Hostile bids abound in era of uncertainty

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 15 : 23-Nov-21

Data from law firm Minter Ellison shows that there have been eight hostile takeover bids in Australia so far in 2021, following nine such bids in 2020. This compares with just five in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Minter Ellison notes that the target’s board did not commission an independent expert’s report in 15 of the last 20 hostile takeover bids. Alberto Colla of Minter Ellison says bidders usually prefer to pursue a friendly takeover bid that has the support and recommendation of the target’s board.

CORPORATES
MINTER ELLISON

Housing boom enters twilight

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Valerina Changarathil
The Australian – Page: 3 : 23-Nov-21

The Commonwealth Bank expects seven per cent growth in house prices in Australia’s capital cities in 2022. However, head of Australian economics Gareth Aird says the nation’s residential property boom is nearing its end, and he forecasts that house prices will fall by 10 per cent in 2023. However, he notes that this will merely see house prices return to current levels. Prices in Sydney and Hobart are tipped to decline by 12 per cent, while the housing markets in Melbourne and Canberra are forecast to fall by around 10 per cent. The ANZ Bank recently forecast that house prices will fall by four per cent in 2023.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

ASX carrying $200b of zero-profit market cap

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 23-Nov-21

Research by MST Marquee shows that 48 companies in the S&P/ASX 300 currently do not make a profit. This compares with an average of 37 over the last two decades. The 48 unprofitable companies have a combined market capitalisation of about $200bn. Hasan Tevfik of MST suggests that central banks are a major cause of the rise in profitless companies, with ultra-low interest rates prompting an increase in speculative investment.

CORPORATES
MST MARQUEE, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 300 INDEX

200,000 migrant workers to return over seven months

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Matthew Elmas
The New Daily – Page: Online : 23-Nov-21

Australia will re-open its international borders to overseas students, skilled visa holders and working holiday makers, with Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews expecting that at least 200,000 migrant workers will arrive in Australia by July. Labour market economist Professor Jeff Borland contends that the return of migrant workers will have a "pronounced impact", and he says research shows that migrant workers are positive for the economy. However, he notes that they tend to be concentrated in certain industries, making it hard for existing workers in those sectors to secure better wages.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS

Albanese on the attack over PM’s Hawaii holiday text message

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Max Maddison
The Australian – Page: 5 : 23-Nov-21

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been forced to back down on his claim on 22 November that he told Labor leader Anthony Albanese where he was going on his controversial family holiday during the 2019 Black Summer bushfires. In responding to a question by Labor MP Kristy McBain, Morrison indicated that he had told Albanese via text from his plane as he was leaving that he was going on holiday and where he was going. Albanese agreed that Morrison had told him that he was going on holiday, but not that he was going to Hawaii. Morrison later confirmed that he had not told Albanese where he was going.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

ASIC warning: no crypto safety net

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by John Kehoe, Michael Read
The Australian Financial Review – Page: S3 : 23-Nov-21

Australian Securities & Investments Commission chairman Joe Longo has urged retail investors to be cautious when it comes to putting money into cryptocurrencies, as he doubts that many understand what they are investing in. He admitted to the 2021 Super & Wealth summit that ASIC has very little power to intervene in cryptocurrency assets as many are probably not financial products. Fidelity portfolio manager Kate Howitt told the summit that assessing the value of crypto is difficult because it is an asset that does not have a cash flow stream.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, FIDELITY INVESTMENTS AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Australians re-discover love of magazines during 2021 with Food & Entertainment, Home & Garden, General Interest and Mass Women readership up year on year

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 23-Nov-21

The Roy Morgan Australian Readership report for the 12 months to September 2021 shows that over 11.2 million Australians aged 14+ (53%) now read print magazines, an increase of 2.2% from a year ago. This market broadens to 15.2 million Australians aged 14+ (71.8%) who read magazines in print or online either via the web or an app (down 3.3 per cent from a year ago). The overall magazine industry readership figures are up compared to a year ago with the rebound out of the 2020 lockdowns earlier last year providing a boost to key magazine categories. Of the 15 categories measured over the last two years, two-thirds (10 magazine categories) are up and only five are down. The print readership of all four of the most widely-read magazine categories increased significantly from a year ago. Readership of the Food & Entertainment category increased 12.7 per cent to over 7.2 million, General Interest was up 9.1 per cent to over 4.1 million, Home & Garden increased by 12.2 per cent to almost 3.8 million and Mass Women’s was up 4.1 per cent to around 3 million. There were also impressive increases in readership for the magazine categories covering Motoring, TV, Sports, Music & Movies, Fishing and Motorcycles. These are the latest findings from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey of 64,972 Australians aged 14+ in the 12 months to September 2021.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Woodside seals oil, gas mega-deals

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 19 : 23-Nov-21

Woodside Petroleum will become one of the world’s 10 biggest oil and gas producers after it finalised a deal to merge with BHP’s petroleum division. The announcement of a binding merger deal has coincided with the long-awaited final investment decision on the $16.5bn Scarborough LNG project. Woodside will control 52 per cent of the enlarged company, in line with the original terms of the merger deal that were released in August. The merger will expand the scope of Woodside’s operations to include Australia, the US, Africa and the Caribbean.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP

Mortgage stress at record lows during the 2021 lockdowns in NSW, Victoria and the ACT

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 23-Nov-21

New research from Roy Morgan shows that an estimated 584,000 mortgage holders (15.8%) were ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress in the three months to September 2021. This period encompassed the recent lockdowns in NSW, Victoria and the ACT, which finally ended during the month of October. Mortgage stress dropped to record lows during this period with fewer than 600,000 mortgage holders considered ‘At Risk’ for the first time. The level of mortgage stress is down on a year ago during Victoria’s long second lockdown when an estimated 668,000 mortgage holders (18.3%) were considered ‘At Risk’. The low rate of ‘At Risk’ mortgages during this period continues the trends seen during the pandemic in which record low interest rates, record levels of Government financial support, and considerable measures taken by banks and financial institutions to support borrowers in financial distress have combined to lower mortgage stress to record lows. Mortgage stress today is at less than half the level it was during the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, when it reached a high of 35.6% of mortgage-holders. Meanwhile, 18.7% of Australians with negative employment changes due to COVID-19 are now in mortgage stress – almost 3% points higher than for all mortgage holders. These are the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s Single Source Survey, based on in-depth interviews conducted with over 50,000 Australians each year including over 10,000 owner-occupied mortgage-holders.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Warnings will not stop defiant Andrews – Premier dismisses concerns

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Shannon Deery,Mitch Clarke,Kieran Rooney
Herald Sun – Page: 9 : 17-Nov-21

Premier Daniel Andrews says the Victorian government will not back down on its controversial pandemic laws, despite growing opposition. Andrews is confident that the bill will be passed by parliament’s upper house with the support of three crossbenchers and with no further amendments. Victorian Bar president Roisn Annesley says the amendments that have been accepted by the government do not go far enough in protecting the rule of law, and contends that they do not address the most fundamental problems with the bill

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET,VICTORIAN BAR INCORPORATED