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ASB Securities Morning Brief for Thursday, 21 January 2010
New Zealand Headlines A proposed overhaul of the tax system - reducing income tax and company rates by introducing new taxes on land and rental properties and increasing GST to 15 per cent - brought a cautious response from the Government yesterday... Read more Tougher rules for depreciation and thinly capitalised companies are among the more targeted base-broadening measures proposed by the tax working group... Read more Residential property investors face a double-whammy under proposals unveiled by the Tax Working Group which could raise $2 billion from a sector currently costing taxpayers $150 million a year... Read more We have a preference for getting more out of the property sector," Tax Working Group member Rob Cameron told the launch of the group's final report... Read more Price increases from any rise in GST could leave retailers and businesses facing a customer backlash if tax-inclusive labelling remains common practice... Read more Tax changes on residential property investments could lead to investors pulling out of the market, causing house prices to fall, investment adviser Martin Hawes says... Read more The New Zealand Property Investors' Federation is concerned about the high level of misinformation around taxation of rental property and the perceived tax benefits property investors have... Read more The axe is hanging over jaffas, chocolate fish and even pineapple lumps. Experts believe the Kraft takeover of Cadbury in Britain could mean the end of local delicacies in favour of worldwide brands... Read more A 0.2 per cent fall in the December quarter Consumers Price Index is seen giving the Reserve Bank breathing space... Read more PGG Wrightson Finance, the finance unit of listed rural services company PGG Wrightson, expects the company's to improve through 2010 after a rough couple of years in the financial sector... Read more Revenue Minister Peter Dunne threw out a strong signal that the government will crack down on people using trusts, companies and heavily indebted residential property investments to qualify for Working for Families tax credits... Read more British wine drinkers will soon be quaffing New Zealand sweet riesling for the first time after Europe lifted a long-standing trade barrier on sweet wine imports... Read more Yellow Pages Group is finding the going tougher now than at the height of the recession but the heavily indebted directories group's boss does not think its owners will have to pump more cash into the business... Read more The Commerce Commission has launched a probe into the pre-paid calling card market after repeated complaints that advertisements breach fair trading laws... Read more Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee has given the green light for six new petroleum exploration blocks in the Reinga Basin on the northwest cost of New Zealand... Read more A dairy industry in which several small companies develop niche markets for specialised milk products, such as "functional" foods with claimed health benefits, is envisaged by Agriculture Minister David Carter... Read more Fonterra is to raise up to $250 million in senior unsecured bonds during February and March, the company said... Read more Dunedin discount voucher website Vouchermate has been put in voluntary liquidation, owing creditors $160,000... Read more Unnaturally high cane sugar levels were behind the New Zealand Food Safety Authority holding a $1 million honey order being exported from Timaru last month... Read more Phil Macalister. Residential property investors have been a political target for some time now and the report from the Tax Working Group made it clear they, unfairly, remain in the sights... Read more NZ Market Report. New Zealand shares fell for a fourth day, led by property investors including ING Property Trust amid concern proposed changes to tax policy may reduce their ability to claim depreciation on some assets... Read more
Australian Headlines Australian Market Report. Shares end marginally higher, losing early gains on reports that some Chinese banks have been ordered to curb lending spooked local investors... Read more Super funds run by banks and the big wealth managers are dealt a fresh blow by figures showing the top 10 funds in the past decade were all non-profit.... Read more Rapidly improving job prospects are encouraging Australians to spend as they haven't in years - despite the recent rate rises... Read more Consolidated Press Holdings chief executive James Packer is predicting another year of strong profits.... Read more The businessman whose job it is to return the fallen Strathfield Group to the sharemarket has been embroiled in the collapse of a purported stockbroking outfit.... Read more In Australia, Kraft's acquisition of Cadbury will be a 'David and Goliath' affair, with Kraft outmatched on nearly every front by the Cherry Ripe-maker... Read more BHP Billiton, the world's largest miner, has given its most upbeat outlook for commodities markets since the global downturn, as surging Chinese demand led to a big jump in iron ore shipments... Read more Qantas is expected to take advantage of the growing likelihood that the bankrupt Japan Airlines will reduce services between Australia and Japan... Read more The unexpected drop in the unemployment rate has spurred consumer confidence higher, despite the Reserve Bank's three consecutive interest rate rises... Read more The owner of Sydney's ill-fated Lane Cove Tunnel is in receivership two years after it went on life support... Read more The competition watchdog has launched an inquiry into National Australia Bank's friendly $13.3 billion move on wealth giant AXA Asia Pacific, a move that would consolidate the bank's already dominant position in the retail superannuation market... Read more A meeting of the AMP board this month mapped out the options for the wealth giant if, as widely expected, National Australia Bank emerged with AXA Asia Pacific.... Read more Property developer Warren Anderson boasted that he had organised a group of bikies to abduct a Firepower shareholder, a Perth court has heard... Read more Bank of America-Merrill Lynch has carried out its second domestic poaching raid within six months, hiring a team of 10 traders from Royal Bank of Scotland to boost its market share... Read more Chinese policymakers have curbed lending to avoid a repeat of last year's credit explosion, causing the Australian dollar to fall 0.76 cents.... Read more The National Broadband Network Company kicked off the first of its east-coast consultation tours in Sydney yesterday, as the company's chief Mike Quigley fielded questions about finer details of the $43 billion government-backed project... Read more The administrators of Trio Capital said they will hold a public examination into the failed fund manager and a related web of companies which appear to have lost $118 million in a Caribbean tax haven... Read more Mineral sands miner Iluka Resources has recorded a 37.5 per cent drop in sales revenue last year... Read more Arrow Energy shares slipped yesterday after a production report showed solid sales, but failed to satisfy market hopes of an upgrade in its gas reserves... Read more Country Road has warned that its profit before tax would be slashed by up to 12 per cent to $12.8 million for the half to December 31... Read more Passenger traffic at Australia's two biggest airports ended the year strongly, with Sydney's December figures up 8 per cent and Melbourne's growing 16 per cent compared to the previous year... Read more Nomura Holdings has been made a trading participant on the Australian Securities Exchange in an expansion of its footprint down under... Read more ANZ Banking Group Ltd chief executive Mike Smith has warned financial markets will see further aftershocks this year... Read more Diversified group Wesfarmers Ltd says production at its coal mines was down during the final quarter of calendar 2009... Read more Prominent Australian bank analyst Brian Johnson is worried that National Australia Bank Ltd is pondering a partial float of its troubled UK arm Clydesdale, in order to fund British acquisitions... Read more Shares in miner Orocobre surged 32 per cent after it unveiled a deal with Japan's Toyota... Read more Telstra is seeking advertisers for its Winter Olympics coverage on its BigPond Sport mobile website... Read more Former GPT Group CFO Kieran Pryke has taken up a similar role with diversified property group Australand.... Read more Sunland's Palazzo Versace development in Dubai has hit another snag... Read more The insurance arm of Challenger Financial Services Group yesterday lifted its takeover offer for Challenger Kenedix Japan Trust.... Read more Lynas has extended a contract to supply rare earths to French chemicals company Rhodia to 10 years... Read more The directors of Cockatoo Ridge Wines made the decision to voluntarily appoint administrators after forming the view the company was likely to become insolvent in the current quarter, they said in a statement to the ASX on Wednesday... Read more Ian Verrender. Predicted traffic numbers for Sydney's tunnels have taken a toll on public credibility... Read more Adele Ferguson. Australian investors have come out of the global financial crisis with minimal scars, and many plan to leverage their exposure to equities this year... Read more John Durie. All eyes will be on whether AMP makes a new bid when its exclusivity deal ends... Read more Stephen Bartholomeusz. Nearly half of BHP Billiton's sales are now being priced using mechanisms other than benchmark pricing – this is accelerating whether the Chinese like it or not... Read more Peter Martin. You've got to hand it to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries. It knows when to stop... Read more Mark Hawthorne. It was evident something was afoot among Royal Bank of Scotland's fixed income and currency team yesterday morning as 11 desks sat empty, without a word from the missing staff... Read more
International Headlines U.S. Market Report. An updated report of the latest action on Wall Street... Read more World Market Report. An updated report of the worlds' latest market movements... Read more China has told some banks to limit lending and will restrict overall credit growth in the nation to 7.5 trillion yuan ($US1.1 trillion) this year, banking regulator Liu Mingkang said... Read more Kraft Food's largest shareholder, billionaire investor Warren Buffett, comes out against its takeover of UK chocolate-maker Cadbury... Read more Hershey Co.'s third failed effort to merge with Cadbury Plc in eight years may leave the U.S. chocolate maker and the charitable trust that controls it grappling to retain investors and market share.... Read more The New York Times is to charge for full access to its website from 2011, the latest newspaper to move in that direction... Read more Google's standoff with the Chinese government over hacking has claimed its first casualties outside the U.S. Internet company itself, with the delay to the launches of two Android-based mobile handsets in the country... Read more Losses at Bank of America widened to $US5.2 billion in the fourth quarter, as its results were squeezed by the company's decision to return bailout money owed to the government... Read more International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn reiterated that China's yuan is undervalued and should trade freely if it'â„¢s to be regarded as an international currency... Read more Japan Airlines Corp. plans to cut 31 routes, 53 planes and almost a third of its workforce after winning state funds to help restructure following the nation's fourth-largest bankruptcy... Read more Warren Buffett opposes President Barack Obama's proposed levy on financial institutions because firms including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. already repaid bailout funds... Read more Building permits in the U.S. unexpectedly jumped in December, signaling gains in housing will be sustained into 2010 after winter weather depressed construction at the end of last year... Read more A 40 percent drop in companies defaulting during the second half of last year is evidence the global recession is ending, according to ratings company and export credit insurer, Coface... Read more Wall Street economists aren't buying the theory propounded by Bill Gross and Mohamed El-Erian, co-chief investment officers at Pacific Investment Management Co., that the U.S. will be mired in long-term sluggish growth averaging 2 percent a year... Read more Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke sought to defuse allegations that the central bank tried to conceal details about the $US182.3 billion bailout of American International Group Inc., calling for a review of Fed actions by congressional auditors... Read more International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said the euro region will withstand the turmoil caused by Greece's credit downgrade, a day after finance chiefs voiced concern debt woes are spreading... Read more The first shipment of highly radioactive waste from the UK has left the Sellafield nuclear site, bound for Japan. The waste is a by-product of nuclear fuel spent by Japanese reactors that was sent to the UK for reprocessing during the 1980s and 1990s... Read more
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