AU Morning Wrap: BHP Profit, Dividends Dive Further Than Expected

Moomoo News AU wrote a column · Aug 21, 2023 19:24

G'day, mooers! Check out the latest news on today's stock market!
• US stocks climb despite rise in Treasury yields
• ARB, Coles sink; Megaport, Hub24 rally
• Stocks to watch: BHP, Allkem, ARB
- Moomoo News AU

AU Morning Wrap: BHP Profit, Dividends Dive Further Than Expected

Wall Street Summary

A good day for tech shares helped support stock indexes on Monday even while Treasury yields climbed to new decade-plus highs.

Fresh off its third straight week of declines, the tech-heavy $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ was the top-performing major index, rising 1.6%. The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ climbed 0.7%, while the $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ slipped roughly 37 points, or 0.1%.

AU Market Watch

The $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ dropped 0.2 per cent, or 13.1 points, to 7102.4 at the open on Tuesday following a busy morning of corporate earnings.

$ARB Corp Ltd (ARB.AU)$ sank 10.2 per cent to $30.12 after cutting its final dividend and reporting lower profits.

BHP dropped 0.9 per cent to $43.13 as its profit and dividend results were weaker than analysts had expected.

Coles tumbled 5.6 per cent to $16.26 despite its net profit coming in line with consensus estimates.

Allkem jumped 3 per cent to $14.29 and Woodside Energy dropped 1.5 per cent to $37.89 after both companies reported record profits.

$HUB24 Ltd (HUB.AU)$ advanced 9.6 per cent to $30.73 after declaring a buyback worth up to $50 million, and reporting that its net profit surged 160 per cent in FY23.

$Megaport Ltd (MP1.AU)$ rallied 14.8 per cent to $11.91 after narrowing its full-year losses and swinging to a positive cashflow for the first time. Altium, which reported its full-year results after markets closed on Monday, surged 19.7 per cent to $44.16.

Stocks to Watch

$BHP Group Ltd (BHP.AU)$: BHP's full-year underlying profit slumped 37 per cent to $US13.4 billion as the miner came back to Earth after last year's record-breaking results.

The decline was driven by weaker prices for iron ore, copper and coking coal, plus a rare decline in sales volumes of BHP's flagship product; Australian iron ore.

BHP shareholders will receive a US80¢ final dividend, taking the full-year total to $US1.70 a share.

$Redbubble Ltd (RBL.AU)$: Redbubble has warned that market conditions are expected to remain challenging for the online art marketplace, after revenue dropped 3 per cent to $555.1 million for the full-year ending June 30.

The company reported an EBITDA loss of $40.7 million, from a loss of $11.2 million the previous fiscal year.

$Coles Group Ltd (COL.AU)$: Coles Group has posted a 5.2 per cent rise in group revenue to $41.83 billion, underpinned by its supermarkets where sales gained 6.1 per cent to $36.75 billion for the 2023 fiscal year.

The sales strength was driven by higher prices, as food price inflation for the 52 weeks reached 6.7 per cent. This eased during the year from 7.4 per cent in the first half to 6 per cent in the second half. Coles said there was continued moderation in the fourth quarter to 5.8 per cent.

$Allkem Ltd (AKE.AU)$: Lithium producer Allkem has surged to a record profit as its shareholders prepare to vote on a merger with downstream processing specialist Livent later this year.

Allkem reported full-year profit of $US524.6 million ($817.85 million) and record group revenue of more than $US1.2 billion.

$Kogan.com Ltd (KGN.AU)$: Kogan.com, best known as an online retailer targeting price conscious consumers, has delivered full-year earnings that were in line with recent guidance.

The results showed gross sales dropped 28.4 per cent to $844.8 million and revenue declined 31.9 per cent to $489.5 million, as cost-of-living pressure kept customers' wallets closed.

$Woodside Energy Group Ltd (WDS.AU)$: Woodside Energy has posted a 6 per cent increase in first-half profit to a record, buoyed by an increase in oil and gas production to an oil time high after the merger with BHP's petroleum business in June last year.

Bottom-line net income rose to $US1.74 billion ($2.71 billion) in the six months ended June 30, up from $US1.64 billion in the first half of 2022, while net profit excluding one-offs rose 4 per cent to $US1.9 billion.

The Perth-based oil and gas producer declared an interim dividend of US80¢ per share, down 27 per cent from US109¢ at the same time a year earlier.