PRE-MARKET AUSTRALIAN & JAPANESE STOCKS NEWS: Earnings deluge in Australia including BlueScope Steel, GPT Group, Iress, JB Hi-Fi, Lendlease, NAB & New Hope, South Korean markets are closed for holiday
AUSTRALIA
A2 Milk (A2M AT) - Co. FY (NZD) net fell 44% Y/Y to 113.6mln, net from continuing operations fell 5.8% Y/Y to 207.5mln, rev. from continuing operations rose 12% Y/Y to 1.97bln, total rev. rose 5.4% Y/Y to 2.0bln. (Dow Jones Newsplus)
Aurizon Holdings (AZJ AT) - Co. FY (AUD) net rose 19% Y/Y to 362mln, EBITDA rose 9% Y/Y to 1.72bln, EBIT rose 17% Y/Y to 985mln, rev. rose 6% Y/Y to 4.19bln, final dividend AUD 0.105/shr, completed AUD 250mln share buyback. (Dow Jones Newsplus)
Australian Clinical Labs (ACL AT) - Co. FY (AUD) net fell 27% Y/Y to 23.7mln, underlying profit rose 4.6% Y/Y to 35.2mln, rev. fell 0.7% Y/Y to 735.8mln, final dividend AUD 0.0925/shr. (Dow Jones Newsplus)
BlueScope Steel (BSL AT) - Co. FY (AUD) net 802.0mln (prev. 83.8mln Y/Y), underlying profit rose 100% Y/Y to 851.2mln, underlying EBIT rose 73% Y/Y to 1.27bln, rev. rose 2% Y/Y to 16.61bln, final dividend AUD 0.65/shr. (Dow Jones Newsplus)
GPT Group (GPT AT) - Co. H1 (AUD) net rose 22% Y/Y to 400.1mln, funds from operations 338.8mln, rev. rose 8.0% Y/Y to 722.2mln. (Dow Jones Newsplus)
Growthpoint Properties (GOZ AT) - Co. FY (AUD) net 90.1mln, funds from operations rose 0.9% Y/Y to 177.6mln, rev. 331.2mln (prev. 331.2mln Y/Y). (Dow Jones Newsplus)
Iress (IRE AT) - Co. H1 (AUD) net 32.0mln (prev. 17.3mln Y/Y), adjusted EBITDA 68.6mln (prev. 64.4mln Y/Y), cash EBITDA 61.1mln (prev. 45.6mln Y/Y), rev. 247.1mln (prev. 297.2mln Y/Y), dividend AUD 0.14/shr (prev. AUD 0.11/shr). (Dow Jones Newsplus)
JB Hi-Fi (JBH AT) - Co. FY (AUD) net rose 6.0% Y/Y to 489.9mln, rev. rose 4.8% Y/Y to 11.06bln, final dividend AUD 1.27/shr; July total sales fell 0.5% for JB Hi-Fi Australia, comparable sales fell 1.4%, New Zealand total sales rose 21%, comparable sales rose 12%, and The Good Guys total sales fell 1.7%. (Dow Jones Newsplus)
Lendlease (LLC AT) - Co. FY (AUD) net loss 749mln, including negative property revaluations and impairments of 182mln, rev. fell 30% Y/Y to 5.43bln, final distribution AUD 0.095/shr. (Dow Jones Newsplus)
Macmahon Holdings (MAH AT) - Co. unveiled a strategic partnership involving the partial sale of its Homeground accommodation village and a new co-operation agreement, with up to 50% of Homeground's AUD 52mln book value to be sold and an initial 20% stake going to Allcap Securities. (Motley Fool)
National Australia Bank (NAB AT) - Co. Q3 (AUD) unaudited net rose 32% vs. H1 quarterly average to 1.8bln, cash earnings rose 4% Y/Y to 1.83bln and rose 2% vs. H1 quarterly average, underlying profit rose 6% Y/Y to 2.9bln and rose 30% vs. H1 quarterly average, net interest income rose 4% Y/Y to 4.6bln and rose 1% vs. H1 quarterly average, credit impairment charge 300mln, CET1 ratio 11.93%. (Dow Jones Newsplus)
New Hope (NHC AT) - Co. Q4 (AUD) underlying EBITDA rose 30% Q/Q to 169.3mln, saleable coal output rose 1.6% Q/Q to 3.1mln tonnes, run-of-mine coal output rose 11% Q/Q to 4.7mln tonnes, coal sales fell 5.4% Q/Q to 3.0mln tonnes, average realised price rose 11% Q/Q to AUD 155.8/tonne, Bengalla FOB cash cost AUD 84.5/tonne. (Dow Jones Newsplus)
oOh!media (OML AT) - Co. H1 (AUD) net loss 1.2mln, EBITDA fell 3.8% Y/Y to 147.2mln, underlying EBITDA rose 1.0% Y/Y to 154.6mln, rev. rose 1.4% Y/Y to 340.9mln. (Dow Jones Newsplus)
Steadfast Group (SDF AT) - Co. said the consortium intends to proceed with its acquisition, is in the final stages of due diligence and has agreed key commercial terms in the draft deed, although there is no guarantee a binding agreement will be reached. (Dow Jones Newsplus)
JAPAN
Asahi Intecc (7747 JT) - Co. FY (JPY) net rose 152% Y/Y to 32.1bln, rev. rose 21% Y/Y to 145.4bln. (Newswires)
Dentsu Group (4324 JT) - Co. H1 (JPY) net 46.3bln (prev. loss 73.6bln Y/Y), rev. rose 5% Y/Y to 717.4bln. (Newswires)
Dentsu Group (4324 JT) - Co. plans to reduce the number of its overseas subsidiaries by up to 30% by FY2028 as part of business and structural reforms aimed at restoring profitability and strengthening competitiveness against AI-enabled rivals. (Nikkei)
Sompo Holdings (8630 JT) - Co. Q1 (JPY) net rose 53% Y/Y to 181.2bln, insurance rev. rose 28% Y/Y to 1.617tln. (Newswires)
Toho (8142 JT) - Co. July sales rev. rose 12% Y/Y to JPY 24.3bln, with distributor sales rising 14% on inbound demand and a contribution from newly consolidated Sankyo Shokucho. (Newswires)
Banks - Japan's Megabanks - Japan's biggest banks are expanding specialist teams and services for ultrawealthy clients as rising stock and property prices and inherited wealth increase competition for stable fee income. (Nikkei)
This is the concentrated August reporting window for Australian corporates, a session type that recurs each half-year and in which single-stock moves dominate index direction while cross-reads set the sector tone. The slate splits along familiar lines: banks, where the NAB quarterly puts net interest margin and the credit impairment line in focus and typically sets the read-across for the peer majors; steel and coal, where realised prices and unit costs rather than headline profit drive the move; and property, where Lendlease's loss on revaluations and impairments continues the pattern of write-down-heavy prints that have marked rate-sensitive developers in past tightening cycles. Retail gets an early test through JB Hi-Fi's July trading update, which historically acts as a lead indicator for the discretionary names reporting later in the window. With South Korean markets closed, regional liquidity is thinner than usual, a condition that has tended to amplify opening gaps on heavy earnings days in Sydney. The Steadfast consortium update keeps that situation in the pending-corporate bucket rather than resolved. Follow-ons worth noting are margin commentary from the bank, any guidance changes from the miners and developers, and whether the REIT funds-from-operations prints confirm the divergence between industrial and office-exposed landlords.