Sydney Airport In $2bn Raising As Passenger Numbers Remain Grounded
Sydney Airport wants $2 billion in fresh capital to bolster its balance sheet made shaky by the impact of closing borders and lockdowns amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Virus Deconstruct Dividends At Fletcher, James Hardie
Similar results from two building giants yesterday – Fletcher Building, the Kiwi company, and James Hardie, the Australian-US business.
Read MoreBuoyant Gold Price Saves Barrick Gold From Soft Year
Barrick Gold – the world’s second-biggest gold miner – says second-half earnings rose and the dividend is higher but is worried about the growing impact of the closure of its Pogera mine in Papua New Guinea where the company is in a dispute with the government that shows no sign of being resolved.
Read MoreNews Shorts: Kogan Flying, Qantas SPP Falls Flat, Sigma Slims Down
Another solid update from e-tailer Kogan, Qantas investors have given the airline the biggest thumbs down imaginable in rejecting help the company boost its liquidity while Sigma Healthcare has sold and leased back two of its Distribution Centres (DC’s) for $172 million, half the number of centres in the original deal.
Read MoreAdairs Rides Online Sales Wave
Shares in linen and homewares retailer Adairs has emerged as an unlikely big winner from COVID-19 and the move to online selling.
Read MorePandemic Pain Sees GPT Swing To $511m Loss
GPT, the diversified property trust, has slashed interim distribution 29% for the six months to June thanks to the impact of COVID-19 and lockdowns and massive impairment losses on its property portfolio.
Read MoreAurizon On Track With Higher Dividend, Profit Lift
Queensland-based railroad group, Aurizon has boosted final dividend despite forecasts of a weak performance for 2020-21.
Read MoreMining Major Glencore Deems Dividend ‘Inappropriate’
Unlike its rivals such as Rio Tinto, BHP, Vale, and Anglo American, Glencore PLC won’t pay a dividend for 2020 after swing to a massive interim loss off the back of billions of dollars of asset impairments.
Read MoreCash Pile Swells At Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway’s pile of cash and shares jumped 10% in the June quarter to a massive $US346 billion. That was a rise of $US36 billion from the March quarter. It has grown further in the current quarter with the continuing rise in share prices, especially Apple which is up 25% so far.
Read MoreBerkshire Hathaway Moat Breached By Virus Shutdown
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway says its quarterly operating profit fell 10% because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its wide range of industrial businesses which saw it take a big write-down on the value of its Precision Castparts Corp business.
Read MoreCBA Headlines Earnings Week As IAG Confirms 60% Profit Drop
The Australian June 30 profit reporting season ramps up this week and we will get a very good idea of how companies went in the final six months of the financial year, as well as over the full financial year. Meanwhile, IAG has confirmed a dramatic fall in net profit after tax for the year to June 30.
Read MoreChina Iron Ore Imports Touch New High In July
China’s imports of iron ore in July surged by nearly a quarter to a record high, copper imports also rose sharply to a second monthly record in a row and crude oil shipments into the country remained near the all-time high set in June.
Read MoreCommodities Roundup: Copper Leads Losses As Gold, Oil Also Slip
While gold went off the boil on Friday after a five-session surge, oil also retreated on the day as well, but the most intriguing movement was the sharp fall in copper futures on Comex after Donald Trump ramped up his election campaign against China and Chinese companies.
Read MoreDiary: GDP Updates, ASX Earnings, US Retail Sales
Another week when the health of national and global economies will be shown in a series of data releases and reports. In Australia, the July Labour Force and jobless numbers on Thursday will dominate the news, along with the Wage Price Index for the June quarter as well as the NAB business and Westpac consumer confidence surveys.
Read MoreGlobal Shares Shrug Off US-China Tensions, Log Weekly Gains
Despite Friday’s fade share markets rose over the last week helped by a combination of better than expected earnings in the US, good economic data, and positive vaccine news offsetting US/China tensions.
Read MoreBig Tech Stars Again As Curtain Draws On US Reporting Season
The US June quarter profit reporting season is now nearly 90% complete and this week sees a string of second and third-tier companies releasing results.
Read MoreChina Trade Surplus Widens As Exports Expand, Imports Slip
China’s exports rose at the fastest pace in seven months in July, while imports fell, painting a mixed picture for the economy as it recovers from its pandemic-induced slump.
Read MoreITV’s Profit Collapse Provides A Likely Preview For Local FTA Sector
ITV, the UK commercial free to air TV broadcaster has confirmed that it will drop its final dividend for2020 after revenue slumped sharply in the six months to June, sending pre-tax earnings down more than 90%.
Read MoreGold Still Shining; Nasdaq Breaks 11,000; Iron Ore Tops $120
Euphoric or sound – that’s how some analysts are looking at the continuing surge in gold prices (and silver for that matter) after a 45th new daily record settlement in a row. Wall Street continued on its merry way with the Nasdaq up 1% to yet another record close – its 32nd of the year so far.
Read MoreVillage Roadshow Set To Fall To BGH Capital
The great Village Roadshow takeover marathon has been run and was eventually won late Thursday by private equity group, BGH Capital at less than the $2.40 a share top price offer launched in May.
Read MoreScentre Group Follows Peers In Slashing Mall Portfolio Value
Australia’s largest shopping mall group, the Westfield mall owner Scentre Group is looking at a sharp fall in June 30 half-year earnings and will slash the value of its 42 shopping centres across Australia and New Zealand by around 10% or about $3.8 billion thanks to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read MoreAMP Australia CEO Exit Raises More Questions Than Answers
Leaving more questions unanswered, the AMP has undergone another major change in senior management. The embattled financial services group yesterday revealed in a short statement that AMP Australia chief executive Alex Wade has stepped down effective immediately.
Read MoreNick Scali Shares Soar On “Extremely Buoyant” Sales
Good news from the depths of the COVID-19 campaign with furniture retailer Nick Scali telling the market that it expects a massive surge in first-half earnings for 2020-21 after a steady result for the year to June.
Read MoreNew York Times Stands Apart From The Media Pack
The June quarter results from the New York Times showed why there is clear air between it and every other legacy media companies around the world.
Read MoreGold Holds Gains While US Equities Push Higher
Gold prices ended sharply higher on Wednesday, as its current record run continued for the fourth session in a row. The Dow jumped 373.05 points, or 1.4%, to end at 27,201.52, while the S&P 500 gained 21.26 points, 0.6%, to end at 3,327.77. The Nasdaq added 57.23 points, 0.5%, closing at 10,998.40, after briefly setting an intraday 11,002.11 record high.
Read MoreNever Ending: Village Roadshow Takeover Talks Keep Rolling
The desperation to get a deal done with its private equity suitor has seen Village Roadshow give BGH Capital yet another extension of its exclusive negotiating period until, wait for it, today, Thursday.
Read MoreVirgin Sheds 3,000 Jobs, Sets Tiger Free
Virgin Australia will try and relaunch a slimmer self by sacking 3,000 staff, or around a third of its workforce, and trying to sell its long-haul international jets and some smaller domestic aircraft. This will be attempted at a time when there are thousands of international jets unused and on the market, so it will be an act of heroic proportions if it can sell any plane.
Read MoreAnalysts Downgrade Monadelphous As Rio Tinto Makes $493m Damages Claim
Shares in Perth-based mining services company Monadelphous have dropped to a four-year low as broking analysts cut their ratings on the stock in the wake of news of a $493 million damages suit from Rio Tinto.
Read MoreGold Holds Above $2,000 For The First Time In History
Gold ended above the once mythical $US2,000 an ounce level for the first time ever on Tuesday, gathering momentum late in the session as government bond yields headed lower and as the US dollar’s brief strengthening eased.
Read MoreInvestment Manager Pinnacle Delivers On Dividend
Investment management group Pinnacle has reported an increase in profits and funds and unlike the likes of Seek and IAG, will be paying its shareholders a final dividend for the year to June.
Read MoreTrade Surplus Lifts Again
While Australian recorded another $8 billion-plus trade surplus for the month of June, there was a never seen before 60% plus surge in the size of the surplus for the financial year to June 30.
Read MoreRetail Sales Bounce Likely To Be Short Lived
Retail sales growth will not be as good as we saw in May and June for quite a while as Victoria locks down most of its retailers in an effort to control community transmission of the COVID-19 virus.
Read MoreRBA On Hold As Victorian Lockdown Stokes Concern Over Unemployment
The worsening situation in Victoria was obvious to see in the post-meeting statement from Reserve Bank governor, Phil Lowe which revealed a higher estimate of unemployment than before from the central bank and concerns about the wider impact of events down south.
Read MoreRio Tinto Launches Legal Action Against Monadelphous
Shares in Perth-based engineering company Monadelphous Group dropped more than 10% on Monday after news broke that it was being sued by Rio Tinto over a fire at one of Rio’s iron ore export terminals at Cape Lambert in the Pilbara.
Read MoreNasdaq Sets New Record; Gold Breaks $2,000; Iron Ore Hits 2020 High
Gold briefly topped the $US2,000 level for the first time ever in trading on Comex on Monday, at the same time, iron ore prices hit 2020 highs while the Nasdaq also hit new records and closed at an all-time high.
Read MoreHeavy Writedown Leads Tabcorp’s Unwanted Trifecta
Tabcorp yesterday revealed an unwanted trifecta of big write-downs, falling profits, and a miserable outlook thanks to COVID-19 and the renewed lockdowns, especially in Victoria.
Read MoreSeek Drops Dividend In Favour Of “Flexibility”
Online jobs group, Seek has made the early decision to drop its final dividend for the 2019-20 financial year to allow it to build up its financial reserves for the coming financial year.
Read MoreChina Factory Output Up As Recovery Picks Up Pace
Confirmation from the two surveys of Chinese manufacturing that the country’s economic rebound is strengthening. Yesterday the private survey from Caixin/Market showed China’s factory activity expanded at the fastest pace in nearly a decade in July as domestic demand continued to improve.
Read MoreBuffett Has The Last Laugh On Critics As Apple Soars
Low tech, no tech, old investment ideas, but the Warren Buffett critics have ignored Berkshire’s holding in Apple, especially earlier this year in March – June period as markets wallowed and then started rebounding – led by Apple.
Read MoreGold Rally Shines On, Oil Edges Higher
Gold prices again charged higher on Friday, closing within sight of the $US2,000 a level after losing ground on Thursday for the first time in 10 sessions. Meanwhile, oil prices ignored the end of the 9.7 million barrels a day OPEC + (with Russia) oil production cut on Friday and headed higher on Friday.
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