Australian companies across various sectors have released their latest financial results, revealing a mixed bag of outcomes. BHP, the world’s largest mining company, reported a 26 per cent slide in earnings, leading to reduced spending on new mines and a cut in dividends to an eight-year low. The mining giant is known globally for its extraction and processing of minerals, oil, and gas. The company operates across several continents, contributing significantly to the global supply chain of essential resources.
In the healthcare sector, global biotech CSL is undergoing a restructure that will see a 15 per cent reduction in its workforce globally. CSL is a leading biotechnology company that researches, develops, manufactures, and markets a range of biotherapies and vaccines. This strategic move is aimed at delivering annual cost savings of up to $550 million, and involves spinning off its vaccines business, CSL Seqirus, while combining the commercial and medical operations of its core blood plasma and iron deficiency divisions. HMC Capital has cautioned investors to anticipate slower growth in the coming year, with returns from its private equity fund expected to normalise as it shifts focus to digital and energy transition funds.
Elsewhere, Woodside Energy experienced a 24 per cent drop in first-half core profit, amounting to $US1.247 billion, primarily due to lower prices. Strike Energy flagged a substantial write-down of between $85 million and $108 million on its oil and gas assets following a downgrade of reserves at its Walyering field. Seek reported increased revenue despite fewer job advertisements, attributing the growth to price increases.
Despite facing challenges such as softer demand and trade policy uncertainty, scrap metal group Sims announced a final dividend payout of 13¢ per share, accompanied by a rise in net profit to $2.4 million. Judo Bank saw a significant surge in full-year net profits, climbing 24 per cent to $86.4 million, while HUB24 nearly doubled its after-tax profits to $85.2 million and Challenger posted a 9 per cent increase in normalised after-tax profit of $456 million. Finally, Reliance Worldwide Corporation reported a 13.5 per cent increase in full-year net profit to $US125 million.
