ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence plunges to 30-year low at 72.2

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 25-Mar-20

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence fell a massive 27.8% to 72.2 in the week ended 12 March. This fall has bought the headline index to just above the all-time lows recorded in 1990, and 17% below the lowest point seen during the global financial crisis (Oct 2008). All sub-components of the survey plunged. Current financial conditions fell 23.9% while future financial conditions dropped 25.8%. The economic conditions subindices were also down sharply, with current economic conditions falling 37.1% and future economic conditions declining by 19.1%. ‘Time to buy a major household item’ fell by 37.2%, but the four-week moving average for ‘inflation expectations was stable at 4.0%.

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

Super fund satisfaction at risk as markets tumble

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 25-Mar-20

New data in Roy Morgan’s Superannuation Satisfaction Report shows that CARE Super has the highest customer satisfaction rating, at 74.5%. Self-managed funds scored the highest average satisfaction when compared to other sectors. The Superannuation Satisfaction Report, with data up to February 2020, shows CARE Super on 74.5%, an increase of 9.2% on 12 months ago. It placed ahead of Tasplan on 72.8% (+6.9%), Unisuper on 72.7% (+1.5%) and Cbus on 71.0% (+5.0%). Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says that given recent heavy losses in equities markets due to the Coronavirus pandemic, these levels of customer satisfaction may be the highest we see for some time. The report’s findings are from Roy Morgan Single Source, Australia’s most trusted consumer survey, compiled by in-depth interviews with over 50,000 Australians each year.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, CARE SUPER PTY LTD, TASPLAN LIMITED, CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING UNIONS’ SUPERANNUATION FUND

Looking beyond the panic-buying, Australia’s big supermarket story is Aldi’s growing market share

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 25-Mar-20

Roy Morgan’s Fresh Food and Grocery Report shows that across 2019, Woolworths Group and Coles Group both declined in market share, while Aldi and other smaller supermarket chains increased. Aldi not only increased its market share of all supermarket spending, it also recorded strong growth in customer penetration. The report shows that Woolworths Group had a market share of 32.9% ($34 billion) of the total grocery market, a decrease of 0.7% compared with a year earlier. However, it was still ahead of Coles Group on 26.6% (down 1.4% to $27.4 billion), Aldi on 12.4% (up 0.6% to $12.8 billion), Fresh Food Stores on 11.8% (up 0.5% to $12.2 billion), Other Supermarkets on 9.1% (up 1.3% to $9.4 billion) and IGA on 7.3% (down 0.1% to $7.5 billion). Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says that although the current Coronavirus shopping frenzy is the news of the day, Aldi’s continued growth is a story that has been building for many years. The report’s findings are from Roy Morgan Single Source, compiled by in-depth interviews with over 50,000 Australians each year.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, COLES GROUP LIMITED – ASX COL, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, IGA

Banks race to roll out SME loans

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 15 & 18 : 23-Mar-20

The federal government will underwrite 50 per cent of new loans made by eligible lenders to small and medium enterprises as part of its response to the coronavirus crisis. Westpac’s acting CEO Peter King says the SME Guarantee Scheme will provide "significant support" to SMEs, while he supports moves to allow people in financial hardship to access their superannuation. The rollout of the scheme in New South Wales and Victoria has been complicated by moves to lockdown non-essential services in coming days, as banks work to keep as many branches open as possible in those states.

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

ANZ Roy Morgan Financial Wellbeing Indicator – Quarterly Update March 2020

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 23-Mar-20

The ANZ-Roy Morgan Financial Wellbeing Indicator shows that the financial wellbeing of Australians improved by 1% year on year, from 59.6 (as a score out of 100) in December 2018 to 60.2 in December 2019. Financial wellbeing improved in the 12 months to December 2019 across most states and territories. However, financial wellbeing declined slightly in Queensland and the NT, and remained constant in NSW. The lack of growth in overall financial wellbeing in NSW can be attributed to a 3.1% fall in ‘resilience for the future’ during 2019. The improvement in national financial wellbeing was despite no change in financial wellbeing in the December 2019 quarter, and was due primarily to an improvement in ‘meeting everyday commitments’, which increased by 3.2% during 2019. ‘Resilience for the future’ – the ability to cope with financial setbacks – is strongly influenced by active saving habits. After steady growth in recent years, resilience declined nationally by 1.9%, from 53.7 in December 2018 to 52.7 in December 2019. This was due primarily to a decline in the number of month’s income in savings that Australians have on hand, weakened by slower deposit growth and subdued improvements in household incomes over the period.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Jobless rate could hit 13.8pc despite priming of the pump

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 23-Mar-20

The federal government and the Reserve Bank have now announced a combined $189bn worth of coronavirus stimulus measures. This includes cash payments for small businesses and non-profit organisations. However, many companies that operate in sectors that employ a lot of people will not be eligible for financial relief. The construction, retail, hospitality, recreation and education are major employers; it is estimated that the unemployment rate would rise from 5.1 per cent to 13.8 per cent if they shed just 25 per cent of their workforce, or about 1.2 million people.

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RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Businessmen Dick Smith, Mike Cannon-Brookes and Andrew Forrest score highest for Net Trust

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 23-Mar-20

A special Roy Morgan survey on ‘Trust’ and ‘Distrust’ of business leaders shows Australian entrepreneurs Dick Smith, Mike Cannon-Brookes and Andrew Forrest have the highest ‘Net Trust Scores’ – meaning the ‘Trust’ felt towards the three far outweighs the ‘Distrust’ – according to a special Roy Morgan Snap SMS Survey of 974 Australians aged 14+ conducted this week. Behind the top three is Qantas CEO Alan Joyce. Also scoring highly for ‘Trust’ are Medical Leaders/Professionals and the Australian Medical Association, which is currently at the forefront of dealing with the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. At the other end of the scale are business leaders whose ‘Distrust’ outweighs their ‘Trust’ among Australians. Media proprietor Rupert Murdoch scores the highest ‘Distrust’ of any businessman, ahead of ex-politician and mining entrepreneur Clive Palmer and fellow miner Gina Rinehart. All three fill the rankings for the highest ‘Net Distrust’ and are followed by retailer Gerry Harvey of Harvey Norman. Also scoring high levels of ‘Net Distrust’ are the generic ‘Banks/Bank CEOs’ and ‘Mining companies’. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says Australians often look towards high-profile business people to provide leadership in times of crisis.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Insolvency law change to head off avalanche

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 23-Mar-20

The federal government will make temporary changes to laws governing insolvent trading in response to the pandemic. Amongst other things, directors will be exempt from personal liability if a company is found to be trading while insolvent, while the threshold at which creditors can initiate bankruptcy proceedings against a company will be increased from $5,000 to $20,000. These measures will remain in place for at least six months.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

How newsrooms are adapting to report the COVID-19 crisis

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Original article by Max Mason, Natasha Gillezeau
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 33 : 23-Mar-20

Australia’s media industry has responded to the coronavirus pandemic by implementing measures to protect staff and reduce the infection’s spread. This includes working from home, splitting staff into several rotating teams and using technologies such as video conferencing. Meanwhile, consumers are turning to trusted sources of information about the virus, with news and current affairs shows dominating the list of the 20 highest-rating TV programs in the last week. The websites of traditional newspaper publishers have also experienced a spike in traffic, while Guardian Australia editor Lenore Taylor says the online-only publisher’s site had record traffic every day during the last week.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, THE GUARDIAN AUSTRALIA, JUNKEE MEDIA PTY LTD

Third bailout being prepared as $66b injected to help first blows

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 23-Mar-20

The second stage of the federal government’s stimulus package includes the introduction of a welfare wage for workers who lose their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic. They will be eligible for a fortnightly payment of up to $1,100, while the existing Newstart allowance will be increased and renamed the Jobseeker Payment. Workers who are stood down will also be able to withdraw up to $20,000 from their superannuation fund. Meanwhile, businesses with annual turnover of up to $50m will be eligible for a cash payment of up to $100,000. The government and the nation’s banks will also jointly provide a $40bn loan facility for small and medium enterprises.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET