K64 Auxiliary Finance and Insurance Services

$21.7b dividend windfall set to land

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Original article by Tom Richardson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 26-Sep-23

BHP tops the list of Australian companies that will pay dividends in the final week of September. The resources group accounts for $6.34bn of the $21.7bn worth of dividends that investors will receive in coming days. Commonwealth Bank shareholders will in turn receive a combined $4bn worth of dividends, while Fortescue Metals Group’s payout will be about $3.01bn. Cyan Investment Management portfolio manager Dean Fergie expects fewer shareholders to invest their dividends in equities, given that banks are offering much better returns on cash deposits compared with recent years.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, CYAN INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

Deal activity dives as rates hit hard

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Original article by David Swan
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 22-Sep-23

Data from Refinitiv shows that mergers and acquisitions involving Australians companies has totalled $US81.3bn so far in 2023, which is 27 per cent lower than at the same time in 2022. Investment banks’ advisory fees for completed M&A deal are 62 per cent lower than the same period in 2022, at $US354m. Underwriting fees for equity and debt capital market transactions have in turn fallen by 16 per cent and nine per cent respectively. Nick Sims from Goldman Sachs Australia expects deal-making activity to pick up for the remainder of 2023 and into 2024, in the absence of any macroeconomic or geopolitical shocks.

CORPORATES
REFINITIV AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Investors pull out of equities on recession fear

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Original article by Joanne Tran
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 12-Jul-23

Data from global funds network Calastone shows that Australia fund managers’ net outflows totalled $2.8bn in the June quarter. Equities accounted for $1.65bn of the net outflows, while property accounted for $173m. The bearish investor sentiment toward higher-risk assets resulted in fixed income funds recording net inflows of $582m for the period. Teresa Walker of Calastone says there is no particular reason to favour the Australian sharemarket over offshore markets at present.

CORPORATES
CALASTONE

Shares end year on a high

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Original article by David Rogers
The Weekend Australian – Page: 25 & 39 : 1-Jul-23

The S&P/ASX 200 gained 9.7 per cent during 2022-23, which is well above the average gain of 6.6 per cent over the last decade; it also follows a loss of 10.2 per cent for the previous financial year. The benchmark index rose by 14.5 per cent in 2022-23 on a total return basis, compared with a 6.1 per cent loss in 2021-22. The S&P/ASX 200 information technology index rose by 36 per cent in 2022-23, while the materials sector added 15 per cent. Meanwhile, AMP Capital expects balanced superannuation funds to post a gain of 8-9 per cent for the financial year.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INDEX

WA miners the top performers

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Weekend Australian – Page: 25 & 39 : 1-Jul-23

Lithium producer Liontown Resources was the top-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 during 2022-23, rising by 168.25 per cent. The mining and resources sector dominated the performance charts, accounting for six of the 10 stocks with the highest returns for the fiscal year; Western Australia-based miners resources stocks in particular delivered strong returns. However, Lake Resources shed 61.78 per cent in 2022-23; other underperformers included The Star Entertainment Group (down 55.05 per cent) and Domino’s Pizza (down 31.72 per cent).

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, LIONTOWN RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX LTR, LAKE RESOURCES NL – ASX LKE, THE STAR ENTERTAINMENT GROUP LIMITED – ASX SGR, DOMINO’S PIZZA ENTERPRISES LIMITED – ASX DMP

The ASX shrinking for the first time in 18 years

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Original article by Alex Gluyas, James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 24 : 6-Jun-23

MST Marquee estimates that the Australian sharemarket’s total capitalisation will fall by about $43bn by the end of 2023, due to the current wave of mergers and acquisitions activity. This will be the first time the local bourse has de-equitised since 2005, when News Corp moved its primary listing to the US. The de-equitisation trend is particularly strong in the resources sector, although Hasan Tevfik from MST Marquee notes that this is also boosting the valuations of resources groups; he adds that rising valuations may prompt more companies to pursue an IPO.

CORPORATES
MST MARQUEE

Pandemic sees influx of investors

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Original article by Lucy Dean
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 33 : 31-May-23

The ASX’s latest investor survey shows that 51 per cent of Australian adults now hold investments outside of superannuation or the family home. This compares with 46 per cent in early 2020, before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. The report shows that more than 1.2 million Australians have started to invest in shares since the pandemic began; the ASX’s Rory Cunningham says women account for 50 per cent of the new investors, and 50 per cent of people who intend to invest. However, Irene Guiamatsia from Investment Trends notes that the overall proportion of investors who are women has remained steady at 42 per cent since 2020; she says this is primarily because women tend to have lower income than men.

CORPORATES
ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX, INVESTMENT TRENDS PTY LTD

Dividends fall behind global peers as mining payouts slump

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Original article by Alex Gluyas
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 25-May-23

Data from global asset manager Janus Henderson shows that Australian-listed companies paid $27.9bn worth of dividends in the March quarter, which is 6.6 per cent lower than previously. In contrast, global dividend payouts rose by 12 per cent to a record high of $US326.7bn in the first three months of 2023. This result was boosted by US28.8bn worth of special dividends, the highest amount in nine years. Ben Lofthouse of Janus Henderson notes that the Australian sharemarket’s heavy weighting towards mining and bank stocks affects dividend payouts across the bourse.

CORPORATES
JANUS HENDERSON GROUP PLC – ASX JHG

RBA forecast to lift rate for 10th straight time

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Original article by Cecile Lefort
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 6-Mar-23

Futures pricing suggests that Australian equities will gain 0.9 per cent when the market opens on Monday. The local bourse is expected to be bolstered by a positive lead from Wall Street, which rallied in response to the latest US economic data. Meanwhile, financial markets have priced in a 96 per cent chance that the Reserve Bank of Australia will increase the cash rate by 25 basis points to 3.6 per cent on Tuesday. However, most economists now expect the cash rate to peak at 3.85 per cent in the June quarter.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

S&P warns of climate credit risks

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Original article by David Ross
The Australian – Page: 15 : 18-Jan-23

S&P Global Ratings says the severity and frequency of bushfires and floods facing Australia is increasing. The firm has warned that the credit ratings of the nation’s banks, insurers, and state and local governments could potentially be downgraded if this trend continues. S&P Global Ratings adds that insurers face the greatest risk from weather-related events, given that they are set to experience two successive years of large losses.

CORPORATES
S&P GLOBAL RATINGS