ASX reporting season: All the latest news from companies releasing financial results to the market today

More than five million Australians will get a fortnightly cash boost as social security payments are indexed from September 20.

The maximum rate of Jobseeker payment for a single recipient without children is set to climb by $16.20 to $833.70 a fortnight, while those on a pension will see the maximum rate increase by $36.80 for singles and $55.60 for couples.

Fortnightly parenting payments will increase by $20.90 to $1087.20 for singles, or an increase of $14.80 to $763.00 for partnered recipients.

Rates and means-testing thresholds are indexed twice a year in Australia, typically in March and September, to ensure social security payments are aligned with cost of living benchmarks like the consumer price index.

Alongside the rate increases, the Federal Fovernment has accepted the Australian Government Actuary recommendation to lift social security deeming rates.

Deeming rates are used to “work out income from financial assets” for the purpose of the social security means test, according to the Department of Social Services.

The assessment is designed to ensure government support is being directed at those who need it most.

From September 20, the deeming rate will be updated to 1.75 per cent for financial assets up to $66,800 for singles, and $110,600 for couples with a rate of 3.75 per cent for any financial assets above the threshold.

Emeco says it is putting its solid bank balance to work with an on-market stock buyback targeting up to 10 per cent of the $508 million mining equipment rental business.

Its stock rose almost 3 per cent on the news to sit at $1.07 at 11.30am.

The Ian Testrow-led company this morning reported an only one per cent shift in group revenue to $792.8 million, with the lion’s share of $637m coming from its core rental business.

It recorded a 2 per cent rise in operating earnings before interest and tax of $148m.

The marginal increase was driven by the growth in maintenance services, particularly on-site services through the rental segment which grew by 44 per cent year-on-year.

“This was partially offset by lower fleet utilisation caused by wet weather in Queensland and geopolitically driven supply and cost challenges impacting the mining sector in the second half,” Emeco said.

Net profit came in at $76.7m. Return on captial improved to almost 17 per cent from a year ago.

With cash of $315m available and debt maturity extended to 2030, Emeco said it was primed to pursue growth opportunities.

Theboard has also approved a year-long on-market buyback of up almost 52 million shares. At its current price, that would cost about $55.5m.

“This financial year demonstrates that we have built a resilient, cash-generative business capable of delivering strong earnings,” Mr Testrow said.

“We have set up a solid platform for growth, and this is evidenced in the expansion of our maintenance service business.

“Our strong balance sheet provides flexibility to pursue growth opportunities including sector consolidation and to invest free cash in our share buy-back, delivering a high-return use of balance sheet capacity.”

Earnigs for FY27 are expected tobe in-line with the past financial year, weighted to the second half.

“We have already secured redeployment opportunities for a material portion of the fleet coming off completed projects and our new project pipeline will drive increased utilisation forecast to be ~90% for surface and ~80% for underground by the end of FY27,” it said.

Mr Testrow is set to become one of the ASX’s longest-serving chief executives under a near $26 million contract extension signed last month that pushes his well-paid tenure out to 16 years.

Emeco has secure him for a further four years until June 2031, extending a four-year deal that was due to expire next year.

Emeco chair Ian Macliver said the new contract “recognises Mr Testrow’s operational leadership and contribution to Emeco’s strategic repositioning”.

Pepper Money is building a mortgage empire just as borrowers start pulling back, after a rush of home lending helped the non-bank to a record first half.

Pepper wrote $4.5 billion of mortgages in the six months to June 30, up 63 per cent, helping total new lending jump 40 per cent to a record $6.3bn. Its home-loan book grew 32 per cent to $12.5bn and statutory profit rose 7 per cent to $50.4 million.

But boss Mario Rehayem said home-loan applications had since fallen after Labor’s May Budget changes targeting property investors. “Following the Federal Government’s changes to CGT, negative gearing and self-managed super fund residential lending, the market has seen a reduction in new application activity,” he said.

Pepper is also building a second mortgage business, earning fees to look after loans it did not write itself.

It finished June managing $24bn of loans before adding the $15.4bn RAMS portfolio on August 1, taking the total to just under $40bn.

And it is about to get much bigger. Pepper has been picked to manage HSBC Australia’s roughly $36bn home and personal-loan book after its sale to Blackstone, potentially taking the loans under its watch above $70bn.

Pepper was up 1.7 per cent on early trading.

Shares in Perth-based mining and civil contractor NRW Holdings have leapt 5 per cent in early trade to $7.57 as investors applaud a solid set of financial results.

NRW booked record earnings amid strength across its client base and as its acquisition of NSW business Fredon pays dividends.

The company reported a 31 per cent surge in full-year revenue to $4.3 billion while underlying net profit, which excludes one-off items, rocketed more than 43 per cent to $182.7 million.

The joy is flowing through to shareholders, with an improved final dividend of 14.5¢ a share to be paid out, up 63 per cent on the previous year.

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Another bellwether of Australia’s housing market has started to wobble, with Australian Finance Group reporting mortgage demand has weakened since Labor’s May Budget.

The pullback follows a record year for Perth-based AFG, which lifted net profit 39 per cent to $49 million as home-loan settlements jumped 18 per cent to $75 billion.

AFG has a wide-angle view of the market, writing about one in nine Australian home loans through more than 4300 brokers dealing with over 80 lenders. Brokers now account for 81 per cent of new residential lending.

“Since the mid-May Budget announcements, as already reported by all the major banks, AFG residential lodgement activity has also softened,” AFG boss David Bailey said.

“Borrowers are responding to changes in tax settings, rate expectations and cost structures, cost pressures.”

Mr Bailey cautioned that AFG had only about two months of trading data since the Budget and said it was too early to read the softer activity as a “full-year trend just yet”.

“There remains good level of inquiry with brokers, and as banks’ position for more flow, we would expect refinance rates to lift above the current lows of 15%.”

AFG shares were up 2.9 per cent in early trade. Shareholders will collect a final dividend of 4.8¢ a share, taking the full-year payout to 9.5¢, up 4 per cent.

Early winners on the ASX today include buy now pay later company ZipCo, Rebel Sport owner Super Retail Group, Ora Banda Mining and gold companies Genesis Minerals and Regis Resources.

All are up at least 10 per cent, with Super Retail up nearly 16 per cent and ZipCo nearly 19 per cent.

The S&P/ASX200 overall is up slightly from Wednesday’s lower close.

Massive food company Bega says grocery prices will keep going up as the effects of the Middle East oil crunch wash through the Australian economy.

Bega Group owns Vegemite, yoghurt brands Farmers Union and Yoplait, Pura, Masters and Dare flavoured milks, Zooper Dooper icy poles and Mildura chilled juices.

The company delivered full-year financial results on Thursday, with a 35.8 per cent jump in profits to $69m, following the removal of staff and infrastructure costs of shutting a Victorian cheese factory.

Bega flags in its annual report that grocery prices will continue rising.

“We have not seen the full impact of the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East flowing through to consumer food prices, and we expect it to affect the shopping habits of a significant proportion of Australian consumers.”

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Shopping mall owner Vicinity Centres says its revamp of Morley Galleria is progressing well and slated to open in November.

“The redeveloped precincts incorporate a revitalised mall, modern entertainment precinct, state-of-the-art cinema and elevated retail and dining offer that will materially elevate the customer experience,” Vicinity said as it revealed net profit grew from $1.046 billion to $1.391b in the 2026 financial year.

In addition to welcoming back department store giant and supermarket Coles, Vicinity said it would also welcome new brands like Mecca, JD Sports, JB Hi-Fi and Oroton.

Occupancy jumped to 99.6 per cent and leasing spreads hit 4.2 per cent, a result Vicinity boss Peter Huddle said reflected tightening supply of quality retail floor space and retailer demand.

“In FY26, shopper demand remained resilient and retailers continued to prioritise high-quality, productive assets, although trading conditions varied by category and customer segment,” he said.

Australian hair and beauty retailer Oz Hair and Beauty has confirmed a cyber incident, possibly affecting up to two million customers.

On Wednesday, the family-owned retailer confirmed the cyber incident to its customers after an unauthorised third party gained access to its system.

“From our investigations into the incident, we are disappointed to have identified limited personal information of yours was accessed during the incident,” an email read.

Oz Hair and Beauty said the information related to purchases made before this month and included customers’ full names, email address, phone number and details of previous purchases with the retailer, including the customer’s location and postcode as well as items purchased.

However, the breach did not include credit card details, payment information or invoice details.

Australia’s largest listed health insurer has seen a rise in the number of customers taking advantage of its wellbeing programs, after lifting its annual earnings.

Medibank Private paid out $6.9 billion in health insurance claims to its more than six million customers in the 2025-26 financial year.

“Despite this, people continue to prioritise their health,” chief executive David Koczkar said on Thursday.

“More than half (or 57 per cent) of our health insurance customers are now engaging with our health and wellbeing offerings.”

Medibank posted a 27.5 per cent lift in net profit to $638.7 million for the year to June 30.

Its underlying net profit totalled $636.8m, up 2.9 per cent, on an 8 per cent lift in health insurance revenue to $8.7b.

Medibank raised its health insurance premiums by an average of 5.1 per cent from April.

“The pressure on households is clear,” Mr Koczkar said.

“One in four people in Australia say they have delayed or avoided seeing a GP because of cost.

“Affordability isn’t tomorrow’s challenge - it’s today’s.”