Here are the headlines from the S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX: XJO)(ASX: XJO) and Australian finance circles on Thursday morning.
But first, here are the data points:
Australian Dollar ($A) (AUDUSD): 72.4 US cents
Dow Jones (DJI): up 0.2%
Oil (WTI): $US64.87 per barrel
Gold: $US1,182 per ounce
Australian Investing News
Making finance news today are a host of ASX 200 companies reporting their financial results.
Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) released its 2018 financial report showing a 3% increase in total income to $29 billion but a 9% fall in profit. Final dividends of 11 cents per share will be paid.
Telstra added 342,000 retail mobile services and 135,000 bundles during the year but prices remain under pressure.
“…the challenging trading conditions are expected to continue in FY19, including ongoing pressure on ARPU and further negative impact of the nbn network rollout on our underlying earnings,” Telstra CEO Andrew Penn said.
Read more here: Telstra Dividend Hits Target, Profit Falls
QBE Insurance Group Ltd (ASX: QBE) reported a 6% fall in half-year revenue to $US7.34 billion with a profit of $US370 million, up 4% over the prior year’s result. A 22 cents per share interim dividend was declared.
QBE’s combined ratio, which represents the profit made by insurance companies (less than 100% is positive), was 95.8%. QBE said it will target a combined ratio of 95% to 97.5% over the full year.
Breville Group Ltd (ASX: BRG), the appliance maker, reported its 2018 financial results showing a near 8% jump in revenue and a profit of $58.5 million, up 9%. A final dividend of 16.5 cents per share was declared, up from 15 cents last year.
Integrated Research Limited (ASX: IRI), the IT security and monitoring company, reported flat revenues for its 2018 financial year but increased profit 4% to $19.2 million. A final dividend of 3.5 cents per share was declared, flat year over year.
ASX Ltd (ASX: ASX), the company which operates Australia’s largest stock exchange, reported a 9% increase in revenue and a profit of $445 million, up 2.5%. A final dividend of $1.09 per share will be paid, taking the full year dividends up 7%.
“Over the past 12 months, ASX continued to embrace technological and operational change to strengthen our foundations, develop new products and services for customers, and position the Group for future growth,” ASX Ltd Chairman Rick Holliday-Smith wrote.
Finally, funerals business InvoCare Limited (ASX: IVC) increased sales revenue by 2.5% to $223 million for its 2018 half-year. Despite InvoCare’s statutory profit falling by 50% to $20.8 million the company said it will pay an interim dividend of 17.5 cents per share, diwn from 18.5 cents per share last year.
“InvoCare’s operating results for this period are as expected given the disruption associated with Protect & Grow,” CEO Martin Earp said. “Taking into account the case volume lost through temporary closures of locations, the reduction in the number of deaths and the closure of our US operations, we believe our market share has stabilised.”
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