Here are the stories from the S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX: XJO)(ASX: XJO) and Australian finance circles today. Rask Media has your financial news sorted.
First, here are the data points:
Australian Dollar ($A) (AUDUSD): 72.14 US cents
Dow Jones (DJI): up 1.46%
Oil (WTI): $US51.64 per barrel
Gold: $US1,222 per ounce
Finance News
Making finance headlines today, Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd (ASX: HVN), one of Australia’s largest retailers and a big investor in property, updated the market on its sales results for the period from July 1st to November 23rd, 2018.
In a public filing, Harvey Norman said its total sales reached $2.88 billion, up 2.7% from a year earlier. On a comparable basis, sales were up 3%.
The company said sales had been positively affected by currency movements in the Euro, British Pound, Singaporean dollar and others.
Also making headlines, Austral bricks owner Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW) hosts its 84th Annual General Meeting (AGM) today, and will update the market on its profit performance so far in its 2019 financial year.
Brickworks’ first-half profit is expected to be similar to the prior full year, which the company says positions it for, “another strong result in financial year 2019.”
Brickworks has a major shareholding in Washington H. Soul Pattinson & Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL) (WHSP), which also owns shares in Brickworks (known as a ‘cross-shareholding’).
“Since the end of the financial year, the market value of our shareholding in WHSP has increased by around $600 million, and now stands at $2.8 billion,” Brickworks Chairman Rob Millner said.
“Including Property and Building Products, and taking into account debt, the total inferred net asset value of the company is almost $3.8 billion,” Millner added. “This provides considerable support for our current market capitalisation of $2.3 billion.”
Investing Is Hard
Owen Raszkiewicz, the founder of The Rask Group, recently sat down with Tony Hansen, portfolio manager and founder of EGP Capital. Tony is a fantastic thinker and provides unique insights into what it takes to be financially successful in work and life, but especially in investing.
You can download my conversation with Tony using the link to SoundCloud below. It’s also free to stream on iTunes, Castbox, YouTube or wherever you choose to listen.
*As voted by us
