CEO shakes up Seven with new structure and job cuts

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 18 : 3-Oct-19

The number of people who report directly to Seven West Media CEO James Warburton has been reduced from 17 to just eight as part of a broader restructuring at the group. Seven West Media will also hire three new executives, including the newly-created role of chief content officer. Seven will also streamline its operating divisions and shed staff as it seeks to reduce costs by about $20m in 2019-20. Warburton had flagged an overhaul at Seven West Media when he took the helm in August.

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED

Banks blasted for holding back on cuts

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 3-Oct-19

Westpac has reduced its mortgage interest rates by 15 basis points in response to the latest official interest rate cut, while the ANZ Bank has cut its rates by 14 basis points. Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg have criticised the four major banks for failing to reduce their mortgage rates in line with the 25 basis point reduction in the cash rate. Meanwhile, analysts warn that the banks’ margins will come under pressure due to official interest rate cuts.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, REGAL FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, SUNCORP BANK, MACQUARIE BANK LIMITED – ASX MBL, ATHENA HOME LOANS PTY LTD, RATECITY PTY LTD

RBA inflation goal requires negative rates

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 27 : 3-Oct-19

Andrew Boak, the chief economist at Goldman Sachs, says there is a material risk that the Reserve Bank of Australia will reduce the cash rate to less than 0.5 per cent and implement a quantitative easing program. Boak adds that the central bank’s own macroeconomic model suggests that a negative cash rate would be needed to deliver on its inflation and employment targets over the next 2-3 years. Boak expects the cash rate to be cut by another 25 basis points in November, while financial markets have fully priced in a rate cut by February.

CORPORATES
GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Billion dollar hit for NAB after ASIC action

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Original article by James Fernyhough
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 18 : 3-Oct-19

National Australia Bank has advised that its cash earnings for the second half of 2018-19 will fall by about $1.23bn, while its full-year net profit will fall by $1.18bn. This has been attributed to an additional after-tax charge of $832m for its customer remediation program, as well as a change to its software capitalisation policy. NAB’s total provisions for customer remediation in the wake of the fees-for-no-service scandal has now topped $2bn. NAB will release its full-year results on 7 November.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, S&P GLOBAL RATINGS

Nine closes in on Macquarie

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 19 : 2-Oct-19

Nine Entertainment Company has lifted its stake in Macquarie Media to 88.78 per cent, with its offer of $1.46 per share due to close on 14 October. The support of Wilson Asset Management and Mark Carnegie – with Macquarie stakes of 2.9 per cent and 3.6 per cent respectively – remain crucial to whether Nine passes the 90 per cent threshold to trigger compulsory acquisition. Macquarie broadcaster Alan Jones also has a one per cent stake in the company, and advertising veteran John Singleton expects him to accept the offer.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN, WILSON ASSET MANAGEMENT

Uni funding: job success gets more weight

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Original article by Robert Bolton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 2-Oct-19

Education Minister Dan Tehan has advised that the federal government will give more weighting to graduate employment outcomes when allocating additional money to the nation’s universities under a new performance-based funding model. The increased focus on ensuring that university graduates are equipped with the skills to obtain employment quickly follows the government’s move to provide an extra $80m in performance-based funding in 2020. Meanwhile, the Australian Learning Lecture Project has questions the relevance of ATAR entry scores for admission to university courses.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING, AUSTRALIAN LEARNING LECTURE PROJECT, UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG, VICTORIA UNIVERSITY, SWINBURNE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Wesfarmers underpaid staff

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 19 : 2-Oct-19

Perth-based conglomerate Wesfarmers has attributed its latest wage underpayment scandal to a payroll error. A preliminary estimate suggests that the staff were underpaid about $15m in total, although the final figure could potentially be much higher. The error was detected during testing of a new payroll system, which found that some 2,000 current and 4,000 former employees of its industrial and safety division had been underpaid for nine years. Wesfarmers’ Bunnings hardware chain recently admitted to underpaying the superannuation entitlements of some part-time employees.

CORPORATES
WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, BLACKWOODS, WORKWEAR GROUP, COREGAS, GREENCAP LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT

RBA one step away from QE

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Original article by Matthew Cranston, John Kehoe, Aleks Vickovich
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 2-Oct-19

The Australian dollar reached an intra-day low of $US66.94 in local trading on 1 October, after the Reserve Bank of Australia reduced the cash rate to 0.75 per cent. RBA governor Philip Lowe signalled that the central bank is prepared to further ease monetary policy if necessary. The third rate cut in 2019 has heightened expectations that the cash rate will fall to 0.5 per cent in November. Andrew Boak of Goldman Sachs warns that this may be insufficient to lift inflation to within the RBA’s target range over the next several years. He adds that this in turn could necessitate further rate cuts, as well as the potential for quantitative easing.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence jumps to 114.7

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 2-Oct-19

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rose 4.2% to 114.7 in the week ended 29 September, closing above its long-term average. Households’ views towards current financial conditions rose 6.9% and remain above the long-run average, while views towards future financial conditions gained 5.9%; both subindices remain above their long-term averages. Consumers’ views toward current economic conditions rose 3.5%, and views towards future economic conditions gained 5.7%; despite the jump, both subindices remain below their long-term averages. The ‘time to buy a major household item’ index rose 7.1% after falling to a 10-year low in the previous week, and it remains well below its long run average. Inflation expectations were unchanged at 4.1%.

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

A-G’s media plan misses mark

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Original article by Chris Merritt
The Australian – Page: 6 : 2-Oct-19

The effectiveness of the federal government’s proposal to provide new legal protections for journalists continues to be questioned. News Corp Australia executive Campbell Reid contends that providing the attorney-general with ministerial discretion to block legal action against journalists for publishing legitimate news reports will have no effect on the level of scrutiny and investigation into journalists. Law Council of Australia president Arthur Moses and Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance CEO Paul Murphy also contend that the reforms are insufficient.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, LAW COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES