ASX ends higher as Block jumps 28% on job cuts; Coles, Harvey Norman sink

The news: The Australian sharemarket closed higher as Afterpay owner Block surged on plans to reduce its workforce by 4,000 people, while Coles, Harvey Norman and Mesoblast tanked on disappointing earnings results.

The benchmark ASX 200 index closed 0.25% higher at 9,198.6, with seven of the 11 sectoral indices in positive territory.

Biggest movers:

• Block (+27.8%) — Announced it will cut its workforce from over 10,000 people to just under 6,000 due to improvements in artificial intelligence tools.
• Harvey Norman (-9%) — Saw a 15.2% increase in interim net profit after tax to $321.91 million year on year.

Other news:

• Coles (-7.4%) — Reported an 11% slide in first-half profit and provided a weaker-than-expected trading update on second-half year-to-date sales.
• Virgin Australia (-0.3%) — Posted a 27.9% drop in first-half statutory profit to $341.1 million.
• TPG Telecom (-2.7%) — Swung to a full-year net profit of $461 million, from a net loss of $107 million in the prior corresponding period.
• Mesoblast (-7.4%) — Narrowed its interim net loss to USD40.2 million ($56.40 million), from USD47.9 million a year ago.
• Bapcor (-49.3%) — Raised gross proceeds of $157 million through the take up of its pro rata placement and institutional entitlement offer.
• PEXA (+4.7%) — First-half operating earnings and core profit beat expectations, despite the company reporting an $18.7 million total comprehensive loss.
• Neuren Pharmaceuticals (-2.9%) — Reported a fall in full-year profit to $30 million as R&D costs rose to $36 million for the period.
• Humm Group (+5.3%) — Saw its voluntary undertaking accepted by the Takeovers Panel following complaints of insider participation and management of conflicts of interests.
• NextDC (-3.2%) — Chief executive Craig Scroggie has been named chair of lobby group Data Centres Australia.