MARKET SURVEYS – AUSTRALIA

Freehills leads on promoting women partners

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Original article by Michael Pelly, Edmund Tadros
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 6-Jul-18

Law firms taking part in the annual "Australian Financial Review" Law Partnership Survey added 290 partners in the first six months of 2018, of which 126 were women. A total of 43 firms appointed new partners, with HWL Ebsworth Lawyers adding the most. Herbert Smith Freehills promoted eight women to the role of partner, but it did not promote any men. Richard Spurio of Allens said its target for women to comprise at least 35 per cent of its partners was achieved in 2017, five years ahead of schedule.

CORPORATES
HWL EBSWORTH PTY LTD, HERBERT SMITH FREEHILLS PTY LTD, ALLENS, MORAY AND AGNEW, MADDOCKS, MACPHERSON AND KELLEY LAWYERS PTY LTD, ASHURST AUSTRALIA, COLIN BIGGERS AND PAISLEY

No RBA rate hikes for a year

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Original article by Vesna Poljak, Sarah Turner
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 20 : 2-Jul-18

A quarterly survey of economists shows that the general consensus is that the Reserve Bank of Australia will leave interest rates on hold at 1.5 per cent until June 2019. The cash rate is now expected to reach two per cent by the end of 2019. However, former ANZ Bank chief economist Warren Hogan expects one rate increase by mid-2019, arguing that the RBA needs to begin the process of normalising monetary policy. Matthew Peter of QIC also expects one rate rise in the next 12 months.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, QIC LIMITED, UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SYDNEY, BANK FOR INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENTS, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, IFM INVESTORS PTY LTD, MARKET ECONOMICS PTY LTD, LAMINAR CAPITAL, CAPITAL ECONOMICS LIMITED, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

CBA reputation hammered by series of scandals

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Original article by James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 19-Apr-18

The Commonwealth Bank is rated 57th in the Reputation Institute’s latest Australian Corporate Reputation Index, compared with 36th previously. The index was compiled in February and March, and followed a series of scandals and executive departures at the bank. However, the positions of Australia’s other three major banks were largely unchanged in the latest index. Air New Zealand has the highest ranking in the index for the second successive year, followed by Toyota and Qantas.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, REPUTATION INSTITUTE PTY LTD, AIR NEW ZEALAND LIMITED – ASX AIZ, TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION AUSTRALIA LIMITED, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, APPLE PTY LTD, MURRAY GOULBURN CO-OPERATIVE COMPANY LIMITED, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Business Confidence in 2018 driven by larger businesses

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Mar-18

In Australia, Business Confidence declined 3.5pts (-5.2%) to 120.0 in February 2018, according to the latest Roy Morgan Business Single Source survey. However, despite the month-on-month fall, Business Confidence has begun 2018 with the best two-month performance since 2014 – driven largely by businesses with an annual turnover of $5 million or more. A clear majority of businesses, 56.1% (up 0.8ppts), say now is a ‘good time to invest’ in growing the business, while February Roy Morgan Business Confidence remains just above the weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence, which is at 119.0 on March 3/4, 2018.

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

Netflix hits top ranking in Australian brand survey

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Original article by Stephen Brook
The Australian – Page: 22 : 29-Jan-18

Netflix and YouTube have topped YouGov’s annual list of the top 10 consumer brands in Australia. Other brands in the YouGov BrandIndex 2017 include Aldi, Kmart, Google, Bunnings and Coles. Netflix entered the Australian market in 2015, and while it does not provide data on local subscription numbers, Roy Morgan estimates that about three million Australian households subscribe to the streaming video service.

CORPORATES
NETFLIX INCORPORATED, YOUTUBE INCORPORATED, YOUGOV LIMITED, ROY MORGAN LIMITED, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS SUPERMARKETS, PAYPAL INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, CBS CORPORATION, DICK SMITH HOLDINGS LIMITED, KOGAN.COM LIMITED – ASX KGN

Taxes, royalties take half of miners’ profits

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 13 & 14 : 9-Jan-18

The Minerals Council of Australia’s interim CEO David Byers says a new survey by Deloitte Access Economics demonstrates the need for corporate tax reform. The survey, which was undertaken on behalf of the MCA, shows that taxes and royalties accounted for 51 per cent of the profits of Australian mining companies in fiscal 2016, compared with the nation’s company tax rate of 30 per cent. Byers adds that the survey refutes the widely-held view that mining companies do not pay much tax.

CORPORATES
MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD

Opportunity for financial planners to gain trust

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 1-Dec-17

The new 2017 edition of the Roy Morgan "Superannuation & Wealth Management in Australia" report has found financial planners need to gain a greater level of trust among Australians. Trust in financial planners for ethics and honestly has shown no real improvement since the survey began in 2009, declining by 2% points in the past 12 months to 25%, back to the 2009 level. The report suggests ongoing confusion about which financial planners offer independent advice may have a part to play in this issue. Despite low trust in the industry, those who purchase their superannuation through an independent financial planner/adviser are the most satisfied (71.3%). The next most satisfied group are those who purchased through an accountant, with a satisfaction level of 68.8% in the latest 12-month period.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED

Size, target returns matter most for funds

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Original article by Sally Patten
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 30-Oct-17

Frontier Advisors has looked at four factors that are likely to determine a superannuation fund’s performance and compared to them to rates of returns over three years. The factors in question were fund size, fees, targeted return and level of risk taken. It concluded that funds that met the following criteria were most likely to achieve the best returns; they had assets of more than $A10 billion, charged mid-range fees and took mid-range risks, but aimed for higher target returns.

CORPORATES
FRONTIER ADVISORS PTY LTD

Oil’s not well: $4.5bn loss for sector

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 23-Oct-17

Australia’s oil and gas sector produced a record 488 million barrels of oil equivalent in 2015-16, according to the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association. However, APPEA also reported that the sector recorded a combined net loss of $A4.5 billion, the worst result since its annual surveys began in 1987-88. Taxes and royalties paid by the oil and gas sector fell from $A5.24 billion to $A4.25 billion, while total revenue fell from $A29.99 billion to $A23.73 billion.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM PRODUCTION AND EXPLORATION ASSOCIATION LIMITED, ORGANISATION OF PETROLEUM EXPORTING COUNTRIES, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Interest-only loans a timebomb for banks

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 3 : 5-Oct-17

According to official figures, interest-only loans account for about 35 per cent of all mortgages issued in Australia. However, research by UBS has found that just 24 per cent of home loans are interest-only. Jonathan Mott of UBS says the discrepancy could be because many of these borrowers are unaware that they are not paying off the principal of their loan. The UBS survey also found that 70 per cent of people with interest-only loans reported having "moderate" or "high" levels of financial stress.

CORPORATES
UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD