ASX closed up just 0.2 points following another day of company reporting

The Australian Stock Exchange ended Wednesday flat after some of the country’s biggest companies reported some less than stellar results.

The Australian share market ended the trading day flat on Wednesday after major companies including Woolworths, Nine Entertainment and TabCorp reported slumps in profits.

The S&PASX200 closed on Wednesday at 8,071.40, up just 0.20 points.

The All Ordinaries also lost 0.1 per cent, to close slightly down at 8291.3, while the Australian dollar dipped to 67.8 US cents.

The top performing stocks of the day were buy now, pay later provider Zip, which recovered from a bad day on Tuesday to close at $2.38 – an increase of 13.9 per cent.

Perseus Mining also had a good showing, with a gain of 6 per cent to finish at $2.69.

Five of the 11 sectors ended the day in the red, but consumers staples was the biggest finisher despite the disappointing results for supermarket giant Woolworths.

The resource and energy stocks dragged the index down.

Woolworths reported a drop in profit in its full year results, after being dragged down by its New Zealand operation. Picture: Newswire / Gaye Gerard

Woolworths chief executive Brad Banducci handed down his final results after announcing his resignation earlier this year. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Woolworths Group’s earnings have risen 3 per cent but the company bottom line was smashed by impairments on its New Zealand supermarkets, leaving its overall profit just more than $100m.

Releasing its annual results on Wednesday, Woolworths posted a 5.6 per cent rise in sales to $67.9bn on the back of its Australian supermarkets.

Before the $1.5bn New Zealand impairment, Woolworths’ net profit fell 0.6 per cent to $1.7bn.

Reported net profit was $108m, including the impairment of the New Zealand Food business.

Group earnings rose 3.4 per cent to $3.2bn.

Woolies’ shares recovered after an initial drop to end the day up 3.3 per cent at $36.62.

Chief executive Brad Banducci, who finishes in the job on Friday, said the company had responded to perceptions it was price gouging during the cost of living crisis.

“We’re continuing to lower our shelf prices … It’s taken a while because we have to find value for our suppliers,” Mr Banducci said.

Meanwhile, shares in wagering giant Tabcorp delivered a worse full year loss of $1.4bn compared to analyst expectations of a $695.7m setback.

Its shares ended the day at 48 cents, down 15 per cent.

Incoming chief executive and former AFL boss Gillon McLachlan said “the reality is the company is only part way through a turnaround”.

“We need to continue to enhance execution to create value,” he said.

“It is clear the business will not meet its TAB25 targets”.

Nine Entertainment also had a shocker, reveal a sharp fall in its annual net profit after tax, 31 per cent to $134.9m. Shares in the media giant finished up 0.75 per cent to $1.35.

Energy was the worst performing sector, pulled down by Paladin Energy, which slumped by 5.9 per cent to $10.13, Coronado Global Resources, down 5.2 per cent to finish at $1.19.

Shares of Fortescue Mining Group dropped 1 per cent to close at $18.44 despite the Twiggy Forrest company reporting its full-year underlying profit of $US5.7bn ($8.4bn).

The ABS also released the latest Consumer Price Index on Wednesday, showing inflation had eased to 3.5 per cent in July. Picture: NewsWire / Nicholas Eagar

Meanwhile, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported inflation rose to 3.5 per cent for the month of July, down from 3.8 per cent reported in June.

However, the all important annual trimmed mean, or underlying inflation which removes large pricing movements, also eased by 0.3 per cent to 3.8 per cent.

Economists say the Reserve Bank is still unlikely to be moved to cut the official cash rate this year.

if the rebate was removed from the calculation of the CPI, inflation was not going down, “it’s going sideways”.“I think the only way they’re going to get a rate cut in this year is if something completely out of left field happens.”

Qantas Airways and Bunnings and Kmart owner Wesfarmers are the biggest companies reporting on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn and Westpac’s boss Peter King will front the House Standing Committee on Economics on Thursday for their annual grilling, followed the heads of NAB and ANZ on Friday.