer satisfaction, with the biggest improvement over the past year coming from Best & Less, which rose 1.8% year on year for a customer satisfaction rating of 86.4. These are the latest results from Roy Morgan’s Discount Department Store Satisfaction Report which is based on in-depth personal interviews conducted face-to-face with over 50,000 Australians per annum in their own homes.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, COSTCO WHOLESALE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TARGET AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BEST AND LESS PTY LTD, BIG W DISCOUNT STORES, COUNTRY ROAD LIMITED, HARRIS SCARFE HOLDINGS LIMITED

Cosgrove to retire, G-G the PM’s pick

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian – Page: 1 & 9 : 5-Sep-18

Sir Peter Cosgrove has indicated he intends to retire as Governor-General when his five-year term ends in March. With the next federal election due before May, Bill Shorten recently asked Prime Minister Scott Morrison to extend Sir Peter’s term in office for six months or until after the election, stating this would allow an incoming prime minister to appoint a successor. However, Sir Peter’s comments indicate it will be the current government that makes that decision.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, AUSTRALIAN CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIAN RUGBY FOOTBALL UNION

Shorten: extend Hayne probe

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 5-Sep-18

Labor leader Bill Shorten has called on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to extend the banking royal commission’s current reporting deadline. The commission, which is headed by former High Court Judge Kenneth Hayne, is due to present an interim report in October, and to present its final report by 1 February 2019. Shorten, who was speaking on 4 September, says the victims of banking misconduct must be given more opportunity to have their grievances heard, and that as well as giving the commission more time, it should also travel to regional centres.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Power price fix will leave customers worse off

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 5-Sep-18

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission recommended in July that a default retail power price be introduced. Its proposal, which would see the adoption of a retail price that would be capped by the Australian Energy Regulator, was recently endorsed by the federal government. However, EnergyAustralia CEO Catherine Tanna is understood to have told New South Wales Energy Minister Don Harwin that 70 per cent of its customers would be worse off if the ACCC’s recommendation was adopted.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY REGULATOR, ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF ENERGY, CLP HOLDINGS LIMITED, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL

US Open 2018: Aussie John Millman stuns Roger Federer in four sets

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Original article by Courtney Walsh
The Australian – Page: Online : 5-Sep-18

John Millman will play Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals of the US Open after the Australian tennis player’s stunning defeat of Roger Federer. Millman beat the Swiss legend in four sets, winning 3-6 7-5 7-6 (7) 7-6 (3). It was the first time that an Australian has defeated Federer, who had served for the second set with a 5-4 lead, in a grand slam event since 2009. Millman, who had not previously defeated a top 10 player on the ATP, becomes the first Australian to reach a grand slam quarter-final since Nick Kyrgios in Melbourne in 2015.

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PM’s $3.6b corporate tax cuts

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 5-Sep-18

The federal government recently announced its intention to bring forward previously legislated tax cuts for small and medium businesses with turnover of $50 million or less. The government’s preferred option for companies in this category is for their tax rate to drop to 25 per cent by 2021-22. Internal Treasury papers indicate that this option would cost the budget $3.6 billion over the four-year, forward estimates period. It would allow the government to achieve its self-imposed plan that tax revenue not exceed 23.9 per cent of GDP by 2020-21, a year earlier than intended.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

LNG import terminal remains a live option

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 5-Sep-18

Australian Industrial Energy CEO James Baulderstone says it still plans to make a final decision on its proposed LNG import terminal at Port Kembla by the end of 2018. Baulderstone believes LNG imports will still be competitive under federal Labor’s proposed gas measures. AIE’s LNG import project is expected to cost around $500 million. AGL, which is planning a similar project at Crib Point in Victoria, is not yet in a position to state how Labor’s proposals could impact on its project.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRIAL ENERGY, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, MACQUARIE EQUITIES LIMITED, HAYBERRY INVESTMENTS PTY LTD

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence firms to 117.7

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 5-Sep-18

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence firmed 1.0% to 117.7 in the week ending 2 September, on the back of a 2.1% bounce in the prior week. The headline increase was primarily driven by a sharp rise in the ‘time to buy a household item’ subindex. Households’ perception of current financial conditions improved 0.5% last week, adding to a 1.2% bounce in the previous week. Similarly, sentiment towards future financial conditions edged up 0.2% last week, following a 3.1% rise in the prior week. The ‘time to buy a household item’ subindex posted a sharp 5.2% rise last week, ending a streak of weekly declines. Four-week moving average inflation expectations were unchanged at 4.3%.

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

Liberal Party to sell $30m Victorian HQ as state election looms

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Original article by Nick Lenaghan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 5-Sep-18

The Liberal Party of Victoria has engaged Colliers International to sell its headquarters at 104 Exhibition Street in Melbourne. The building was built in the 1930s and was acquired by the Liberal Party for $576,000 in 1976. Located close to QIC’s $800 million mixed development project at 80 Collins Street, it is expected to sell for around $30 million.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF VICTORIA, COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, QIC LIMITED, CORMACK FOUNDATION PTY LTD, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

Westpac hit with record fine on loans

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Original article by Clancy Yeates
The Age – Page: 25 : 5-Sep-18

Westpac has been hit with a fine of $35 million after having admitted to breaching consumer credit protection laws. The breaches occurred between 2011 and 2015, when Westpac used an automated system to approve 10,500 home loans. In settling its case with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission, which had been due to go before the Federal Court, Westpac agreed on 4 September that the loans should have been approved by a credit offer. ASIC had launched its case against Westpac over the loans in 2017.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY