Skip to content

Briefing

Market Wrap

ASX closes higher; Westpac, Pro Medicus surged

Make us a preferred source
Link copied

The news: The Australian sharemarket closed higher as several stocks surged on their respective full-year results, including Westpac and Pro Medicus.

The benchmark ASX 200 rose 0.53% to end at 8,873.8, with eight out of 11 sectors finishing in green. It set a new intraday high of 8,899.1

The utilities sector (+3.5%) was the best performing as Origin Energy (+6.3%) shares surged amid a 6% increase in full-year net profit after tax and hiked its final dividend by 9.1% to 30 cents per share.

The finance sector (+1.3%) was lifted by Westpac (+6.3%), which posted an 8% increase in unaudited net profit for the third quarter of the financial year. The sector was also buoyed by Suncorp (+3.6%) posting a 52% jump in full-year net profit after tax.

Ampol entered a trading halt today. The fuel supplier is reportedly in advanced discussions to buy EG Group's Australian service station portfolio for over $1 billion.

Biggest movers:

  • Temple & Webster (+8.8%) – Reported a more than five-fold increase in net profit for FY25 when compared to the previous year and grew its market share.
  • Pro Medicus (+6.2%) – Posted a 39.2% increase in net profit for FY25 and declared an imrpoved final fully-franked dividend of 30 cents per share.
  • Orora (+5.2%) – Reported a more than four-fold year-on-year increase in statutory profit for FY25 following the sale of its North American packaging solutions business in December.
  • Arena REIT (+4%) – Reported 42% full-year profit growth on Wednesday and a CEO transition. Analysts at Macquarie and Jarden lifted their target price on the stock.
  • Liontown Resources (-9%) – Opened a share purchase plan as part of its capital raise announced last week. The lithium miner is aiming to raise $20 million.
  • South32 (-5.2%) – Flagged an impairment of USD372 million ($568.4 million) on its Mozal Aluminium smelter in Mozambique after attempts to secure electricity at the site beyond March 2026 failed to reach a resolution.

Earnings news:

  • Ventia Services Group (+1.5%) – Delivered an 11.9% increase in first-half NPATA for 2025, as the infrastructure services firm secured record work in hand and hit a contract renewal rate of 95%.
  • ASX Limited (-1.2%) – Reported a statutory net profit of $502.6 million and a final dividend of $1.12 fully franked.
  • Telstra (-2.6%) – Reported net profit after tax of $2.3 billion for FY25, a 1.8% increase year on year. EBITDA rose 4.6% to hit $8.6 billion.

Other companies that reported earnings include Articore Group (+5.8%), HMC Capital’s HomeCo Daily Needs REIT (+1.2%), Growthpoint Properties (0%), Bell Financial Group (0%) and Abacus Storage King (-0.6%).

Other news:

  • Tetratherix (+3.5%) – Secured a $3.3 million non-dilutive grant from the Australian Government's Industry Growth Program to support its strategic expansion and development activities, including the planned US launch of its bone regeneration franchise in 2026.
  • Magellan Financial Group (+1.1%) – Rebranded to Magellan Investment Partners.
  • Qube (+0.7%) – Logistics business Qube has flagged a $127.6 million impairment on its joint venture interest in Moorbank Interstate Terminals.
  • BlueScope Steel (+0.5%) – Non-executive director Ewen Crouch will leave after 12 years in the role in November. US-based Cheri Phyfer will join the board from October.

What’s ahead:

  • The US Bureau of Labor Statistics will report producer price index data for July tonight at 10:30pm.
  • The US Department of Labor will report weekly unemployment claims data tonight at 10:30pm.
  • BusinessNZ will release manufacturing index data for July tomorrow at 8:30am.
  • The National Bureau of Statistics of China will release data on industrial production and retail sales for July tomorrow at 12:00pm.

By Brandon How