Coles, Bunnings Drive Wesfarmers
Coles’ supermarkets business has set a high bar for rival Woolworths (WOW) to match with a noticeable quickening in the rate of top line and same store sales growth in the first quarter of the 2014-15 financial year.
Read MoreCoca Cola Amatil Saved?
There was a cautious market reaction yesterday to the news that The Coca-Cola Company will invest $US500 million ($A570 million) in Coca-Cola Amatil’s (CCL) Indonesia business, in return for a 29.4% equity stake, news that saw the shares rise 4.5% to $9.07.
Read MoreFlight Centre Banking On A Better Second Half
Flight Centre (FLT) is another major company which says it’s banking on a stronger second half to lift earnings for the full 2014-15 financial year.
Read MoreNAB Result Falls, As Expected, Dividend Maintained, UK Float Again Mooted
The annual result from the National Australia Bank (NAB) came in as forecast, lower because of $1.3 billion in higher write-offs in the UK banking operation and some local asset write downs, all of which the bank told us about in updated guidance earlier this month.
Read MoreDomino’s Shares Slip Despite Profit Upgrade
Shares in Domino’s Pizza (DMP), the rapidly expanding fast food group, fell more than 6% yesterday as investors turned their noses up at what was a solid trading update from the company at the AGM in Brisbane late Tuesday.
Read MoreJB Hi-Fi Reaffirms Full Year Guidance
Investors are jumpy – selling down companies that miss guidance or, even worse, downgrade their forecasts.
Read MoreNow For The New Normality As Fed Ends QE?
As expected, the US Federal Reserve has voted to end its bond-buying stimulus program commonly known as QE3 and signalled to markets that it was not worried about global weakness, low inflation or the recent wobble in financial markets.
Read MoreKiwis Leave Rates Unchanged
New Zealand interest rates were left unchanged this morning by the country’s central bank after its latest monetary policy meeting.
Read MoreWorleyParsons Sees Repeat Of 2014 In 2015 Financial Year
Engineering firm WorleyParsons (WOR) expects challenging conditions in global resources markets to continue.
Read MoreVocation Is A Disaster – For How Long?
Shares in education group, Vocation (VET) more than halved in trading on the ASX yesterday after the company finally stopped spinning and produced the real story on its falling out with its major client, the Victorian Government.
Read MoreBeach Reports Weaker Quarter – Shares Dip
Beach Energy (BPT) shares fell more than 10% in early trading yesterday after the company produced what seemed to be a poor quarterly update, and global oil prices took another downward lurch, with US prices dropping briefly under $US80 a barrel again.
Read MoreBega Confirms Dairy Boom Gone
The great dairy boom continues to be hit by the realities of the global market place.
Read MoreCSL Continues To Spend Big
Australia’s CSL Ltd (CSL), the world’s largest blood products company, said says it has agreed to buy Novartis AG’s global influenza vaccine business for $US275 million.
Read MoreBHP’s Hard Sell On Keeping Core Assets, Cost Cuts & Efficiency
BHP Billiton (BHP) has mounted a strong defense of its current business strategy of cutting costs, boosting productivity from the asset base it retains after spinning off around $US14 billion in unwanted assets.
Read MoreRFG’s Global Coffee Ambitions Fed By Eager Local Investors
Cafes and coffee, not to mention bread, pizzas and muffins, and the odd donuts are obviously hot so far as investors are concerned.
Read MoreBank Results To Test Confidence
A big week for the local market and investors lies ahead of us – not from what happens offshore (and yes, the Fed’s post meeting statement early Thursday morning and US market reaction will be vital, no doubt).
Read MoreDiary: US Fed, Local Bank Profits To Set Tone
The US Federal Reserve holds the key to the health of financial markets this week – although the full year reports from three of our four big banks will have a major impact here in Australia late in the week.
Read MoreCorporate Earnings Offset Ebola Fears
Global share markets rose on Friday after strong corporate results and reduced concerns over the possible spread of Ebola in America boosted Wall Street.
Read MoreBad News Keep Coming At Tesco
As expected, stumbling UK retailing giant, Tesco, produced some distressing interim figures overnight Thursday as a sort of first instalment of what is going to be a drawn out saga as the world’s third biggest retailer struggles to remain relevant, and even in business.
Read MoreOil Search Plots A Generous Future
Shareholders in Oil Search (OSH), the PNG-focused oil and gas producer, can look forward to a sharp rise in dividend payouts following a strategic review of the company and its future directions.
Read MoreAPI Confident On Turnaround
Australian Pharmaceutical Industries (API) is now confident about boosting its performance in the 2014-15 year after cleaning up its accounts and taking a big bottom line loss in the year to August 31.
Read MoreBoart Longyear Bailed Out – For Now?
Did we hear shouts of joy from long suffering shareholders in struggling drilling services group Boart Longyear (BLY) in the wake of a $US352 million recapitalisation plan revealed before trading on the ASX kicked off yesterday?
Read MoreAGL’s Weak Update
AGL Energy (AGK) disappointed the market yesterday with profit forecast which verged on spin.
Read MoreToll Rattles Investors With Weak Trading News
An earnings downgrade from Toll (TOL), delivered at its AGM in Melbourne yesterday brought punishment for the stock from investors with the shares losing more than 7% by the close yesterday.
Read MoreMixed News From Origin Energy
Good news and bad news for Origin Energy (ORG) shareholders at yesterday’s annual meeting.
Read MoreBHP Report Surprises On The Upside
Like its great rival Rio Tinto (RIO) last week, BHP Billiton (BHP) yesterday produced a September production and sales report that surprised on the upside – especially in iron ore, petroleum and the biggest surprise of all – a surge in coking coal from its mines in Queensland.
Read MoreSuper Groups’ Leisure Problems Persist
Even though shares in Super Retail Group (SUL) leapt yesterday after the company reported solid quarterly sales results at the annual meeting in Brisbane, there were a couple of lingering problems that enthusiastic investors seemingly overlooked.
Read MoreHave McDonald’s & Coke Gone Ex-Growth?
Some analysts reckon giant consumer products companies have gone ex-growth and are at best annuities.
Read MoreCoke Goes Flat
The board and management of Coca Cola Amatil might have trekked to Atlanta last week for meetings with the board of the major shareholder, The Coca Cola Company about Indonesia and other issues. They may as well have stayed at home and saved the money judging by the surprisingly poor third quarter result produced by the US company overnight Tuesday.
Read MoreChina’s Economy Weak, But Not Out
It was a case of the proverbial good news/bad news in the latest Chinese economic data for the September quarter and the month of September.
Read MoreRBA Sees Rising Risk In Investor Home Buys
Good news for the banks and the only growth business they currently have – home lending. The Reserve Bank has ruled out any return to the “heavy regulation” of housing loans we saw decades ago as it and other regulators discuss changes to the rules governing home lending.
Read MoreFletcher Sees Strong Second Up Bounce
Shares in Trans-Tasman giant Fletcher Building (FBU) hardly moved yesterday, despite the company telling shareholders at the AGM in New Zealand they can expect a solid rise in profits for the year to June 2015.
Read MoreArrium’s Iron Ore Pain
Steel and mining group Arrium (ARI) reported record iron ore shipments for the September quarter, but as expected the 40% collapse in iron ore prices has slashed the group’s margin per tonne of ore exported.
Read MoreAusdrill Joins The Mining Write Down Queue
Yet another mining services company has sprung an earnings downgrade on the market, and seen its shares tank.
Read MoreTransfield Surges On Takeover Bid
Predictably shares in Transfield Services (TSE) jumped by around 30% in early trading yesterday after the company said it had received an indicative offer from Spanish infrastructure giant Ferrovial which values Transifield at around $1 billion.
Read MoreIron Ore Slump Inflicts More Damage
The great plunge in iron ore prices is starting to inflict a growing trail of damage across the sector.
Read MoreA Strong Start Today For Markets, Then….?
So where to for financial markets after last week’s surge in volatility and fear?
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