ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence up to 108.1

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 11-Dec-19

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rose 0.8% to 109.0 in the week ended 8 December, continuing the upward momentum of the previous week. Households’ views towards current financial conditions rose 1%, while views towards future financial conditions fell 3.9%. Consumers’ views toward current economic conditions rebounded from a four-year low, rising 3.9%; views towards future economic conditions gained 2.7%, but both remain well below average. The ‘time to buy a household item’ index gained 1.9%, building on the previous week’s gain of 5.3%, although it remains well below its long-run average. The four-week moving average of inflation expectations was down 0.1ppt to 3.9%, as the weekly reading softened to 3.9%.

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

Westpac faces Philippines probe

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 17 & 21 : 11-Dec-19

Westpac’s money-laundering scandal has deepened, with the allegations regarding payments linked to child exploitation to be investigated by regulators in The Philippines. The nation’s Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra has indicated that its Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking is investigation the allegations in partnership with anti-money-laundering agencies in both Australia and The Philippines. The scandal is likely to dominate Westpac’s annual meeting on 12 December.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, PHILIPPINES. DEPT OF JUSTICE, PHILIPPINES. ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING COUNCIL, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE

New report finds govt must build at least 20,000 affordable homes a year

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Original article by Euan Black
The New Daily – Page: Online : 11-Dec-19

The Australian Housing & Urban Research Institute has warned that the shortage of affordable rental housing has risen since 2011 and will continue to worsen in coming years. The AHURI estimates that the shortage of affordable homes for the lowest 20 per cent of income earners now tops 212,000. The lead researcher, Swinburne University’s Professor Kath Hulse, says that neither the public or private sector are building enough affordable homes. The AHURI has concluded that the federal government needs to build at least 200,000 affordable homes over the next 10 years.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN HOUSING AND URBAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE, SWINBURNE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Tourists not warned of risks

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Original article by Rachel Baxendale, Mark Schliebs, Tessa Akerman
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 11-Dec-19

New Zealand police have confirmed the death of a sixth person in the White Island volcano eruption, with fears that the death toll will rise. Three Australians are believed to be among the dead, and Prime Minister Scott Morrison has warned that more casualties are expected, with up to eight Australians still missing. Meanwhile, tour operators are under scrutiny for allowing people to explore the volcano’s crater only weeks after GNS Science upgraded the island’s seismic alert classification to level 2.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, GNS SCIENCE, NEW ZEALAND. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

FAR moves closer to Senegal ambitions

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 11-Dec-19

FAR Limited has yet to confirm details of a capital raising, with its shares placed in a trading halt on 10 December pending an announcement. The equity raising is believed to include a $146m share placement and a $30m share purchase plan. The capital raising and a new debt facility will provide FAR with the funding needed to proceed with the Sangomar oil project in Senegal, in which it has a 15 per cent stake. The project is initially slated to produce about 230,000 million barrels of oil, commencing in 2023.

CORPORATES
FAR LIMITED – ASX FAR, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, CAIRN ENERGY PLC

Could Mitre 10 derail Bunnings’ remarkable run of Hardware Store satisfaction awards?

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 11-Dec-19

Bunnings is the winner of Roy Morgan’s Hardware Store of the Month Award for October 2019, with a customer satisfaction rating of 91%. Bunnings has won 23 straight monthly satisfaction awards, but second-placed Mitre 10 could potentially stop it from claiming a full two years as ratings leader. Mitre 10 had a customer satisfaction of 90% in October, followed by Home Timber & Hardware (86%). The customer satisfaction ratings are drawn from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey, in-depth face-to-face interviews with over 50,000 Australians each year in their homes.

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

Catalano not working with Gordon

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 11-Dec-19

Australian Community Media’s Antony Catalano says he is not working with WIN Corporation owner Bruce Gordon to block Seven West Media’s takeover bid for Prime Media Group. Their combined stake in Prime is sufficient to prevent Seven from reaching the 75 per cent acceptances threshold to complete the deal. Catalano says that himself and Gordon seem to be of the shared view that the Seven offer does not represent good value for Prime’s shareholders. Both have stressed the need for further changes to Australia’s media ownership laws.

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD

RBA chief has confidence in consumers

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Original article by David Rogers, James Glynn
The Australian – Page: 23 : 11-Dec-19

George Tharenou of UBS says the Reserve Bank of Australia is likely to reduce the cash rate twice in the first half of 2020, to a record low of 0.25 per cent. He adds that the federal government’s mid-year Budget update is unlikely to include any "material" fiscal stimulus. Meanwhile, RBA governor Philip Lowe concedes that it is taking longer than usual for consumers to spend the extra cash from the three interest rate cuts in 2019 and the federal government’s income tax offset. However, he expects consumer spending to increase.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Forrest locks horns with WA government over native title court fight

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 11-Dec-19

Fortescue Metals Group is seeking special leave to appeal against a Federal Court ruling with regard to its Solomon iron ore mining hub in the Pilbara. Western Australia’s State Solicitors Office wants the High Court to dismiss Fortescue’s application, arguing that there are major flaws in its case. The Federal Court dismissed Fortescue’s appeal against a 2017 ruling in early October, effectively stating that it had constructed the mining hub without the consent of traditional land owners.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, YINDJIBARNDI ABORIGINAL CORPORATION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Australian workers have 146 million days of annual leave just waiting to be used

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 11-Dec-19

New figures from Roy Morgan show that Australians in paid employment have over 146 million day’ worth of annual leave accrued in total; this is up 11 million days (+8.3%) on a year ago. The accrued annual leave equates to an average of just over 16 days for each paid worker in Australia. Only 10% of paid workers have no annual leave owed to them, while a further 13% have up to 2 weeks accrued. Nearly a quarter of paid workers (23%) have between two and four weeks of annual leave accrued, and another tenth have around a month owed to them. More than a fifth of paid workers (21%), have at least five weeks’ worth as yet unused. These results are from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey, derived from in-depth face-to-face interviews with around 50,000 Australians each year in their homes.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED