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Earnings season

Today

John Holland is taking losses on its construction contracts for Melbourne’s new Metro Tunnel and stations

Melbourne blowouts tip John Holland into $55.5m loss

The construction giant slid into the red from a profit of almost $100 million a year earlier due to “project delivery issues” and cost blowouts.

Yesterday

Wall Street is starting to cut its outlook for earnings.

More turbulence ahead as Wall Street sours on earnings

Analysts have been steadily trimming corporate profit expectations for the next 12 months as Trump’s tariff war starts to bite America.

This Month

Martin Conlon says investors have given into temptation.

Australian investors may have made a big mistake

While the ASX has followed Wall Street lower, there are important differences between the two markets that investors have been too ready to overlook.

The Iconic CEO Jere Calmes.

The Iconic shows early signs of a sales turnaround, powered by AI

The online retailer has been overhauling its business after several years of losses, and says the value of merchandise sold has been rising again.

Newly announced Virgin CEO Dave Emerson.

With new CEO, Virgin clears big step to possible June float

Virgin’s appointment of Dave Emerson to replace Jayne Hrdlicka along with the final approval required for the Qatar Airways deal are final steps ahead of a public float.

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Dividends are a “horror story” this year, says Bell Potter’s Richard Coppleson.

ASX faces dividend ‘horror story’ as companies slash payouts

Australian firms declared $31.2 billion in dividends during the February reporting season, the lowest for that period since the pandemic ravaged markets.

Qantas cracks $10, but how long will outsized profits last?

The airline had analysts racing to upgrade their long-term share price targets after a strong result last week pushed its stock above $10.

February

Star tells lenders it has one week of cash as it teeters on the brink

The casino giant told investors it was unsure it could continue to trade and was working on “one or more liquidity” proposals in the hope of averting collapse.

Life360 Chris Hulls says

Life360 gadget will track elderly parents who leave phone at home

Chris Hulls, the boss of ASX darling Life360, says he has been relying on “weird hacks” to check in on his mum, who has dementia.

TPG Telecom CEO Iñaki Berroeta

TPG Telecom says regional push is growing customer numbers

The country’s third-largest telco, which owns Vodafone and iiNet, is sharing a network with Optus, and hopes this will increase its mobile market share.

Shoppers at a Dan Murphy’s store in Melbourne. Sluggish sales at the chain have dragged down the company’s profit.

Bumper pub sales not enough to save Endeavour from profit pain

The hospitality giant said its BWS and Dan Murphy’s retail chains had sluggish sales growth. The company has appointed Ari Mervis as its executive chairman.

Harvey Norman executive chairman Gerry Harvey and CEO Katie Page say shoppers are buying AI PCs and devices.

Harvey Norman says demand for AI-enabled devices driving sales higher

The whitegoods and electronics retailer reported better-than-expected sales growth in the first half of the financial year and says momentum is continuing.

Rob Scott says it’s hard to justify investing in Victoria right now.

Victoria’s busted economy is profit season’s sneaky big shock

Beneath the wild share price moves, a stunning narrative has emerged from reporting season about one of Australia’s most critical economic growth engines. 

John McBain and Jason Huljich, of Centuria Capital.

Property fund manager Centuria flags $1.5b in floats as upswing begins

The confidence that investors are swinging back towards real estate stocks comes as interest rates fall in Australia and New Zealand.

Ramsay Health Care CEO Natalie Davis.

Ramsay says Labor’s premium hike will not cover soaring hospital costs

Still, shares in the country’s largest private hospital operator rose sharply after it appointed Goldman Sachs to assess the sale of its European business.

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Perpetual CEO Bernard Reilly is not in a rush to offload its wealth unit.

Perpetual targets debt and cost reduction after shunning KKR

The new chief executive says the sale of its wealth management unit is necessary to lower its debt, as he doubles down on cost-cutting plans.

Vanessa Hudson is the chief executive of Qantas. She announced the resumption of dividend payments after years.

Qantas pays first dividend in six years after bumper profit

The airline also outlined plans to refurbish dozens of Boeing 737 aircraft as it grapples with high demand but a lack of new planes.

Leah Weckert, Coles

What we learnt: Coles is thumping Woolies. Does a price war loom?

It was a case of duopolies at war on Thursday, with Coles toppling Woolworths and Medibank Private revealing much better numbers than Ramsay Health Care.

Richard White is more powerful than ever at WiseTech after winning a boardroom power struggle.

White’s return as executive chairman puts ‘key man risk’ in play

Shareholders have been told to “exit stage left” if they have any doubts over Richard White’s ability to lead WiseTech.

Eagers Automotive, Australia’s largest car dealership group, says the potential upside from its retail joint venture with Chinese group BYD is up to $38 million annually in profit before tax. Orders for the BYD plug-in hybrid Shark ute are strong.

Hybrid car sales save Eagers from investor ire despite profit fall

The country’s largest dealership reported a 25 per cent fall in profits, but pointed to surging demand for BYD, a Chinese carmaker it is in partnership with.

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