ASX closes lower; Fortescue, IMDEX drag
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The news: The Australian sharemarket closed lower as Fortescue faced a share price drop after delivering soft full-year earnings. This helped drive losses for the broader materials sector which was the worst performing sector of the day.
The benchmark ASX 200 fell 0.41% to end at 8,935.6 with eight out of the 11 sectors finishing in red.
The materials sector (-1.2%) was weighed on by Fortescue (-3.9%), which delivered a 41% full-year profit drop amid lower iron ore prices.
Mining technology business IMDEX (-14%) was the worst performer on the ASX 200 as analysts remained neutral on the stock after it reported a lift in full-year profit that was in line with expectations on Monday. James Hardie (-3.9%) and BHP (-1.1%) also saw their share price fall.
Meanwhile, the best performing sector was consumer staples (+3.2%) as Coles (+8.5%) delivered full-year earnings that topped market estimates. Woolworths (+2.5%) also saw its share price lift.
Biggest movers:
- Kelsian (+18.1%) – Delivered revenue, EBITDA and EBIT growth in FY25. Net profit after tax fell 6.1% as the company continued its capital investment program.
- Nuix (+17%) – More than recuperated losses taken in the previous trading session after reporting a full-year net loss despite an 8% rise in annualised revenue.
- Nanosonics (+15.1%) – Reported better-than-expected profit and revenue for FY25 as well as FY26 guidance that is in line.
- Boss Energy (+10.5%) – A uranium loan agreement made with US-based enCore Energy has been repaid in full through cash payments of USD11.9 million ($18.36 million).
- Jumbo Interactive Group (+10.3%) – Digital lotteries reseller Jumbo Interactive saw its full-year net profit fall 7.3% year on year to $40.2 million as the company pulled back from "unprecedented jackpot activity" a year earlier.
- EQT (-13.5%) – Corporate regulator ASIC has sued the superannuation trustee for alleged failures in due diligence when investing $160 million of retirement savings in the now-collapsed Shield Master Fund.
- Abacus Storage King (-6.2%) – Joint takeover suitors Ki Corporation and Public Storage have withdrawn their $2.2 billion proposal to acquire the self-storage company.
- Web Travel Group (-5.7%) – Announced that total transaction value for the first half of FY26 was on track to come in at $3.1 billion, which is roughly 5% lower than the market consensus estimate.
- G8 Education (-5.5%) – Delivered a 12.4% year-on-year increase in net profit for the first half of 2025 although occupancy rates at its early learning centres fell by 5.9%.
Other earnings news:
- Tyro Payments (-2.5%) – Posted a statutory net profit after tax of $17.8 million, down from $25.7 million the year prior as the company fields takeover interest.
- Corporate Travel Management (ended flat) – Has postponed the release of its FY25 results to 25 September.
- Other companies that reported earnings were AUB Group (+1.8%), West African Resources (+1.8%), Viva Energy (-1.9%), Johns Lyng (+0.3%), Scentre Group (+1.5%), Elanor Commercial Property Fund (+0.7%), Genesis Energy (-2.7%)
What’s ahead:
- Data on the Westpac–Melbourne Institute Leading Index of Economic Activity for August will be released tomorrow at 10:30am AEST.
- The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release data on the monthly CPI indicator tomorrow at 11:30am AEST. This measure will cease to be reported from November.
