The S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX: XJO)(^AXJO) is expected to open lower today, the USA’s S&P 500 Index (.INX) went up 0.07% on Friday.
Australian Dollar ($A) (AUDUSD): 70.92US cents
Dow Jones (DJI): down 0.25%
Oil (WTI): $US52.72 per barrel
Gold: $US1,314 per ounce
ASX Sharemarket News
In ASX sharemarket news, Australia’s largest rail freight operator, Aurizon Holdings Ltd (ASX: AZJ), has announced its half year result to 31 December 2018.
Aurizon has revealed that revenue fell by 7% compared to the December 2017 half year. EBIT dropped by 16% to $406 million (click here to learn what EBIT means). Net profit after tax fell by 19% to $227 million. As a result of the profit decline, Aurizon reduced the dividend by 19% to 11.4 cents per share. In coal, volumes were impacted by supply chain constraints, weather events and protected industrial action.
Aurizon CEO Andrew Harding said: “Our confidence in the outlook for Australia’s coal export markets is driving a national growth plan in our Coal business. Since FY17, we have invested $110 million of capital in NSW to support tonnage growth.
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Electronics and home appliance business JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH) has also reported its FY19 half year report.
Total sales were up 4.2% to $3.8 billion, with positive comparable sales growth across all brands. EBIT grew by 4.8% to $236.6 million and net profit after tax increased by 5.5% to $160.1 million. As a result of the profit growth, JB Hi-Fi increased its interim dividend by 5.8%.
JB Hi-Fi CEO Richard Murray commented, “In a competitive environment we remained focused on sales and market share whilst continuing to evolve the business.”
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Packaging business Amcor Limited (ASX: AMC) has announced a statutory profit of US$267.6 million for the December 2018 half year.
On an underlying business, the company said that underlying profit after tax (PAT) increased by 3.4% compared to last year.
Amcor CEO Ron Delia said: “Amcor had a good first half year with earnings growth in line with our expectations and balanced across the Flexibles and Rigids packaging segments.”
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