The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) experienced a significant outage in its announcements system on Monday, impacting approximately 80 listed companies. The incident, which began just before 9am, prevented companies from releasing investor updates, including market-sensitive announcements. The ASX confirmed the communications outage affected companies with important statements to release. The exchange attributed the disruption to a “technical issue” affecting the company announcements platform.
Metcash, the grocery wholesaler behind the IGA chain of supermarkets, was among the most affected. Metcash was forced to halt trading of its shares after being unable to release a presentation detailing its first-half results that were outlined on an investor call. Chief Executive Doug Jones expressed frustration, stating the company was liaising with the ASX to resolve the issue. Around midday, the ASX reported it had implemented an “initial remediation” and resumed processing company announcements received after 11.22am.
The ASX apologised for the disruption, stating that halted securities would resume trading only after their associated announcements were published. The Australian Financial Review’s Street Talk column reported that information regarding at least four equity raisings was circulated to fund managers without equivalent warning to retail investors. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) acknowledged the issues and confirmed it was engaging with the ASX on the matter.
The outage adds to a series of operational failures at the ASX. The corporate regulator had already commissioned an inquiry into the market operator’s governance, following a trading settlement outage in late December 2024 and a troubled upgrade of the clearing and settlement platform. Metcash is a leading wholesale distribution and marketing company specialising in grocery, fresh produce, liquor, and hardware. They support independent retailers across Australia with supply chain solutions, marketing, and store development.
