ASX live updates: All the latest news from company reporting season on the Australian market

Regis Resources has poured cold water on media speculation that it is in “advanced” talks to take full control of the Tropicana gold mine in the northern Goldfields.

The report said the miner was “deep in the weeds” and “in advanced talks” to secure a major deal to pick up the 70 per cent stake of the mine it doesn’t already own with joint venture partner AngloGold Ashanti.

Regis grabbed a 30 per cent slice of the mine from IGO in a deal worth $903m in 2021.

In a statement on the specualtion issued to the ASX this morning, it said it regularly assesses acquisition opportunities based on various factors “and will only elect to proceed if the acquisition aligns with strategic goals and is assessed to be accretive for shareholders”.

“Regis confirms that it is not in advanced discussions with respect to any specific opportunity,” it said.

“Regis will keep the market informed as appropriate in accordance with its continuous disclosure obligations but otherwise does not intend to comment.”

Regis shares were down 1.8 per cent in early trade to $4.35, valuing the company at $3.34 billion.

It will hand down its full-year results on Friday.

In its June-quarter report, Regis noted it was holding cash and bullion of $517m, up $222m over the year.

Southern Cross Electrical Engineering is tipping underlying profit growth of as much as 24 per cent over the next 12 months after surging to an another record result in the 2025 financial year.

The electrical contractor today announced a 44.5 per cent jump in annual net profit to a record $31.7 million as revenue rose 45.2 per cent to $801.5m, also a record.

The board declared a final dividend of 5c a share, making 7.5c for the year, up from 6c for the 2024 financial year.

SCEE said it was sitting on a $685m order book as at June 30, with its outlook supported by growing work on data centres. Since 2023, revenues from data centre contracts has leapt to $120m a year from $20m.

SCEE is forecasting earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to grow between 18 per cent and 25 per cent in the 2026 financial year to $65m to $68m. EBITDA last financial year was $54.8m.

Mining engineering group Lycopodium has slashed its dividend after a 17 per cent drop in annual profit from the previous year’s record to $42.2 million.

The final dividend was reduced to 25c a share from 40c previously, making 35c for the year, down from 77c .

While lower, both profit and revenue, which was 2.7 per cent off at $339.6m, came in at the top of guidance given by Lycopodium in February.

The financial year included the acquisition of a 60 per cent stake in Argentinian engineering company Saxum for $11.3m, widening Lycopodium’s presence in Latin America.

Lycopodium’s recent projects include Talison Lithium’s new processing plant at the Greenbushes mine in WA’s South West, with the group also working on a pre-feasibility study on Rio Tinto’s Winu copper and gold project in WA’s north.

Emeco is hopeful continued strong levels of production activity in the mining sector - particularly among iron ore and coal producers - will keep supporting demand for heavy machinery.

The mining equipment hire firm today reported a 7 per cent rise in full-year group revenue to $785.4 million, thanks to a “strategic refocus on core rental and equipment rebuild business, and operational improvement”.

Operating earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation was also 7 per cent higher at $301.1m, delivering a statutory profit of $75.1m - up 43 per cent from the previous year.

Return on capital was 17 per cent, up from 15 per cent in FY24, and with an annualised run rate of 18 per cent in the second half.

“With the strategic repositioning of our business now complete, we have refocused on our core strengths in mining equipment rental and workshop services,” said CEO Ian Testrow, who was ranked fifith in The West Australian’s list of the highest paid bosses of an ASX listed comopany.

“This, and a disciplined approach to cost and capital management, has been instrumental in driving the improved financial performance. I am proud of the Emeco team for their contribution to this strong result.”

No dividend was declared.

Iluka Resources says global uncertainty, shifting trade patterns and a subdued mineral sands market are behind a massive fall in half-year profit.

The miner today reported an 8 per cent fall in mineral sands sales revenue for the six months to the end of June, down from $606 million at the same time last year to $558m.

Iluka said lower levels of economic activity weighed on customer purchasing behaviour.

“This has occurred alongside the imposition of US tariffs on zircon; the closure of pigment plants in Europe and China; India enacting anti-dumping duties on Chinese titanium dioxide imports; and production curtailments in Indonesia,” it said.

Operating cash flow crashed 39 per cent for the period to $115m and profit sank 31 per cent to $92m.

The board declared an iterim dividend of 2c a share.

Iluka said it had maintained a “resilient” mineral sands earnings margin of 39 per cent.

But it warned discipline would be key to Iluka’s approach in “dealing with the present uncertainty and positioning for recovery”.

Bouyed by last month’s rare earths buy-in deal between the US Department of Defence and Gina Rinehart-backed MP Materials, Iluka said it was launching a comprehensive operational readiness plan for its rare earths refinery taking shape at Eneabba.

It said the review would advance discussions with prospective customers regarding offtake and “maturing internal and external feedstock options”.

“The Eneabba refinery is scheduled for commissioning in 2027 and will produce separated light and heavy rare earth oxides, with the latter a key point of differentiation over other sources of Western world supply,” it said.

Here’s whathappened on US markets overnight ...

The Nasdaq and S&P 500 has slid, driven by tech stocks, as investors gear up for what Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell will say about the path of interest rates at a key conference later in the week.

The Nasdaq fell as megacaps lost, after having rallied for much of the year.

Nvidia fell 3.5 per cent, the biggest drop in nearly four months.

The key event this week is the Fed’s annual symposium at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, from August 21-23, where Powell’s comments will be scrutinised for any clues on the central bank’s outlook on the economy and monetary policy.

“It seems like folks are hedging a little going into Jackson Hole, thinking Powell might be more hawkish than markets currently appreciate,” James Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group, said.

Interest rate futures point to a total of two rate cuts this year worth 25 basis points each, with the first expected in September, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Some market participants also expressed some concerns about AI-related stocks after OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman said they are in a bubble in an interview with The Verge late last week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 10.45 points, roughly flat, to 44,922.27, the S&P 500 lost 37.78 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 6411.37 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 314.82 points, or 1.5 per cent, to 21,314.95.

Read the full market wrap here.