It was a brutal day for one of the country’s biggest retailers yesterday, with one of the big four banks also feeling the sting of investor disappointment.
JB Hi-Fi boss Nick Wells said trading had “got a little bit harder” since July, pointing to higher interest rates, the Federal Budget and a softer housing market as customers became more cautious. He also noted wary shoppers were increasingly seeking out value and only opening their wallets during promotions.
National Australia Bank told much the same story as its three major rivals, with home loan applications down 15 per cent in the June quarter. It also echoed warnings last week of slowed demand from CBA and Westpac.
Today, it’s the first of the bellwether miners to step up to the microphone and spill the beans on its finances. With a well-flagged warning about copper production, expect fireworks.
Also up today is fellow market heavyweights CSL and Cochlear, along with Challenger, Reliance Worldwide, HUB24 and Sims.
Stay with us as we bring you all the latest throughout the day.
Reliance gets $4.1b takeover offer from Brookfield
Brookfield Asset Management has offered to buy Reliance Worldwide in an all-cash deal that values the Australian plumbing supplies company at around $4.1 billion.
The offer values Reliance Worldwide shares at $4.75 each, a 32 per cent premium to Monday’s closing price, the company said on Tuesday.
The two will now work together over the next four weeks to complete a binding proposal.
The agreement comes after Brookfield made three earlier approaches, starting at $4.15 per share in April. That led to eight weeks of due diligence that resulted in the “meaningfully improved proposal,” Reliance Worldwide said.
Goldman Sachs is advising Reliance Worldwide.
Separately, Reliance Worldwide said full-year adjusted net income fell 15 per cent to $US125.1 million, dragged down by US tariffs, higher input costs and weaker demand in the US and UK.
Retirement savings to be ‘decimated’ under One Nation early access
Workers being able to access their superannuation early would destroy their retirement earnings, the Treasurer has warned, following calls by Pauline Hanson.
The One Nation leader has called for a relaxation of rules that would allow people to withdraw their super in times of crisis to help with the cost of living, labelling the system as it stands as broken.
Currently, super can only be accessed in limited circumstances, such as stopping the foreclosure of a home, a terminal medical condition or severe financial hardship.
But Treasurer Jim Chalmers said expanding access for when people can dip into their retirement nest eggs would be counterproductive.
“That would absolutely decimate the retirement incomes of millions of Australians workers,” he told Seven’s Sunrise on Tuesday.
“One of the most important features of our superannuation system is ... this idea that, with compounding interest over time, Australian workers can access the decent retirement incomes that they need and deserve after a lifetime of work.”
Tax office figures show 67,900 early super releases were approved in 2024/25, amounting to just over $1.4 billion.
Dr Chalmers said One Nation was undermining the concept of superannuation.
One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce said early access was needed due to unsubstantiated claims the government would increase taxes on superannuation.
The coalition previously sought to expand early super access to help people buy their first home, taking the policy to the last two federal elections.
Deputy Opposition Leader Jane Hume said on Monday maintaining the current system of superannuation was important.
“We also know that the biggest indicator of economic security in retirement isn’t how much superannuation you have, it’s whether you own a home,” she said.
“That’s why it’s so important that we allow Australians the opportunity to get into a home should they want to buy one.”
Cochlear bounces back to guidance after downgrades
Hearing implant pioneer Cochlear has relieved investors with a full-year result at the upper end of its revised guidance, saying adoption of its new high-tech product has been strong.
The company’s shares were smashed to a decade-low in April when it dropped its full-year earnings guidance for the second time in just over two months.
It was a downgrade IG markets analyst Tony Sycamore described as “brutal”, slashed from $435-460 million to $290-330m after second half sales in developed markets were softer than expected.
Read more here:
CSL: Now simplified after ‘reset year’
Interim CSL boss Gordon Naylor said the company has taken steps to get into order, after a share crash in recent years.
“The actions to put us back on the path to sustainable growth started well before my appointment, and have been delivered with intention and urgency,” Mr Naylor told a conference call.
“There is absolute clarity in the global workforce about the task at hand.”
Read more here:
ASX up in morning trade
The S&P/ASX200 has lifted 17 points to 9090.2, with the top performers Reliance Worldwide, up 23.8 per cent, and CSL, up 17 per cent.
At the other end of the scale, Sims has plunged 12.7 per cent, with a 9 per cent fall for Hub24 and 8.5 per cent by Bendigo & Adelaide Bank
Consumer confidence rises but is still low
Westpac’s long-running monthly measure of consumer sentiment has shown still weak results despite increasing from July.
Chief economist Luci Ellis said the increase was mostly posted among people who have mortgages, and all the improvement in sentiment happened after the Reserve Bank of Australia last week left rates on hold.
“That pervasive uncertainty, including about the Middle East, is still weighing on sentiment,” Dr Ellis said.
Renters are less likely to expect that house prices will fall and are overall more downbeat about buying a property.
“This is still a weak result and noticeably lower than the readings recorded last year,” Dr Ellis said. “While consumers are feeling less pessimistic than last month, pessimists still outnumber optimists, especially about their current finances.”
CSL sinks to massive loss on writedowns
Billions of dollars worth of writedowns have driven biotech behemoth CSL to a staggering $US2.6 billion ($3.6b) loss.
The results comes after the $64 billion blood and plasma products company recognised pre-tax charges of $US5.5b in the second half, pushing out full-year impairments to $US7.1b.
The company described fiscal 2026 as a “reset year”.
CSL forecast no revenue growth and underlying net profit after tax growth of about 5 per cent at constant currency for FY27, signalling another subdued year as Australia’s largest health-care company pushes ahead with a sweeping restructuring.
The company expects foreign exchange to reduce profit by about $US50 million if current rates hold for the rest of the financial year. It also anticipates about $IUS200m of impairments.
Revenue rose 1.5 per cent from a year earlier to $US15.8b on a reported basis, beating the $US15.42b analyst estimate.
The results were consistent with CSL’s May update and included $US800mof one-time pre-tax restructuring costs.
CSL has been under pressure after a string of earnings misses and writedowns. Margins have weakened at its core plasma business, while its $US11.7b acquisition of iron-therapy company Vifor has fallen short of expectations. Its vaccine business has also struggled with a volatile market, delaying plans for a spinoff.
CSL shares have fallen 22% since the start of the year.
The results come a year after CSL began a restructuring program aimed at cutting annual costs by more than $US500m by the end of fiscal 2028.
Years of share-price declines have wiped tens of billions of dollars from its market value since 2022.
Gordon Naylor, a former senior executive and non-executive director, was appointed interim CEO in February following the abrupt departure of Paul McKenzie.
CSL’s Behring division is working to expand margins on plasma therapies.
In July, the company said it will start clinical trial work in mid-2027 to confirm the efficacy and safety of immunoglobulin manufactured using its yield-enhancing Horizon 2 technology.
CSL also broke ground earlier this year on the $US1.5b expansion of a US manufacturing facility for plasma therapy.
Copper crowned king for BHP
Copper has again outpaced iron ore as BHP’s biggest earner, as prices for the red metal hit record highs last financial year as demand for data centres exploded.
The Big Australian reported underlying earnings for copper totalled $US18.2 billion ($25.6b) in the year to June 30, despite a well-flagged dip in production to 1.95 million tonnes - down 3 per cent on a year earlier.
Iron ore earnings were up one per cent to $US14.5b. Average realised prices rose 3 per cent to $US84.56 a tonne “supported by resilient Chinese demand”.
Total revenue for the year leapt $US7.5b to $US58.8b as it capitalised on higher copper, iron ore and steelmaking coal prices.
Net profit was up 9 per cent to $9.8b and BHP will pay out a final dividend of US99c a share.
Record revenue for Macmahon lifts payout
Macmahon is powering ahead into “another strong year” after this morning reporting record revenue and underlying earnings for the past financial year.
The Perth-based contractor brought in $2.6 billion in the year to June 30, up 8 per cent on a year earlier.
Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation came in at $393.8 million — up 2 per cent and delivering a statutory net profit of $101.1m, which was up 37 per cent.
“Macmahon delivered a strong financial performance in FY26 with continued growth in revenue and underlying earnings, while reducing net debt and increasing returns to shareholders,” said managing director Michael Finnegan.
“This is the 10th consecutive year we have met or exceeded market guidance.”
Macmahon will pay an improved final dividend of 1.25¢ a share, bringing the pull-year payout to 2.2¢ — up 47 per cent.
The company’s order book now stands at $5.9b, with significant exposure to booming metals gold, copper and lithium “which are benefiting from positive investor sentiment and investment by mining companies”.
It is targeting FY27 revenue of between $2.85b and $3.05b.
It was holding cash of $310m at June 30.
Read more here ...
While you were sleeping ...
Wall Street’s three major indices finished lower overnight as investors wait for quarterly reports from large retailers to provide insights into US consumer spending while oil prices rose as the US and Iran appeared no closer to a deal.
Oil futures settled up more than $US2 per barrel as investor pessimism about diplomatic efforts to resolve the Iran war fanned global supply worries.
The gain in oil provided support for the energy index, which finished up 0.87 per cent and was the sole gainer among the S&P 500’s 11 major industry sectors.
Investors, with July’s weak retail sales and jobs data fresh in their minds, were cautious as they waited for quarterly results from retailers.
“Concerns about recent softer data have the market being a bit tepid and waiting for retail earnings for direction,” said Phil Blancato, chief market strategist at Osaic Wealth, who added that volume is often weak in August, when many traders take holidays.
“There’s a combination of summer doldrums and waiting for data on the consumer.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 272.63 points, or 0.51 per cent, to 53,459.78, the S&P 500 lost 40.70 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 7745.06 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 84.25 points, or 0.31 per cent, to 26,644.91.
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