Reporting season live updates: All the latest news from the ASX as companies deliver their financial reports
We’re now four days into the first big week of reporting season and most major companies have managed to either meet expectations or surprise to the upside.
No mean feat in this environment of higher-for-longer interest rates, sticky inflation and subdued consumer sentiment.
Commonwealth Bank’s profit may have slipped yesterday but it still delivered a profit of $9.5 billion for the full year and showered mum-and-dad investors with a record dividend. Cold comfort for those struggling to repay their mortgage to Australia’s biggest bank but great news for self-funded retirees raking in more monster payouts from a steady earner.
Today we’ll get a steer on how local mining contractors are managing to negotiate rising wage and inflation costs amid a booming WA resources sector when market mainstay NRW Holdings reports.
The company has been riding a wave of renewed investor optimism of late, despite a flurry of acquisitions over recent years that had left some scratching their heads - particularly when measured against CEO Jules Pemberton’s sky-high salary.
Side note, in November last year NRW’s remuneration report copped an extraordinary sixth consecutive pay strike - with almost 60 per cent of proxies objecting to executive pay packets ... and that was despite a record financial year. Ouch.
It was an achievement almost unheard of in the modern corporate landscape. Can NRW win over the naysayers today?
Also reporting their financial dirty laundry today will be market majors Telstra and Cochlear, along with Magellan Financial Group, Treasury Wine Estates and Arena REIT.
Let’s dive in ...
Telstra’s profit plunge on flat revenue
Telstra will pay out a final dividend of 9c a share after reporting flat revenue of $23.48 billion for the full year but a 12.8 per cent plunge in profit to $1.78b.
Underlying earnings were up just one per cent to $23.4b, with underlying profit up 7.5 per cent to $2.3b.
Telstra CEO Vicki Brady said the telco’s mobiles business continued to perform strongly, with earnings-before-tax growth of more than $400 million.
More than 560,000 net new handheld customers were added.
“While most parts of our business performed strongly, Fixed Enterprise is clearly a long way from where we need it to be,:” Ms Brady said.
“We commenced action during the year to address challenges in our Enterprise business, and took additional action on cost overall.
“These necessary choices and decisions in Enterprise, together with our additional action on cost, mean we are confident in achieving our $350m cost reduction ambition by the end of FY25.”
Pilbara heads to Brazil with $560m offer for Latin
Pilbara Minerals will take a $560 million leap into Brazil after doing a deal to snap up Perth-based Latin Resources.
Pilbara said the all-scrip scheme of arrangement will give it control of Latin’s flagship Salinas hard rock lithium project in the “world class” mining jurisdiction of Minas Gerais just north of Rio de Janeiro.
Under the deal, Latin shareholders will receive 0.07 Pilbara shares for each security they hold, implying a value of 20c per Latin share
Pilbara said the offer comes at a substantial premium for Latin shareholders and will give it a 20 per cent bump in its overall mineral resource.
Salinas will also contribute up to 30 per cent of pro-forma steady state production when it achieves steady-state production at a cost base that is expected to be competitive with Pilbara’s own Pilgangoora operations near Port Hedland.
It would also provide new supply opportunities into the North American and European battery markets.
Pilbara MD Dale Henderson said the buy diversifies the business “with what we believe is a counter-cyclical, accretive extension that further builds out Pilbara Minerals’ position as one of the leading lithium materials suppliers globally”.
“It provides Pilbara Minerals with optionality to sequence new supply and diversify into new growth markets for lithium such as Europe and North America.”
Latin is still progressing a definitive feasibility study for Salinas which is expected to be completed this quarter.
ICYMI
If you decided to take it easy on Hump Day and missed the news, here’s what happened ...
WA’s bevy of gold miners are set to reveal they have been printing cash hand over fist — more so than some may have expected — after Evolution Mining released its full-year financial results. Read the full story here
Renewed fears about China’s waning steel demand has pushed the market values of two WA iron ore mining giants to a nadir not seen since 2022. Read the full story here
Vern Wheatley, the man credited with growing Automotive Holdings Group into Australia’s biggest car retailer before a 2019 takeover, has died. Read the full story here
The corporate watchdog has accused stock exchange operator ASX of making misleading statements about the progress of its failed project to replace an antiquated transaction clearing system. Read the full story here
Industrials conglomerate Seven Group Holdings plans to turbocharge growth for Boral now that it fully owns the construction materials maker, expecting a national $1.7 trillion infrastructure pipeline to underpin demand. Read the full story here
While you were sleeping ...
Here’s what happening in US markets overnight ...
The S&P 500 closed higher, stretching its winning streak to five sessions, as the latest inflation data reassured investors betting the Federal Reserve would start cutting US interest rates next month.
The Nasdaq Composite also posted its fifth straight daily gain, although it barely scraped into positive territory as Alphabet and some megacap tech stocks weighed.
Moves were generally subdued, with many investors away for August holidays and new triggers for trading were absent, contributing to an overall listless picture among the benchmarks.
Read the full report here ...
Originally published on The West Australian
