AUSTRALIA – ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

Private equity bosses tip rosier times ahead

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Original article by Sally Rose, Joyce Moullakis
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 26 : 5-Mar-15

Pacific Equity Partners (PEP) gained $A4.5bn from divesting businesses via IPOs and trade sales in 2013 and 2014. International buyers accounted for most of the firm’s trade sales, and Nathanial Thomson of Crescent Capital expects the trend for offshore buyers to purchase Australian businesses to continue. Meanwhile, PEP MD Tim Sims is upbeat about the outlook for Australia’s business sector, and says offshore investors should not be deterred by data showing that the economy is slowing

CORPORATES
PACIFIC EQUITY PARTNERS PTY LTD, CRESCENT CAPITAL PARTNERS LIMITED, XTRALIS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, PITCHER PARTNERS CORPORATE ADVISORY PTY LTD, KING AND WOOD MALLESONS

Business confidence rebounds in January prior to the February RBA decision to drop rates

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 5-Feb-15

A Roy Morgan Business Single Source survey has found that Australian business confidence rose by 8.3 per cent to 114.9 in January 2015, compared with 105.3 in December 2014. This improvement was well above the average gain of 3.5 per cent for the month of January over the last four years. However, business confidence remains below the five-year average of 117.9. It is also well below the peak of 136.3 in October 2013, which followed the election of the Federal Government

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED

Rate cut fires up shares

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Original article by Jacob Greber, Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 4-Feb-15

The Australian dollar fell to its lowest level since the global financial crisis after the Reserve Bank reduced the cash rate to 2.25 per cent on 3 February 2015. Several smaller banks have reduced their standard variable mortgage rates by the full 25 basis points, although the four major banks have yet to respond. Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey says they should do so, adding that he expects the central bank to further reduce the cash rate in coming months. Factors such as the slowing economy and weak consumer sentiment contributed to the rate cut

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, AUSTRALIAN PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES LIMITED – ASX API, PRICELINE PTY LTD, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ, MEMBERS EQUITY BANK PTY LTD, ING DIRECT, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH, TRANSURBAN GROUP LIMITED – ASX TCL

Don’t cut rates, says ANZ chief

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Original article by Jacob Greber, James Chessell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 28-Jan-15

ANZ Bank CEO Mike Smith says the Reserve Bank should delay any easing of monetary policy. He remains upbeat about the outlook for the Australian economy, noting that the downturn in the value of the dollar has helped to offset the economic impact of lower commodity prices. The recent interest rate cut by the Bank of Canada and the European Central Bank’s quantitative easing have heightened speculation of further rate cuts in Australia

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, BANK OF CANADA, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK, RESERVE BANK OF NEW ZEALAND, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

Slow season spurs rate cut call

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 19 : 19-Jan-15

The latest quarterly business sentiment survey by the Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ACCI), covering the final three months of calendar 2014, shows a marked deterioration. Retailers note that the pre-Christmas period was the weakest since 1992, and there is a general feeling that economic conditions will worsen and the jobless rate rise. ACCI CEO Kate Carnell is urging the Federal Government to roll out reforms, and the Reserve Bank of Australia to lower the official cash interest rate that has been left unchanged at 2.5% for 14 months

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY,{SPAC}RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Business confidence weakens in October – lowest since June

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 11-Nov-14

The latest Roy Morgan Business Single Source survey has found that Australian business confidence fell by eight points to 114.9 in October 2014. Business confidence is now at its lowest level since June 2014, and below the four-year average. It is also 21.4 points below the peak of 136.3 in October 2013. Roy Morgan Research’s Norman Morris notes that the proportion of businesses that expect to be better off financially in the next 12 months has fallen to 33 per cent, compared with 47 per cent in January

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

How we spent the mining bonanza

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Original article by Matt Wade
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 4 : 25-Aug-14

A new study, "The Effect of the Mining Boom on the Australian Economy", has been published by the Reserve Bank of Australia. Authors Peter Downes, Kevin Anslow and Peter Tulip show that consumers saw a benefit from the resources boom due to two main factors. Income levels rose, and the foreign exchange rate was also lifted and made imports cheaper. This in turn meant a fall in car prices of 15% and one of 11% for household goods. Sales of these items were up 30% and 20% respectively as a result. The jobless rate is also some 1.25% lower than it would have been without the boom

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

S&P draws line in the sand on national debt

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 21 : 30-Jul-14

Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has issued its annual ratings review for 2014, voicing some concerns about the Australian economy. It noted the reliance on China’s growth, the sizeable current account deficit and negative sentiment among investor as factors, as well as the potential for a "bubble" to emerge in the residential real estate market. S&P has also warned state and federal governments that in order to retain the nation’s "AAA" status their total net debt must not exceed 30% of GDP

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD

Share of top 1 per cent flattens out

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 28-Jul-14

The University of Melbourne has used tax data to estimate that Australia’s highest income-earners accounted for 7.7 per cent of the nation’s income in 2011. This has remained relatively steady since 2006, after rising in the previous two decades or so. In contrast, the so-called one per cent in the US account for nearly 20 per cent of national income, a figure that has risen significantly in the last decade. However, shadow assistant treasurer Andrew Leigh contends that income inequality in Australia is at a long-term high

CORPORATES
UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, PARIS SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH

Budget sales job failing

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Original article by Philip Coorey, Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1-Aug : 1-Jul-14

Some $A25 billion of the spending cuts and revenue measures in the Australian Government’s May 2014 Budget are likely to be defeated. Treasury secretary Martin Parkinson said that detractors who invoke "vague notions" of unfairness to argue against reform effectively want Australia to enter a slow decline. Parkinson addressed the Crawford Australian Leadership Forum, as did Malcolm Turnbull, the Communications Minister. Turnbull said the nation is overly-dependent on income tax revenue. He implied that the Government has not been sufficiently convincing about the need for reform

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. NATIONAL COMMISSION OF AUDIT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HUMAN SERVICES. MEDICARE AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY. CRAWFORD SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND GOVERNMENT