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

The latest financial reports from two listed retailers on Tuesday show the pullback in consumer spending is far from over as soaring living costs crunch households.

Infant retailer Baby Bunting revealed an 83 per cent slump in net profit to $1.7 million in the year to the end of June, while sales fell 5 per cent to $498.4m.

Investors seemed unfazed by the results, instead focusing on Baby Bunting’s positive outlook for the current year to send shares up 8.5 per cent to $1.655 by midday on Tuesday.

The retailer said total sales in the first seven weeks of the new year were up 3.5 per cent, with net profit for the 2025 financial year expected to hit in the range of $9.5m to $12.5m.

Fellow listed retailer KMD Brands the same day said sales for its surfwear mainstay Ripcurl and outdoor clothing label Kathmandu have shown improvements in the third and fourth quarters.

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A spate of fatalities and a related remuneration report strike has led Perenti’s board to trim the salaries of the company’s top brass.

The mining services contractor revealed the pay packet of chief executive Mark Norwell was $3.12 million for the 2024 financial year, compared to $3.98m for the 12 months prior.

His pay cut follows the death of a Perenti employee in February at the Mano gold mine Burkina Faso. It marked the fifth company worker to be killed on site in less than two years.

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The Australian share market has reclaimed a crucial level in morning trade, looking to tie its best winning streak of the year amid a wave of optimism about the economic outlook.

The S&P/ASX200 had climbed as high as 8,025.2 in the first few minutes of trading on Tuesday, its first time above 8,000 since August 2, the first day of a sharp two-day sell-off.

At noon AEST, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 22.7 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 8,003.1, while the broader All Ordinaries had gained 17.3 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 7,212.1.

A close in the green would be the ASX’s eighth-straight session of gains, equalling a mark last set in January.

The gains came after a strong lead from Wall Street, where the S&P500 rose one per cent and the Nasdaq climbed 1.4 per cent as three Federal Reserve officials signalled willingness to begin cutting interest rates as early as September.

Traders were also digesting the release of minutes from the Reserve Bank’s August 5-6 meeting, which showed the board agreed that based on what they then knew, “it was unlikely that the cash rate target would be reduced in the short term”.

At midday, six of the ASX’s 11 sectors were higher, four were lower and industrials was basically flat.

AAP.

Shopping centre owner Vicinity Centre has posted a 67 per cent jump in full-year net profit the same time it revealed it would pay $420 million to buy half of Lakeside Joondalup in Perth.

The deal makes it the biggest retail sale in Australia this year.

Future Fund sold its half stake to Vicinity, with the other half maintained by Lendlease’s APPF Retail Fund.

It comes Vicinity reported statutory net profit for the 12 months to the end of June hit $547.1m. This compared with the $271.5m reported last year.

The company said it leased more than 230 vacant shops in the 2024 financial year, with occupancy at 99.3 per cent, its highest point since before the COVID pandemic.

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A drop in coal prices has weighed on Yancoal’s books.

Revnue dropped from nearly $4 billion in the first half of 2023 to $3.14b for the half just gone, dragging down profits.

Its bottom line was down 57 per cent to $420m, compared with $973m on the prior period.

Realised coal prices were down 37 per cent.

Shares in Yancoal were off 16.7 per cent to $5.80 on the back of the update.

SRG Global will pay $111 million to buy Sydney-based utilities infrastructure builder Diona as the contractor turns another profit and eyes further growth in water and energy transition markets.

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Macmahon’s statutory net profit is down for the year after booking a writedown on its exposure to collapsed miner Calidus Resources.

“This is disappointing for us and other stakeholders, but we are working with the Receivers to achieve the best outcome,” the company said.

Excluding the write down, its bottom line was up 36 per cent however to $91.9 million.

Revenue lifted 6.6 per cent to $2 billion and underlying EBITDA also climbed 13.9 per cent to $351.7m.

Chief executive Michael Finnegan said inflation had been “moderating” in some areas but that skilled labour costs were high.

“Managing them effectively in a volatile commodity price environment remains a challenge for our clients and for Macmahon,” he said.

“We have $2 billion of revenue already secured for FY25, and a key focus will be to leverage our scale and new acquisitions to convert our tender pipeline into revenue and orderbook growth.”

Macmahon acquired contractor Decmil and underground mining services business Pit N Portal during the year.

Macmahon shares jumped 7 per cent in early trade after the mining services contractor unveiled a bright outlook.

Gold producers flush with cash sees Macmahon forecast between $160 million and $175 million of adjusted underlying earnings for the current financial year.

This is compared to $140.3m on the same metric for the 2024 financial year.

Bluescope Steel delivered a weaker-than-expected second half result for FY24, Barrenjoey’s metals and mining desk says, with net profit 13 per cent lower than consensus.

The note to clients also flagged “slowing global growth”, with analysts factoring in a slowdown in Australia’s construction activity.

“Steel demand is driven byconstruction and broader industrial production. For BSL’s key operation regions – theUS and Australia – we factor in a slowdown in construction activity. We think demand(and production) risks are skewed to the downside.”

Steel prices have were also flagged as a potential risk to the company’s price target as has cost inflation.

“Labour and energy costs are rising across a number of BSL’s operatingregions including Australia and the US. If inflation is higher (or lower) than expected,this would impact our forecasts,” the tuesday note said.

The listed engineering, maintenance and mining contactor has ducked into a trading halt flagging a ‘corporate acquisition and equity raising.

Managing director David MacGeorge told The West Australian in May SRG was keen to grown on its own, but had a strong enough balance sheet to keep an eye potential additions to the business in the coming years.

SRG swooped to buy WBHO Infrastructure’s WA business from administration in 2022. About a year after it raised cash to acquire Asset Care, adding a huge new revenue-driver to the business.

The trading halt will lift before Thursday or once the announcement is made to market.

Ansell’s sales are down, its profit dropped by nearly half and it’s paying less in dividends - but the glovemaker has exited 2023/24 with the post-pandemic disruptions largely behind it.

The global manufacturer of personal protective equipment said on Tuesday it made a $US76.5 million ($A113.7 million) net profit in the 12 months to June 30, down 48.4 per cent from the year before.

Sales were down 2.2 per cent to $US1.62 billion ($A2.4 billion), which Ansell attributed in part to healthcare customers continuing to draw down on inventory built up during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ansell CEO Neil Salmon said the company achieved its key performance objectives, with sales and earnings improving as healthcare end market conditions normalised.

“We exit FY24 with good momentum and with post-pandemic market disruptions largely behind us we look forward to returning the business to organic growth in FY25,” Mr Salmon said.

Ansell will pay a final dividend of US21.90¢ per share, taking total dividend for the full year to US38.40¢, down 16.3 per cent from 2022/23.

AAP.