Australia And New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ); Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (CBA); National Australia Bank Limited (NAB); Westpac Banking Corporation (WBC):
Banks have made no progress reporting ‘‘positive’’ data under the voluntary comprehensive credit reporting regime over the past three months, and now face the prospect of the scheme being made mandatory. Comprehensive credit reporting (CCR) is designed to boost the amount of information in credit files, such as credit limits and repayment history. This will allow competitors to the big banks to get a better view of customer risk profiles and potentially offer risk based pricing that could be cheaper for consumers with good creditor histories. The Productivity Commission, in its recent report on data use and availability, called on the government to start drafting legislation to mandate CCR if public reporting had not reached 40 per cent. The government said this level must be reached by the end of the calendar year. But the banks are a long way from the target. The Australian Retail Credit Association told its members on Wednesday public reporting was only occurring in ‘‘small volumes’’. It is understood the figure is less than 1 per cent and has fallen over the past three months.
ASX Limited (ASX):
A dearth of floats and the availability of ultra-cheap debt means the share market’s central function as a platform for providing capital is being seriously undermined. Credit Suisse equity strategist Hasan Tevfik finds that just $1 billion has been raised via the ASX in 2017, based on net equity issuance for S&P/ASX 200 Index companies. That’s down from an average of $40 billion a year over the past decade, and a peak of $113 billion in 2009.
Countplus Limited (CUP); DWS Limited (DWS); Emeco Holdings Limited (EHL); Funtastic Limited (FUN); Gazal Corporation Limited (GZL); Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (HVN):
Gerry Harvey’s retail investments go further than the Harvey Norman group that has made him a billionaire. Though the bulk of his wealth is found in Harvey Norman, the retail giant of which he is executive chairman, Harvey has a mixed bag of smaller retailer stocks in his portfolio. He has a stake in the listed toy retailer Funtastic, which is down 41 per cent since January 1, and Gazal Corporation, which is celebrating its 50th year and sells men’s clothing brands such as Van Huesen and Calvin Klein. Gazal shares have tracked sideways this year. Harvey has had a better performance from some of the other stocks in his portfolio, though Countplus–which counts another Rich Lister in Barry Lambert as a shareholder–is down 39 percent since January 1. Shares in DWS, an IT consulting services firm, are up 16 per cent since the start of the year and about 18 per cent over 12 months. Emeco shares, meanwhile, are up a whopping 98 per cent compared with January 1. Harvey’s name sits alongside yet another Rich Lister in Dale Elphinstone on the share register of Emeco, a provider of equipment and services to mining companies.
Fairfax Media Limited (FXJ); REA Group Limited (REA); News Corporation (NWS):
It’s the catchphrase News Corp-backed REA Group desperately tried to stop rival property classifieds group Domain from using. But, with the legal battle lost, Fairfax-owned Domain is launching an ad blitz centred on ‘‘Australia’s #1 Property App’’. The new campaign will be pushed to more than 2000 outdoor advertising panels and will include television commercials, radio partnerships with Fairfax-majority owned Macquarie Radio, and online content series, such as the parody Avalon Now released by Domain in 2015.
Flight Centre Travel Group Limited (FLT); Webjet Limited (WEB):
Online booking group Webjet’s dispute with its auditors over full-year accounts is not holding back chief executive John Guscic’s global expansion plans as he nails down a deal to buy UK hotel and tour booking group JacTravel. Mr Guscic’s latest big acquisition is confirmation that business is booming for Australia’s listed travel companies despite the rise of global rivals such as Expedia and Airbnb, which everyone thought were going to eat their lunch a few years ago. Webjet, Flight Centre and Corporate Travel Management are among some of the best-performing stocks around. Online travel revenues are booming, partly fuelled by cheaper international airfares and consumers getting more comfortable about researching and purchasing flights and hotel deals on their mobile phones.
Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia Limited (GMA):
Home buyers who are desperately trying to meet banks’ requirements for higher mortgage deposits may actually be injecting more risk into the housing market in the long term. The country’s largest mortgage insurance provider, Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia, said its data showed mortgages with a loan-to-value ratio of 75-80 per cent – that is, where the bank has lent 75 to 80 per cent of the home’s value – default more often than those with an LVR of 80-90 per cent. High-LVR mortgages are often favoured by first home buyers. Genworth chief executive Georgette Nicholas said the higher default rate was because people were scraping together deposits through credit cards, personal loans or loans from their parents to get below an LVR of 80 per cent to avoid having to take out the lenders mortgage insurance that Genworth sells.
Noble Metals Limited (NMM):
Buoyant iron ore markets, strong aluminium returns and an amazing final fling from coal has left Rio Tinto floating on a sea of cash. Noble Group is reviewing its legal protections after confirmation Yancoal Australia plans to raise $US2.5 billion in new equity to fund its hotly contested, company-changing $2.45 billion ($3.14 billion) acquisition of Coal & Allied from Rio Tinto.
Qube Holdings Limited (QUB):
Amazon’s entry into the Australian market will make Qube’s Moorebank freight hub attractive to retailers and manufacturers because they will be under more pressure to slash costs, Citigroup has forecast. ‘‘Amazon will make retailers think about taking costs out,’’ Citigroup transport and infrastructure analyst Anthony Moulder told a briefing in Sydney. ‘‘The attractiveness of Moorebank is a function of Amazon coming.’’ The US retail giant is expected to have a material impact on Australian retailers’ profits by encouraging more consumers to shop online, where margins are thinner. Qube is one of Citigroup’s top three investment picks in the transport and infrastructure sector, along with Qantas and Transurban, amid expectations that the logistics group’s long-term earnings will be boosted by retailers establishing warehouses at the Moorebank hub in south-western Sydney.
ResMed Inc (RMD):
ResMed chief executive Mick Farrell said he was confident mask growth would improve this year after it was impacted by manufacture and supply issues at the end of fiscal 2017, while the rising local dollar will be a headwind. Mr Farrell, who is visiting Australia from the US, , said ResMed had no back orders for masks used for the treatment of sleep apnoea, while admitting it lost out on some sales during the first six to eight weeks of the 2017 fourth quarter. ‘‘We are very confident ... we expect to see mask growth improve this year,’’ he told The Australian Financial Review. In local trade of the dual-listed ResMed, shares fell 5.6 per cent, or 55¢, to $9.11.
Surfstitch Group Limited (SRF):
Dissident SurfStitch shareholder Crown Financial Group has urged the board to pursue former executives, directors and advisers to claw back value for shareholders after a $500 million collapse in the online retailer’s market value. Crown managing director Kim Sundell said on Wednesday he was disappointed to have lost a bid to unseat SurfStitch’s chairman, veteran retailer Sam Weiss, who has spent the past year attempting to fix the problems that contributed to the company’s near demise. SurfStitch shareholders overwhelmingly voted against Crown’s proposal to remove Mr Weiss from the board.
(Source: AIMS)
Banks have made no progress reporting ‘‘positive’’ data under the voluntary comprehensive credit reporting regime over the past three months, and now face the prospect of the scheme being made mandatory. Comprehensive credit reporting (CCR) is designed to boost the amount of information in credit files, such as credit limits and repayment history. This will allow competitors to the big banks to get a better view of customer risk profiles and potentially offer risk based pricing that could be cheaper for consumers with good creditor histories. The Productivity Commission, in its recent report on data use and availability, called on the government to start drafting legislation to mandate CCR if public reporting had not reached 40 per cent. The government said this level must be reached by the end of the calendar year. But the banks are a long way from the target. The Australian Retail Credit Association told its members on Wednesday public reporting was only occurring in ‘‘small volumes’’. It is understood the figure is less than 1 per cent and has fallen over the past three months.
ASX Limited (ASX):
A dearth of floats and the availability of ultra-cheap debt means the share market’s central function as a platform for providing capital is being seriously undermined. Credit Suisse equity strategist Hasan Tevfik finds that just $1 billion has been raised via the ASX in 2017, based on net equity issuance for S&P/ASX 200 Index companies. That’s down from an average of $40 billion a year over the past decade, and a peak of $113 billion in 2009.
Countplus Limited (CUP); DWS Limited (DWS); Emeco Holdings Limited (EHL); Funtastic Limited (FUN); Gazal Corporation Limited (GZL); Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (HVN):
Gerry Harvey’s retail investments go further than the Harvey Norman group that has made him a billionaire. Though the bulk of his wealth is found in Harvey Norman, the retail giant of which he is executive chairman, Harvey has a mixed bag of smaller retailer stocks in his portfolio. He has a stake in the listed toy retailer Funtastic, which is down 41 per cent since January 1, and Gazal Corporation, which is celebrating its 50th year and sells men’s clothing brands such as Van Huesen and Calvin Klein. Gazal shares have tracked sideways this year. Harvey has had a better performance from some of the other stocks in his portfolio, though Countplus–which counts another Rich Lister in Barry Lambert as a shareholder–is down 39 percent since January 1. Shares in DWS, an IT consulting services firm, are up 16 per cent since the start of the year and about 18 per cent over 12 months. Emeco shares, meanwhile, are up a whopping 98 per cent compared with January 1. Harvey’s name sits alongside yet another Rich Lister in Dale Elphinstone on the share register of Emeco, a provider of equipment and services to mining companies.
Fairfax Media Limited (FXJ); REA Group Limited (REA); News Corporation (NWS):
It’s the catchphrase News Corp-backed REA Group desperately tried to stop rival property classifieds group Domain from using. But, with the legal battle lost, Fairfax-owned Domain is launching an ad blitz centred on ‘‘Australia’s #1 Property App’’. The new campaign will be pushed to more than 2000 outdoor advertising panels and will include television commercials, radio partnerships with Fairfax-majority owned Macquarie Radio, and online content series, such as the parody Avalon Now released by Domain in 2015.
Flight Centre Travel Group Limited (FLT); Webjet Limited (WEB):
Online booking group Webjet’s dispute with its auditors over full-year accounts is not holding back chief executive John Guscic’s global expansion plans as he nails down a deal to buy UK hotel and tour booking group JacTravel. Mr Guscic’s latest big acquisition is confirmation that business is booming for Australia’s listed travel companies despite the rise of global rivals such as Expedia and Airbnb, which everyone thought were going to eat their lunch a few years ago. Webjet, Flight Centre and Corporate Travel Management are among some of the best-performing stocks around. Online travel revenues are booming, partly fuelled by cheaper international airfares and consumers getting more comfortable about researching and purchasing flights and hotel deals on their mobile phones.
Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia Limited (GMA):
Home buyers who are desperately trying to meet banks’ requirements for higher mortgage deposits may actually be injecting more risk into the housing market in the long term. The country’s largest mortgage insurance provider, Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia, said its data showed mortgages with a loan-to-value ratio of 75-80 per cent – that is, where the bank has lent 75 to 80 per cent of the home’s value – default more often than those with an LVR of 80-90 per cent. High-LVR mortgages are often favoured by first home buyers. Genworth chief executive Georgette Nicholas said the higher default rate was because people were scraping together deposits through credit cards, personal loans or loans from their parents to get below an LVR of 80 per cent to avoid having to take out the lenders mortgage insurance that Genworth sells.
Noble Metals Limited (NMM):
Buoyant iron ore markets, strong aluminium returns and an amazing final fling from coal has left Rio Tinto floating on a sea of cash. Noble Group is reviewing its legal protections after confirmation Yancoal Australia plans to raise $US2.5 billion in new equity to fund its hotly contested, company-changing $2.45 billion ($3.14 billion) acquisition of Coal & Allied from Rio Tinto.
Qube Holdings Limited (QUB):
Amazon’s entry into the Australian market will make Qube’s Moorebank freight hub attractive to retailers and manufacturers because they will be under more pressure to slash costs, Citigroup has forecast. ‘‘Amazon will make retailers think about taking costs out,’’ Citigroup transport and infrastructure analyst Anthony Moulder told a briefing in Sydney. ‘‘The attractiveness of Moorebank is a function of Amazon coming.’’ The US retail giant is expected to have a material impact on Australian retailers’ profits by encouraging more consumers to shop online, where margins are thinner. Qube is one of Citigroup’s top three investment picks in the transport and infrastructure sector, along with Qantas and Transurban, amid expectations that the logistics group’s long-term earnings will be boosted by retailers establishing warehouses at the Moorebank hub in south-western Sydney.
ResMed Inc (RMD):
ResMed chief executive Mick Farrell said he was confident mask growth would improve this year after it was impacted by manufacture and supply issues at the end of fiscal 2017, while the rising local dollar will be a headwind. Mr Farrell, who is visiting Australia from the US, , said ResMed had no back orders for masks used for the treatment of sleep apnoea, while admitting it lost out on some sales during the first six to eight weeks of the 2017 fourth quarter. ‘‘We are very confident ... we expect to see mask growth improve this year,’’ he told The Australian Financial Review. In local trade of the dual-listed ResMed, shares fell 5.6 per cent, or 55¢, to $9.11.
Surfstitch Group Limited (SRF):
Dissident SurfStitch shareholder Crown Financial Group has urged the board to pursue former executives, directors and advisers to claw back value for shareholders after a $500 million collapse in the online retailer’s market value. Crown managing director Kim Sundell said on Wednesday he was disappointed to have lost a bid to unseat SurfStitch’s chairman, veteran retailer Sam Weiss, who has spent the past year attempting to fix the problems that contributed to the company’s near demise. SurfStitch shareholders overwhelmingly voted against Crown’s proposal to remove Mr Weiss from the board.
(Source: AIMS)
Latest comments