Reporting season reacap: All the latest news from the ASX as companies deliver their financial reports

The owner of one of Australia’s largest shopping centre chains is enjoying rising customer numbers and profits, despite the national cost-of-living crisis.

Scentre Group, which owns and operates 42 Westfield locations in Australia and New Zealand, said 320 million customers had visited the centres in 2024 through to August 18, up 1.9 million from the same time in 2023.

“This has provided our business partners with the opportunity to increase their sales through our Westfield destinations,” CEO Elliott Rusanow said on Wednesday.

Sales increased by 2.4 per cent to $13.4 billion in the six months to 30 June, and were up 2.9 per cent to a record $28.6 billion in the year to June 30.

Scentre Group said its statutory profit after tax was up 170.3 per cent to $403.9 million, including an unrealised property value decrease of $120 million.

Net operating income, the industry’s preferred metric, was up 3.5 per cent to $1 billion.

The group announced a distribution of 8.6 cents per security, up 4.2 per cent from the same time last year.

Occupancy rates across all Westfield shopping centres have finally recovered to pre-pandemic levels, climbing to 99.3 per cent from 99.0 per cent in 2023.

AAP.

Hu Wangming, chairman of the world’s largest steel producer, state-owned Baowu Steel, recently said the steel industry was going through a “winter,” adding that the industry was in the midst of a long-term adjustment period.

Additionally, with no specific measures announced at the country’s high-profile Third Plenum gathering, hopes are fading that China’s embattled property sector will come out of its slump.

Excavator sales in China are expected to be down 8 per cent year on year for fiscal year 2024, Citi wrote in an August note. Excavator sales are usually seen as a leading indicator of construction activity, and by extension, metals demand.

“Steel mill margins in China are at risk of falling to the most negative levels this year, applying potentially even more downward pressure on iron ore prices,” said Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s Vivek Dhar.

CNBC.

The boss of Domino’s has warned of “more work to be done” after the pizza giant revealed sales for the first seven weeks of the new financial year came in below expectations, with some international markets still struggling.

Domino’s on Wednesday said same-store-sales for July and most of August were down 1.3 per cent but group chief executive Don Meij assured shareholders the short-term under-performance did not reflect the strategy of the broader company.

This strategy, he said, was delivering improvements at store level for franchise partners.

Read the full story here.

Chinese exports of critical minerals are returning to more normal levels, undercutting fears that the restrictions imposed by the government last year could choke off supplies crucial to high-tech manufacturers around the world.

Overseas sales of gallium, germanium and graphite show a spike in the month that preceded export controls as buyers stocked up, followed by a steep drop off and then a recovery, according to customs figures.

The data could offer a precedent for buyers of antimony, a metal widely used in munitions, which is slated for restrictions beginning next month.

The restrictions on critical minerals, one of the few commodities where China dominates mined supply, were imposed in August and December.

The curbs are widely viewed as Beijing’s response to US-led controls on its access to high-end chips and technology linked to artificial intelligence. China is also motivated to restrain exports to maintain low prices for its own refineries and factories.

Bloomberg.

Santos boss Kevin Gallagher is wary about the $US2 billion-plus Dorado oil project and has warned the company’s WA division needs to wear the costs of a big decommissioning pipeline.

The Adelaide-based business cut 200 staff from the west coast earlier this year, Mr Gallagher said, as the company battles to keep its Western Australian unit above water.

“The plan is absolutely to run that (WA) business cash flow positive,” Mr Gallagher told investors on Wednesday morning.

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The local share market was on pace to snap its winning streak at midday as traders take profits from eight days of gains and digested a flood of earnings results from the likes of Santos, IAG and Wisetech Global.

At noon AEST on Wednesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 38.9 points, or 0.49 per cent, to 7,958.8, while the broader All Ordinaries had dipped 29.1 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 8,177.9.

Moomoo chief commercial officer Michael McCarthy said investors were locking in share market gains and appeared to be rotating into bonds ahead of a Friday night address by US Fed chairman Jerome Powell to an international monetary summit in Wyoming.

Overnight, the US dollar sank to its lowest level since the start of the year against a basket of other currencies following a sharp rise in the yen, while the Aussie rose to a one-month high against the greenback following Tuesday’s release of hawkish Reserve Bank minutes.

Meanwhile, gold pushed further into record territory at $US2,531, while Brent crude dipped to a two-week low of $US77 a barrel on renewed hopes for a ceasefire in the Middle East.

At midday, seven of the ASX’s 11 sectors were lower and four were higher.

AAP.

Home appliances manufacturer Breville says new products are “firing with a healthy pipeline in place” for 2025 despite a broadly subdued consumer base.

The company lifted net profits 7.5 per cent to $118.5million. Revenues grew by 3.5 per cent overall to $1.53 billion, but fell 6.4 per cent across its Australian and Asian segments.

“Overall,the strength of our new product launches, expansion of new markets and the continuing coffee tailwind supported this top line growth as cost-of-living pressures and mean reversion weighed on thebusiness,” chief executive Jim Clayton said.

Breville declared a 17 cents per share dividend, bringing total dividends for the year to 33 cents per share.

The market responded positively to the update, with shares higher by 6.78 per cent at 11:42 AWST to $31.64.

The shopping centre owner has offered financial support following a devastating attack in April when six people people were killed.

Scentre Group chief executive officer Elliott Rusanow said on Wednesday:

“On 13 April 2024, Westfield Bondi was the location of a devastating attack that saw six innocent people lose their lives and many others impacted.

“We extend our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims and all those impacted by this attack.

“We continue to provide support, both financial and non-financial, to the victims’ families as well as the victims injured during this attack.“

The company - which owns 42 shopping centres across Australia including four in WA - said its centres were being run with increased levels of security and it was working with police, government and industry on safety initiatives.

Scentre turned a $404 million profit for the year.

While the acquisition of Norwegian group Devico generated record annual revenues, Imdex on Monday announced a 7 per cent fall in full-year profit to $32.4m after falling commodity prices slashed exploration spending by miners.

However, the Perth-based group is tipping the cycle will turn in its favour “in the medium to longer term” as supply shortfalls in key metals eventually kickstart activity.

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Iluka boss Tom O’Leary kicked off the company’s half-year results conference call on Wednesday with a plea for shareholders to be patient on an Eneabba update.

He also said Iluka’s uranium-esque contract pricing idea had received a positive reception at a recent industry conference.

“When I expanded on the potential mechanism in Japan at the rare earth conference I did engage with a number of potential customers on here, there is certainly an acceptance at an alternative pricing mechanism needs to emerge,” he said.

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