K: Financial and Insurance Services

ASX winners and losers for 2025 revealed

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 1-Jul-25

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 10.2 per cent in the 2024-25 financial year, posting its biggest annual gain since 2021. Ship builder Austal tops the list of best-performing stocks for 2024-25, rising by 152 per cent; it is followed by gold producers Regis Resources (up 150 per cent) and Genesis Minerals (145 per cent). Meanwhile, IDP Education recorded the biggest loss among the top-200 stocks, shedding 76 per cent; other major underperformers included Mineral Resources (down 60 per cent) and Pilbara Minerals (57 per cent). The ASX 200 ended the financial year at 8,542.3 points, and Shane Oliver from AMP says it could potentially rise to around the 8,700-point level by the end of 2025.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, AUSTAL LIMITED – ASX ASB, REGIS RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX RRL, GENESIS MINERALS LIMITED – ASX GMD, IDP EDUCATION LIMITED – ASX IEL, MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN, PILBARA MINERALS LIMITED – ASX PLS, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP

Bupa sued for $35m for misleading customers

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Original article by Michael Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 1-Jul-25

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has asked the Federal Court to impose a $35 million fine on health insurer Bupa for allegedly misleading customers over a five-year period. The ACCC alleges that Bupa gave customers incorrect information in regard to claiming benefits in situations where two or more procedures were taking place at the same time, with some customers having to pay thousands of dollars or cancel medical procedures altogether as a result of the incorrect information. Bupa’s Asia Pacific CEO Nick Stone says he is "deeply sorry" that customers were given the wrong information, while ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb says Bupa should have invested in the proper training and processes to prevent such mistakes from occurring.

CORPORATES
BUPA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Couples need $73,875 a year in retirement

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Original article by Anthony Keane
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 18-Jun-25

The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia’s modelling suggests that a couple who own their home now requires annual income of to live comfortably in retirement. The figure for a single person who owns their home is $52,383. The analysis also shows that the cost of a comfortable retirement increased by 1.6 per cent in the year to March, compared with the inflation rate of 2.4 per cent. ASFA CEO Mary Delahunty says retirees are starting to benefit from a slowdown in inflation, although she notes that the prices of essentials are still rising.

CORPORATES
THE ASSOCIATION OF SUPERANNUATION FUNDS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Risk of mortgage stress unchanged in April, but set to fall in May after the Reserve Bank cuts interest rates

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 28-May-25

New research from Roy Morgan shows that 1,429,000 mortgage holders (26.5%) were ‘At Risk’ of ‘mortgage stress’ in April 2025, unchanged from a month earlier. These figures relate to the period before last week’s interest rate cut, which is projected to reduce mortgage stress by 13,000 in May to 1,416,000 (26.3%). The number of Australians ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress has increased by 622,000 since May 2022, when the RBA began a cycle of interest rate increases. Meanwhile, the number of mortgage holders considered to be ‘Extremely At Risk’ of mortgage stress is now numbered at 955,000 (18.0% of mortgage holders), which is clearly above the long-term average over the last 10 years of 14.7%. These are the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s Single Source Survey, based on in-depth interviews conducted with more than 60,000 Australians each year, including over 10,000 owner-occupied mortgage-holders.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Rate cuts still on the way after tariff pause

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Original article by Cecile Lefort
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 14-May-25

IFM Investors’ chief economist Alex Joiner has described the 90-day tariff pause agreed to by the US and China as a "small step forward". However, he cautions that the significant tariffs that remain in place during the temporary truce in the trade war will still be a major challenge for US households, businesses and the broader economy. Meanwhile, financial markets expect the US Federal Reserve to reduce official interest rates by 25 basis points in September; the Reserve Bank of Australia is in turn tipped to cut the cash rate three times before the end of 2025, by 85 basis points in total.

CORPORATES
IFM INVESTORS PTY LTD, UMOW LAI & ASSOCIATES PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

The stocks that have ripped during Trump’s trade war

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Original article by Alex Gluyas
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 25 : 8-May-25

Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index has gained 11.4 per cent since it entered correction territory in the days after the Trump administration unveiled its tarrifs regime on 2 April. Uranium producer Boss Energy is amongst the stocks that have posted strong gains since the ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs announcement; it has risen by more than 47 per cent since the start of April, although the stock is still 30 per cent lower than a year ago. Other strong performers include Eagers Automotive (up 24.8 per cent since the start of April), NextDC (21.2 per cent), Pro Medicus (20.6 per cent) and Lynas Rare Earths (20.5 per cent).

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, BOSS ENERGY LIMITED – ASX BOE, EAGERS AUTOMOTIVE LIMITED – ASX APE, NEXTDC LIMITED – ASX NXT, PRO MEDICUS LIMITED – ASX PME, LYNAS RARE EARTHS LIMITED – ASX LYC

Stokes slams ALP’s super tax hit

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Original article by Perry Williams, Jared Lynch, David Ross
The Australian – Page: 13 & 15 : 7-May-25

SGH Limited’s CEO Ryan Stokes has criticised the federal government’s proposal to tax the unrealised capital gains of superannuation funds. Stoke contends that while taxing profits is "entirely reasonable", taxing unrealised capital gains is dangerous and sets a far-reaching and concerning precedent, while it could also distort markets. The tax would initially apply to super accounts with a balance of more than $3m, but Stokes warns that it could potentially be extended to other asset classes. The Greens have advocated lowering the threshold to $2m, while the fact that the tax will not be indexed to inflations means that it will progressively apply to more people.

CORPORATES
SGH LIMITED – ASX SGH, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Investors pile into ASX amid Wall Street exodus

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Original article by Alex Gluyas
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 30-Apr-25

Australian-listed companies have benefited from a global shift of capital away from Wall Street in 2025, amid the turmoil caused by the Trump administration’s trade policies. Foreign investors owned a record 18 per cent of US stocks at the start of the year. However, Goldman Sachs estimates that foreign investors have sold $US60bn ($93.2bn) worth of US shares in recent weeks. Elise McKay from Pendal says this trend may have contributed to the S&P/ASX 20’s outperformance last week; it gained 2.5 per cent, while the benchmark ASX 200 rose by just 1.9 per cent.

CORPORATES
THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INCORPORATED, PENDAL GROUP LIMITED, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 20 INDEX, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX

‘Locked in’: Westpac’s big interest rate cut call

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Original article by Cameron Micallef
The Australian – Page: 23 : 29-Apr-25

Westpac’s chief economist Luci Ellis believes that the Reserve Bank of Australia is certain to reduce the cash rate by 25 basis points in May. She says a rate cut is likely even if inflation data for the March quarter is slightly disappointing. Ellis does not expect the RBA to reduce the cash rate by 50 basis points in May, although she says there is the potential for a cut of 35 basis points, which would reduce the cash rate to 3.75 per cent. Ellis also expects rate cuts in both August and November.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Bitcoin emerges from bear market as traders tip $US125K

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Original article by Alex Gluyas
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 29-Apr-25

The price of bitcoin rose by 12 per cent last week, compared with a 6.7 per cent gain for the Nasdaq. The cryptocurrency recorded its largest weekly rise since shortly after Donald Trump won the US presidential election in November. It subsequently peaked at around $US109,000 following his inauguration in late January, before falling sharply in response to the tariffs-induced trade war. Tony Sycamore from IG believes that bitcoin could test its record level again, adding that there is potential for it to rise to around $US125,000.

CORPORATES
IG MARKETS LIMITED, NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX