ASX closes lower; Alcoa falls 8% as alumina business takes $86m EBITDA hit

The news: The Australian sharemarket finished lower as investors considered the consequences of additional US strikes on Iran. Alcoa led the decline after telling investors its alumina business faces a USD60 million ($85.6 million) adjusted EBITDA hit.

The benchmark ASX 200 index fell 0.23% to 8,633.2 with four of the 11 sectoral indices in negative territory. The tech sector (-2.2%) was the worst performing, tracking a rout for the sector on Wall Street overnight.

Biggest movers:

• Alcoa (-8.3%) — Told investors that second quarter adjusted EBITDA for its Alumina segment is expected to be “unfavourable by approximately USD60 million”. This is due to the impacts of Cyclone Narelle on refineries in Western Australia, higher energy prices from the Middle East conflict and lower price and volume impacts from bauxite offtake agreements.
• Southern Cross Media Group (-4.2%) — Plans to cut up to 300 jobs by the end of June and downgraded its underlying EBITDA guidance range for FY26 to between $185 million and $190 million on deteriorating television advertising revenue.
• Lendlease (+4.6%) — Appointed AustralianSuper’s head of Australian real assets Nick O’Neil as its new group chief executive officer and managing director, effective 10 September.

Other news:

• Elanor Investors Group (-94.9%) — Has been reinstated to the ASX and will start trading today. Entered a voluntary suspension on the ASX in August 2024 as it moved to stabilise its financial position and turnaround the business.
• Westpac (-2.6%) — Has seen a 20% fall in mortgage applications in a single quarter following the federal budget, which proposed changes to negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount.
• QBE (+3.7%) — Appointed Christopher Harris as a non-executive director, effective 6 July, subject to regulatory approvals.
• Megaport (+3.6%) — Opened the retail component of its fully underwritten $827 million entitlement offer to fund its latest AI infrastructure contracts and establish a GPU pool, announced earlier this month.
• Super Retail Group (+0.7%) — Plans to expand its store portfolio from 790 to over 900 by 2031, outlining the five-year strategy at the company’s investor day.
• JB Hi-Fi (+0.3%) — Will refund more than $250,000 to about 200 customers following an ACCC investigation that raised concerns the electronics retailer may have misled consumers with some of the listed promotional prices.