ECONOMIC INDICATORS – AUSTRALIA

Luxury cars gain in popularity

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Original article by Simon Evans
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 6-Aug-14

Data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries shows that 89,867 new vehicles were sold across Australia in June 2014. This is 0.4 per cent lower than in June 2013, although sales of SUVs were 12.7 per cent higher. Meanwhile, prestige marques have enjoyed a surge in sales, with Porsche Cars Australia and Jaguar Land Rover Australia posting strong growth in sales and net profits

CORPORATES
FEDERAL CHAMBER OF AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRIES, PORSCHE CARS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, JAGUAR LAND ROVER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BRIGHTON JAGUAR, BMW AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MERCEDES-BENZ AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TATA INDUSTRIES LIMITED

Job ads, buoyant retail raise pressure on rates

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 19 : 5-Aug-14

There is no clear consensus among economists on whether the Reserve Bank of Australia will move to lift or cut the official cash interest rate late in 2014. No change is expected at the board meeting on 5 August, but a number of economic indicators have created uncertainty about the longer-term picture. Retailing sector sales had been forecast to grow a subdued 0.3% during June, but instead rose 0.6% to $A23.2bn. It appears consumer confidence dented by the harsh federal Budget in May is starting to recover. Help-wanted advertising is also up 4% in annualised terms

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Graduates face worst job market in 20 years

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Original article by Tim Dodd, Edmund Tadros
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 30-Jul-14

Data from Graduate Careers Australia (GCA) highlights the challenging employment market for new university graduates. A survey by GCA has found that just 71.3 per cent of bachelor degree graduates had jobs four months after leaving university in 2013, compared with 76.1 per cent in 2012. The decline was particularly acute among law, accounting and civil engineering graduates

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GRADUATE CAREERS AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Apartments drive new home sales

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Original article by Rebecca Thistleton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 30-Jul-14

Data from the Housing Industry Association shows that there was a two increase in sales of new dwellings in Australia during the June 2014 quarter. Sales of detached houses increased by 4.1 per cent in Victoria during the quarter, and by just 0.4 per cent in New South Wales. Meanwhile, sales of new dwellings rose by 1.2 per cent overall in the month of June. However, sales of new apartments were nearly 16 per cent higher, while sales of detached homes fell by one per cent

CORPORATES
HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, INVESTA PROPERTY GROUP, MORGAN STANLEY REAL ESTATE, KNIGHT FRANK AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, STOCKLAND – ASX SGP, FIVE SQUARED PROPERTY GROUP PTY LTD

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Back Above Long-Run Average Levels

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Jul-14

The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rating for Australia rose by 2.4 per cent to 116.2 in the week ended 27 July 2014. Consumer confidence has now completely retraced the sharp deterioration seen in the weeks around the Federal Government’s May 2013 Budget. While the recent improvement in confidence is an encouraging sign, ANZ’s base case remains that consumer spending growth will remain moderate in 2014, before improving in 2015 as the non-mining recovery gathers momentum

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

Firms failing at double the pace

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Original article by Anthony Klan
The Australian – Page: 21 : 30-Jul-14

Australian economist Christopher Nadarajah and consulting firm IBISworld have compiled the new Jones Partners "Insolvency Report", for 2012-13. The data show that the ratio of enterprises entering administration, receivership or liquidation has grown to 3.4% from just 1.5% in 1999-2000. The main contributor are businesses with fewer than 20 staff in the sectors of construction, retail trade and personal services. The number of insolvencies is up from around 6,500 in 2003-04 to 10,746 in 2012-13. Small businesses that failed in 2012-13 created 74,000-plus job losses while large companies going under caused only 6,250

CORPORATES
JONES PARTNERS PTY LTD, IBISWORLD 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

Insolvencies fall but not for all

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Original article by Su-Lin Tan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 24-Jul-14

New Australian Securities & Investments Commission data show that the rate of insolvencies among businesses has declined 19%, to now be below that of new company incorporations. Brendon Watkins, insolvency partner at law firm Minter Ellison, says one factor is the increased vigilance on lending risk at the major banks after the global financial crisis. The assessment is backed by Australian Restructuring Insolvency & Turnaround Association CEO John Winter. However, the construction and personal services sectors still have elevated rates of insolvencies

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION|AUSTRALIAN RESTRUCTURING INSOLVENCY AND TURNAROUND ASSOCIATION|MINTER ELLISON|COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA|CRS WARNER KUGEL PTY LTD|AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF BUILDING|COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED|KELL AND RIGBY PTY LTD|ST HILLIERS CONSTRUCTION PTY LTD|WALTON CONSTRUCTION PTY LTD|REED CONSTRUCTIONS PTY LTD|HASTIE GROUP LIMITED|SOUTHERN CROSS CONSTRUCTIONS|NATIONAL BUILDPLAN GROUP PTY LTD

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Returns

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 22-Jul-14

The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rating for Australia rose by 4.4 per cent to 113.5 in the week ended 20 July 2014. Consumer confidence has almost completely retraced the sharp deterioration seen in the weeks around the Federal Government’s May 2013 Budget and is returning to long-run average levels. The improvement in confidence has been driven by large increases in households’ perceptions regarding economic conditions over the next year and their financial situation in both a year’s time and compared with a year ago

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

WA leading a three-tier economy

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Original article by Stephen Cauchi
The Age – Page: 26 : 22-Jul-14

CommSec’s latest "State of the States" report shows that Western Australia boasts the strongest economy among the states, followed by the Northern Territory and New South Wales. The Queensland, Victorian and Australian Capital Territory economies are performing roughly in line with each other, while the South Australian and Tasmanian economies are lagging

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH SECURITIES LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, MELBOURNE ECONOMIC FORUM