The annual average retail petrol price in 2018–19 was the highest in real terms (i.e. adjusted for inflation) in four years according to the ACCC’s latest report on the Australian petroleum market for June quarter 2019. The report shows that in the five largest cities, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, the average annual petrol price … Continue reading “Weak Australian dollar sees petrol prices at highest level in four years”
Australian Finance Group (AFG) announced an annual underlying profit of $28.56 million up 1.8% for the 12 months to 30 June 2019. Significantly, for the first time, more than half of AFG’s gross margin was generated from outside of its mortgage broking aggregation business. The continued growth in these diversified earnings streams despite a softer … Continue reading “AFG FY19 Profit Up 1.8%”
Mortgage Choice released its full-year results, reporting a $2.1-billion hit to its mortgage volumes. Via The Adviser. Mortgage Choice has published its results for the 2019 financial year (FY19), recording a 40 per cent decline in its cash net profit after tax, from $23.4 million in FY18 to $14 million. The decline was driven by … Continue reading “Mortgage Choice reports 29% fall in commissions revenue”
President Trump has declared the FED should cut by 1%. But according to Bloomberg, three Federal Reserve policy makers voiced their resistance to the notion that the U.S. economy needs lower interest rates, and a fourth said he wanted to avoid taking further action “unless we have to,” foreshadowing a sharp debate with officials who … Continue reading “Maybe The FED Won’t Cut”
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has announced that it has entered into further agreements to progress the planned divestment of its Australian life insurance business (CommInsure Life) to AIA Group Limited (AIA). The planned divestment has been subject to ongoing regulatory approval processes, which has led to an extended period of uncertainty for CommInsure Life. … Continue reading “CBA Updates Divestment of Australian Life Insurance Business”
We discuss the consequences of the judgement in favour of Westpac and their use of Household Expenditure Measure (HEM) benchmarks.
On 17 August, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, announced reforms to the loan prime rate (LPR) mechanism. Via Moody’s. Beginning on 20 August, the new LPR will average the lending rate quoted by 18 banks on that same day to determine the lending rate for all banks when they originate new … Continue reading “China’s New Prime Rate Mechanism Makes Banks More Risky”
A new UBS report has said that regulators getting tougher on capital is a threat to dividends, particularly those of the major banks. Via InvestorDaily. UBS reported that it was cautious on the Australian big four banks as the low rates environment made it harder for the banks to generate a lending spread and challenged the … Continue reading “Bank Dividends Under Pressure”
Robbie Barwick from the CEC and I discuss the latest on the cash ban. Quiet Australians are speaking!
We ran out live stream event last night. During the session we discussed our revised scenarios, taking account of the complex local and international backdrop. Using a baseline of July 2018, and looking ahead this is how it plays out. The risks from an international crisis have risen, the RBA itself is now projecting higher … Continue reading “DFA Updates Scenarios And Answers Viewers Questions [Podcast]”
