AU Morning Wrap: ASX Slips; ACCC Blocks Qantas Acquisition of Alliance

Moomoo News AU wrote a column · Apr 20, 2023 08:27

G'day, mooers! Check out the latest news on today's stock market!
• S&P 500 flat, UK inflation holds above 10% for 7th straight month
• ASX slips 0.09%
• Stocks to watch: Rio Tinto, Brambles, Qantas
- Moomoo News AU

AU Morning Wrap: ASX Slips; ACCC Blocks Qantas Acquisition of Alliance

Wall Street Summary

Stocks were muted Wednesday as another heavy day of corporate earnings got under way, with companies broadly posting results that have beaten analysts' expectations.

The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ and the tech-heavy $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ ended the day flat while the $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ ticked down 0.2%, or 79.62 points.

AU Market Watch

The $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ fell 0.09 per cent at market open, led by a mixed performance across all sectors.

Bank of Queensland shares were up 0.6 per cent despite having reported a 98 per cent collapse in profit to $4 million in the March quarter.

Qantas shares rose 0.8 per cent. It comes as the ACCC blocked its proposal to acquire regional airlines Alliance.

Rio Tinto shares tumbled 2 per cent after its Australian iron ore division reported a 16 per cent surge in export volumes.

Brambles shares surged 3.5 per cent after it upgraded its profit forecast.

Stocks to Watch

$Santos Ltd (STO.AU)$: Oil and gas explorer Santos lowered its production by 15 per cent to 22.2 million barrels of oil in its March quarter results.

The company said its first quarter production was lower than the prior quarter due to reduced domestic gas volumes in Western Australia supported by extended production from the Bayu-Undan field.

It reported a sales revenue of US$1.6 billion (approx $2.4 billion), down by 14 per cent.

$Rio Tinto Ltd (RIO.AU)$: Rio Tinto's Australian iron ore division has made its strongest ever start to a year, with a 16 per cent surge in export volumes adding to signs Rio's flagship business has turned a corner.

The strong performance in iron ore was partially offset by a downgrade to copper production guidance on the back of technical problems at Rio's American and Chilean copper mines.

Rio shipped 82.54 million tonnes from Western Australia's Pilbara region in the three months to March 31, beating the previous first quarter record of 80.31 million tonnes set in 2018.

$SILK Laser Australia Ltd (SLA.AU)$: Silk Laser Australia has allowed $Wesfarmers Ltd (WES.AU)$ to conduct due diligence as part of a possible takeover after making a $169 million cash offer for the laser clinic chain.

Wesfarmers' wholly owned Australian Pharmaceutical Industries pitched its offer at $3.15 a share, a 30.2 per cent premium to Silk's closing price on Wednesday of $2.42 a share.

The owner of 140 clinics offering injectables and laser hair removal said API had 30 business days of exclusivity with a view to striking a binding deal.

$Bank of Queensland Ltd (BOQ.AU)$: The Bank of Queensland has declared a fully franked interim dividend of 20¢ a share in its half-year results. The bank reported a 98 per cent collapse in profit to $4 million. Its revenue increased 9 per cent to $909 million.

$Brambles Ltd (BXB.AU)$: Logistics giant Brambles has lifted its full-year profit forecasts after a solid March quarter.

The company, which operates a pool of 360 million pallets and containers around the world, said underlying profit growth would now be between 17 to 19 per cent on a constant currency basis for 2022-23, up slightly from the previous band of 15 to 18 per cent.

$IRESS Ltd (IRE.AU)$: Financial software business Iress said it will cut around 10 per cent of its workforce as part of a plan to reduce costs by around $32 million on an annualised basis.

The group also wrote down the value of its operations mainly in the UK by $123 million.

It also reaffirmed guidance for 2023 segment profit to climb 10 per cent to between $182 million and $187 million.

$Qantas Airways Ltd (QAN.AU)$: The competition regulator says it will block Qantas' proposed acquisition of regional airline Alliance, citing concerns about the transaction lessening competition.

Qantas and Alliance are key suppliers of air transport services to mining and resource companies who need to transport "fly-in fly-out" workers in Western Australia and Queensland, the ACCC noted in a statement.