ASX drops as Flight Centre falters
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
The news: The Australian sharemarket ended the week lower with all sectors flashing red and a particularly steep plunge from Flight Centre after poor trading results.
The numbers: The benchmark ASX 200 fell 0.87% to end at 8,283.2, with all 11 sectors finishing in red.
The biggest movers across the ASX 200 today were:
- Flight Centre (-19.94%) — Its Q1 trading update was weaker than expected and suggested a large downgrade to consensus and FY25 expectations. Travel companies Corporate Travel Management (-X%) and Web Travel Group (-X%) also fell; and
- Perpetual (4.63%) — Citi analysts upgraded the stock to ‘buy’ and increased its price target while Jarden analysts lifted their target price following its quarterly results.
Quarterly results included:
- Yancoal (3.82%) — The coal miner reported a rise in production volumes during the September quarter.
- Telix Pharmaceuticals (4.33%) — Posted a 9% rise in its Q3 revenue and filed to list American Depositary Shares on the Nasdaq after pulling plans to list in June;
- Beach Energy (2.46%) — Recorded a 10% increase in September quarter production and said its Waitsia gas plant was on track for first production in early 2025;
- Atlas Arteria (-0.2%) — Announced a lift in toll revenue during the September quarter and signed an agreement to operate an additional motorway in France; and
- EVT (-2.71%) — Recorded a slide in Q1 earnings that was materially below Citi analyst estimates.
In other news today:
- AMP (-5.96%) — Received a ratings downgrade from Citi analysts to ‘neutral’ following a 17% surge in share price on Thursday on its quarterly earnings;
- APA (-5.89%) — UniSuper launched a $500 million block trade in the energy infrastructure group;
- Regal Partners (-3.09%) — Denied allegations of breaching short selling laws in South Korea after being indicted by authorities in the country.
- Harvey Norman (-2.03%), Latitude Financial (0.44%) — The Federal Court found the companies had misled consumers over their advertising of interest free payments; and
- Hotel Property Investments (-0.8%) — Charter Hall Retail REIT and Hostplus made a ‘best and final’ takeover offer for the company.
The Australian dollar is buying 67.03 US cents.
What’s ahead: Monday will see:
- Economic events: RBA’s Andrew Hauser speaks at CBA 2024 Global Markets;
- Quarterly updates: South32 and Stockland; and
- AGMs: Charter Hall Long Wale REIT, Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT and Stockland.
