NEWS WRAP: Research reveals sluggish earnings growth last year

The Australian newspaper’s business section focusses upon research that reveals sluggish earnings growth last year and a recent tendency for companies to hoard cash, resulting in a 15-year low in corporate sector debt.

Research by Macquarie Securities found that dividend payout ratios, and the nominal amount of dividends paid, both fell and are forecast to slip further as firms respond to uncertainty in the political and economic worlds.

The Australian also flags the possibility of a merger between Bank of Queensland and a rival, potentially Bendigo Bank.

BoQ chief David Liddy is quoted that there “should be consolidation among regional bank”. It’s unsure how start-ups, who would like greater competition and choice outside the ‘big four’ banks, will react to this development.

The Australian Financial Review’s front page explains how the economy has grown at its fastest pace in three years, with fellow Fairfax organ Business Day focussing on Treasurer Wayne Swan’s claim that other nations “would kill” for a similar scenario. Business Day also has the tale of how Rupert Murdoch’s pay shrank to a mere $18.8 million in the last financial year.

Back in the Fin and there is a piece on how women in the engineering and science industries are concerned about taking maternity leave. A survey found that 40% had been bullied and 38% had been discriminated against in the male-dominated sector.

The front and business pages of this morning’s newspapers are led by the pact between Labor and the Greens, with The Australian pondering the potential impact on the nation’s mining industry.

Overnight, Wall Street has had its best trading day in eight weeks, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumping more than 250 points, or 2.54%, on the back of strong economic data from the US, China and Australia.

The Australian dollar also fared well, opening one US cent stronger at US91 cents.