VIRUS DISEASES – AUSTRALIA

CSL signs deal to make two Covid vaccines

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jared Lynch
The Australian – Page: 15 : 8-Sep-20

Biopharmaceutical giant CSL has secured a $1.7bn deal with the federal government to produce 80 million doses of two coronavirus vaccine candidates. This comprises 30 million doses of the vaccine that is being developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, and 50 million doses of the vaccine that CSL is developing with the University of Queensland. Phase three clinical trials have commenced on the Oxford vaccine, while the home-grown vaccine is in phase one trials. The government will contribute $300m to the cost of upgrading CSL’s advanced manufacturing facility in Melbourne to produce the vaccines.

CORPORATES
CSL LIMITED – ASX CSL, OXFORD UNIVERSITY, ASTRAZENECA PLC

Stimulus sparks 15pc surge in company profits

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 4 : 1-Sep-20

Government stimulus measures such as the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme contributed to a sharp rise in gross operating profits in the corporate sector during the June quarter. Seasonally adjusted figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that operating profits rose by 15 per cent overall. However, sectors whose sales have been hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic recorded much bigger growth in profits; these include hospitality (86 per cent higher than the March quarter), arts and recreation (up 84 per cent) and retailing (up 31 per cent). Economists had expected a six per cent fall in profits.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Working at home becomes flexible

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 1-Sep-20

Fair Work Commission president Iain Ross says the growth in telecommuting has been one of the most significant changes to working arrangements during the COVID-19 pandemic. He notes that the majority of modern industrial awards do not expressly include provision for working from home. Ross has released a model flexibility schedule that could potentially be inserted in some awards. Amongst other things, employees would be able to ask to work the same hours over fewer days, ‘buy’ additional leave or take twice as much leave at half-pay. Meanwhile, casual workers would be able to request flexible working arrangements after six months of ‘regular and systematic’ employment.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

L-NP (54%) widens lead over ALP (46%) in mid-August as Victoria and NSW grapple with second wave of COVID-19

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 24-Aug-20

Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says support for the L-NP Federal Government (54%) is at its equal highest since the 2019 Federal Election, now well ahead of the ALP (46%) on a two-party preferred basis. Support for the LN-P has risen strongly in South Australia, NSW, Victoria and Queensland. The second wave of COVID-19 which began in Melbourne with a breach of hotel quarantine in late May has led to a Stage 4 lockdown in the city since early August with mandatory mask wearing enforced throughout Victoria for all residents. The good news is that since the Stage 4 lockdown began new cases of the virus have dropped significantly and are now at their lowest since early July. Looking forward, the extension of the JobKeeper and JobSeeker support packages until March 2021 has provided certainty to businesses dealing with the ongoing impact of the pandemic, and the example of NSW over the last seven weeks shows that the virus can be successfully managed.

CORPORATES
MORGAN POLL, ROY MORGAN LIMITED, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Border closures could become illegal

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Natasha Boddy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 24-Aug-20

Professor Catherine Bennett of Deakin University says a decline in the number of new COVID-19 cases could prompt a review of state border closures within weeks. Western Australia and Queensland are among the states that want hard border closures to be maintained, while Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews concedes that it will be some time before the state can argue the case for other jurisdictions to relax their border controls. Swinburne University’s Professor Bruce Thompson says the legality of border closures may be called into question if case numbers keep falling.

CORPORATES
DEAKIN UNIVERSITY, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, SWINBURNE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Aim is for 95pc to have corona jab: Morrison

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 6 : 20-Aug-20

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has emphasised that it will not be compulsory for Australians to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. He had initially stated that vaccination would be "as mandatory as possible" and people would only be exempted on medical grounds. However, Morrison says his preference is for 95 per cent of Australians to be vaccinated, and the government will introduce measures aimed at encouraging a high rate of immunisation when and if an effective COVID-19 vaccination becomes available.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Business groups push to open international borders for economic boost

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jennifer Duke
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 20-Aug-20

Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry CEO James Pearson is among the business leaders who have urged the federal government to re-open the nation’s international borders as soon as possible. He describes it as a "critically important step" in the Australian economy’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and he argues that domestic markets cannot sustain high employment and living standards. Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox and Business Council of Australia CEO Jennifer Westacott have also called for international travel restrictions to be eased as soon as possible.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

330,000 jobs at risk in retail, building

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Adam Creighton, Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 5 : 10-Aug-20

McKinsey has warned that a second wave of coronavirus-induced job losses could affect between 270,000 and 640,000 Australian workers by March. The consulting firm expects sectors such as retailing and construction to be hardest hit as government support measures are scaled back. McKinsey forecasts that an additional 215,000 jobs could be lost in the retail sector by March, on top of the 42,000 that were shed in the June quarter; the construction sector in turn faces the loss of up to 205,000 jobs by March, having shed 46,000 jobs in the three months to June.

CORPORATES
McKINSEY AND COMPANY

JobKeeper could be expanded to deal with further coronavirus outbreaks

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jennifer Duke
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 10-Aug-20

The JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme is now expected to cost $101bn in total, after the federal government agreed to extend it beyond September at a lower rate. Finance Minister Mathias Cormann has emphasised the need to gradually phase out government support, although he has not ruled out further extending the scheme beyond March if the pandemic worsens. Labor contends that the government needs a plan to boost employment rather than focusing on the JobKeeper and JobSeeker schemes.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

CBA investors brace for lower payout

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 15 : 10-Aug-20

The consensus of analysts is that the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s 2019-20 cash earnings will be 10 per cent lower than previously, at $7.6bn. UBS expects the coronavirus pandemic to prompt CBA to increase its impairment charges for the second half to $1.9bn, which includes a $1.5bn COVID-related provision that the bank announced earlier in the year. Meanwhile, UBS forecasts that CBA shareholders will receive a final dividend of $0.95 per share, which would be in line with the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s revised guidance.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD