Mortgage stress up despite decline in rates

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Sep-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that mortgage stress increased to 17.3% of Australian borrowers in July 2017, an increase of 0.3% points over the last 12 months, despite a decline in home loan interest rates. Over the last 12 months there has been an increase in mortgage stress for both those considered to be "At Risk" (which is based on the amount originally borrowed) and those "Extremely at Risk" (based on the amount currently outstanding). In the three months to July 2016, 17.0% of mortgage holders were "At Risk"; this has increased to 17.3% in July 2017. Over the same period the proportion that were "Extremely at Risk" increased from 12.4% to 12.8%. The main cause of the increase in mortgage stress was the fact that over the last year, the median household income of mortgage holders only increased by 2.0%, well behind the increase in the median amount borrowed (up 7.4%) and the median amount outstanding (up 13.1%).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED

Netflix hits new high in Australia – 7.6 million

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 28-Sep-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey shows that an estimated 7,558,000 Australians aged 14+ (37.7%) had subscription video-on-demand provider Netflix in the three months to June 2017, up from 4,453,000 (22.6%) in the March 2016 quarter. The growth in Netflix’s potential audience is the result of strong growth of household subscriptions to the SVOD in 2017, with 2,981,000 Australian homes (31.8%) now subscribed, up from 1,713,000 homes (18.6%) in the March 2016 quarter. In comparison, viewership in an average seven days of market-leading Network 7 fell 2.3% to 64.4%. Network 9 was down 4.1% to 60.1% and Network 10 dropped 1.7% to 50.4%. The results for the Government broadcasters were mixed, with viewership of the ABC down 3.3% to 56.3% while viewership of SBS rose 0.7% to 43.2%. Roy Morgan Research CEO Michele Levine says Roy Morgan has been measuring Netflix in Australia since its beginning just over two years ago and its exceptional growth over that period shows no signs of slowing down.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS)

Bendigo Bank has highest customer satisfaction among majors

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 28-Sep-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that customer satisfaction with Bendigo Bank in August 2017 was 89.3%, making it the top performer among the 10 largest consumer banks. Not only was Bendigo the satisfaction leader but it improved its rating over the month by 0.9% points, against an overall decline of 0.2% points for banks in total. Other small banks such as ING Direct with 86.7%, Bank of Queensland (84.2%), Suncorp (83.0%) and St George (82.0%) also had high customer satisfaction ratings. The best performer among the four majors was the CBA with 80.2%, followed by Westpac on 78.5%, NAB (78.4%) and ANZ (77.3%). The overall average satisfaction for all banks was 80.8% in August. Meanwhile, the mortgage customers of each of the big four banks continue to be a drag on their overall satisfaction, despite historically low home-loan rates.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, BENDIGO BANK, ING DIRECT, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ, SUNCORP BANK, ST GEORGE BANK LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

It’s Official: Sydney Swans most widely supported AFL club

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 21-Sep-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that the Sydney Swans boast 1.204 million supporters, making it the most popular Australian Football League club. The Swans have gained 104,000 supporters in 2017, an increase of 9.5% since the team’s 2016 Grand Final appearance. Essendon is the most widely supported Victorian club with 671,000 supporters, while traditional Victorian powerhouse Collingwood has slipped to fourth on the supporter ladder with 663,000 supporters. Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan says Victoria remains the beating heart of the AFL with nearly 3 million supporters buying just under 570,000 AFL club memberships in 2017 – a conversion rate of 19.3% of supporters to members.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, SYDNEY SWANS FOOTBALL CLUB, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, ESSENDON FOOTBALL CLUB, COLLINGWOOD FOOTBALL CLUB, WESTERN BULLDOGS FOOTBALL CLUB, HAWTHORN FOOTBALL CLUB, MELBOURNE FOOTBALL CLUB, ADELAIDE CROWS FOOTBALL CLUB, RICHMOND FOOTBALL CLUB

It’s Official: Terry White tops for Pharmacy Satisfaction

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 20-Sep-17

Terry White Chemists has again taken out top position in the Roy Morgan Pharmacy Satisfaction awards for July with a customer satisfaction rating of 90.3%, following on from a victory in June. Rival My Chemist was in second position with a customer satisfaction rating of 89.9%, followed by Terry White Chemists’ merger partner Chemmart on 88.9%. As a combined entity TerryWhite Chemmart scores a combined customer satisfaction of 89.8% in July. Roy Morgan Research CEO Michele Levine says that in this incredibly competitive market, it is vital for pharmacies to know exactly who their customers are, and how to cater for their specific expectations, attitudes and preferences, or their satisfaction levels may suffer.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, TERRY WHITE CHEMISTS, MY CHEMIST PTY LTD, CHEMMART PTY LTD

Majority happy with mobile phone service providers particularly Amaysim, Optus & Virgin

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 18-Sep-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that 77.1% of Australians aged 14+ who are mobile phone users were satisfied with their service provider over the year to July 2017. This is an improvement from 73.4% in 2014 but down marginally from 77.4% in 2016. Very little separates the satisfaction of the top five service providers, with Amaysim the leader on 81.6%, followed by Optus (79.0%), Virgin (78.4%), Telstra (76.3%) and Vodafone (76.0%). Amaysim was the biggest improver over the last 12 months, up 4.2% to 81.6%. The other two major providers to show improvement were Virgin (up 3.5%) and Optus (up 0.9%). Telstra showed a marginal decline (down 0.3%), while Vodafone was down 2.6%.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AMAYSIM AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX AYS, OPTUS MOBILE PTY LTD, VIRGIN MOBILE (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, VODAFONE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ALDIMOBILE

New car buying intentions up in August – biggest gains to Toyota, Mitsubishi, Kia, VW and Skoda

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 18-Sep-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that 2.457 million Australians aged 14+ intend to purchase a new car in the next four years. This is an increase of 53,000 from July and is only marginally lower than the 15-year high recorded in February 2017. The survey also shows that the number of Australians intending to purchase a new car in the next 12 months has increased by 9.2% over the last quarter, to 679,000. A major driver of increased intentions over the next 12 months is that this group has a much higher level of consumer confidence than the population average. Over the August quarter, the consumer confidence level for all Australians was 113.1, whereas those intending to purchase a new car in the next 12 months had a much higher confidence level (125.2).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED

Most general insurance policy holders renew without approaching other companies

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 11-Sep-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that 77.9% of Australians aged 14+ with general insurance do not approach any other company when renewing their policy. An additional 14.6% approach another company but do not change. Roy Morgan’s "General Insurance Industry Currency Report" also shows that the proportion of general insurance policy holders renewing with the same company after approaching others has increased from 11.4% in the year to July 2013 to 14.6% in the year to July 2017. The most loyal customers, based on the proportion of policy holders that renew without approaching another company, are with RACQ (85.2%), the RACV (84.1%) and RAC (83.8%). The least loyal are Budget Direct (63.3%) and GIO (67.2%).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, RACQ INSURANCE LIMITED, RACV INSURANCE, RAC INSURANCE PTY LTD, BUDGET DIRECT INSURANCE AGENCY PTY LTD, GIO AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Small energy retailers ahead of majors on customer satisfaction

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 11-Sep-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that overall satisfaction with electricity retailers has fallen over the last four years by 1.8% points, to 63.4% in July 2017. The current satisfaction leader among the 10 largest electricity retailers is Red Energy with 74.5% (an increase of 6.4% points since 2013), followed by Simply Energy on 71.4% (up 9.1% points). The two largest electricity retailers (based on domestic consumer numbers) have below-average satisfaction, with Origin Energy on 62.3% and AGL on 61.3%; both are currently below their 2013 satisfaction levels. Meanwhile, satisfaction with gas retailers has improved by 1.6% points since 2013 to 65.0%, with the greatest gains from Simply Energy (up 14.6% points to 73.8%), and Lumo Energy (up 9.4% points to 74.6% and now the market leader). Among the four largest gas retailers, Alinta, Origin and Energy Australia have shown some improvement in satisfaction since 2013, but all four currently remain below the industry average.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, RED ENERGY PTY LTD, SIMPLY ENERGY, LUMO ENERGY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, KLEENHEAT GAS PTY LTD, ALINTA ENERGY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL

Retail superannuation funds once again higher than industry funds in the satisfaction stakes, after trailing for a decade

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 4-Sep-17

Roy Morgan Research’s Superannuation Satisfaction Report for July 2017 shows that satisfaction with the financial performance of retail superannuation funds (58.7%) was higher than industry funds (58.2%) for the sixth consecutive month, after having trailed them for more than a decade. Satisfaction with self-managed superannuation funds maintained their overall lead with 73.8%, up 2.8% points in the last year. Although retail funds overall performed marginally better than industry funds, at the individual fund level among the majors, they did not rank in the top five performers. Across the fifteen largest super funds (based on number of members), Qsuper had the highest satisfaction with 73.3%, followed by Cbus (65.7%) and Unisuper (64.8%). The best performing largest retail funds were Colonial First State (59.0%), MLC (57.8%), OnePath (56.5%) and BT (55.5%).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, QSUPER LIMITED, CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING UNIONS’ SUPERANNUATION FUND, UNISUPER LIMITED, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GROUP LIMITED, MLC LIFETIME COMPANY LIMITED, ONEPATH AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BT INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX BTT