PRE-MARKET AUSTRALIAN, JAPANESE & SOUTH KOREAN STOCK NEWS: BHP Group (BHP AT) faces a potential AUD 126mln/day strike amid union action

AUSTRALIA

BHP Group (BHP AT) - Co. faces a potential AUD 126mln/day strike amid union action. (The Australian)

Lendlease (LLC AT) - Co. maintained FY26 EPS guidance for its IDC business at AUD 0.28-0.34, named Nick O'Neil as CEO, said several well-advanced asset sales are now likely to complete in early FY27, is working to unlock more than AUD 10bln of balance sheet positions at two projects and expects new work secured for construction in FY26 to be AUD 6.5bln. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

MGX Resources (MGX AT) - Co. is to sell Koolan Island to Crestlink Koolan in a deal comprising upfront and deferred payments totalling AUD 20.2mln, plus a future revenue share component of up to AUD 5mln, while Crestlink will assume rehabilitation obligations estimated at around AUD 30mln. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

QBE Insurance (QBE AT) - Co. named Christopher Harris as nonexecutive director, effective July 6. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

Southern Cross Media (SXL AT) - Co. cut FY26 revenue guidance to AUD 1.86bln-1.87bln from AUD 1.91bln-1.92bln and FY26 underlying EBITDA guidance to AUD 185mln-190mln from AUD 200mln-220mln, started a new cost-reduction programme, expects annual run-rate benefits of AUD 145mln-150mln and plans to cut 250-300 employees by June 30. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

Super Retail Group (SUL AT) - Co. aims to lift its store network to more than 900 sites by 2031, launch the Ignite investment programme, expects the programme to generate cost savings of around AUD 75mln/year by FY29 and is outlaying millions on a transformation plan. (Dow Jones Newsplus; The Australian)

Westpac Banking (WBC AT) - Co. said Q3 average monthly mortgage applications fell 9.1% versus Q2 and the average monthly mortgage application run rate is down 18% on-quarter since the Federal Budget. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

JAPAN

ASICS (7936 JT) - Co. will spin off its Onitsuka Tiger business into wholly owned subsidiary OT Group, effective January 1, to accelerate decision-making. (Reuters/Nikkei)

Nippon Life Insurance - Co.'s private credit assets reached JPY 750bln (USD 4.6bln), representing 0.9% of assets under management, while its US subsidiary Resolution Life holds USD 20bln in private credit. (Nikkei)

Nissan Motor (7201 JT) - ISS recommended shareholders vote against the reappointment of CEO/President Ivan Espinosa, citing low return on equity. (Newswires)

NTT (9432 JT) - Co. launched the IOWN AI Fund with investment partners from Taiwan and Silicon Valley, targeting opportunities in optical networking technology for AI data centres. (Nikkei)

Sapporo Holdings (2501 JT) - Co. is to change its name to Sapporo Breweries in July and will use proceeds from real estate asset sales to strengthen the Sapporo beer brand and overseas growth. (Nikkei)

Shin-Etsu Chemical (4063 JT) - Co. is to invest USD 220mln to build a rare-earth smelter in Fukui, reducing reliance on China. (Nikkei)

TDK (6762 JT) - Co. is to acquire US AI data-centre cooling components maker Fabric8Labs for up to USD 400mln. (Nikkei)

Other News

BoJ Governor Ueda was reportedly hospitalised and expected to miss the June 15th-16th BoJ meeting, with Deputy Governor Himino set to chair the meeting and Uchida to hold the press conference. Ueda is reportedly expected to return for the July meeting and will submit a written statement at the June meeting, but not participate in the vote. (Newswires)

SOUTH KOREA

Samsung Electronics (005930 KS) - Co. is strengthening its push into the robot vacuum market by rolling out a standard model of the lower-priced Bespoke AI Steam. (ChosunBiz)

SK Hynix (000660 KS) - Co. plans to triple wafer capacity by 2034 to meet AI-related memory chip demand, while Japan is an “excellent candidate” for overseas plants. (Nikkei)