PRE-MARKET AUSTRALIAN, JAPANESE & SOUTH KOREAN STOCK NEWS: Earnings from Japan Post, Japan Post Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ & Mizuho Financial Group, Samsung Electronics strike draws near
AUSTRALIA
Alcidion Group (ALC AT) - Co. acquired Kyra Flow products from Telstra’s (TLS AT) Health unit. (Newswires)
ALS (ALQ AT) - Co. FY (AUD) net rose 24% Y/Y to 318.7mln, underlying net from continuing operations rose 26% Y/Y to 381.2mln, rev. rose 11% Y/Y to 3.32bln, final dividend AUD 0.231/security, targets mid-to-high single-digit organic revenue growth in FY 2027. (Dow Jones Newsplus)
Brambles (BXB AT) - Co. lowered FY26 revenue and profit guidance, now expects sales revenue to grow 2%-3% and underlying profit to grow 3%-5%, reflecting US repair capacity constraints. (Dow Jones Newsplus)
Elders (ELD AT) - Co. H1 (AUD) net rose 17% Y/Y to 39.5mln, profit from continuing operations rose 21% Y/Y to 34.9mln, rev. rose 32% Y/Y to 1.77bln, interim dividend AUD 0.18/security, expects Delta Agribusiness to boost earnings in H2, strong livestock and wool prices to drive Elders Rural Services, wool prices to rise 10% in 2026-2027, cattle saleyard prices to fall 9% and sheep saleyard prices to fall 5%. (Dow Jones Newsplus)
New Hope Corporation (NHC AT) - Co. Q3 (AUD) unaudited underlying EBITDA rose 22% Q/Q to 130.1mln, ROM coal production rose 5.0% Q/Q to 4.3mln tons, group coal sales rose 10% Q/Q to 3.2mln tons, affirms FY coal sales volume at 10.2mln-11.5mln tons and announced an AUD 100mln share buyback. (Newswires)
Northern Minerals (NTU AT) - Australian Treasurer Chalmers ordered six shareholders to divest holdings in Northern Minerals, with the decision aligned with Treasury and FIRB advice to protect national interest and ensure compliance with the foreign investment framework. (Newswires)
Telstra (TLS AT) - Co. warned the federal government it has massively overstated the value of multibillion-dollar spectrum licences and signalled it could mount a legal challenge to avoid overpaying. (AFR)
Treasury Wine Estates (TWE AT) - Co.’s largest shareholder, French billionaire Olivier Goudet, has bought leading drinks pricing search engine Wine-Searcher. (The Australian)
Woolworths (WOW AT) - Experts predict Co. could suffer the same fate as Coles after a Federal Court judge found Coles misled shoppers with fake ‘Down Down’ discounts. (The Australian)
JAPAN
Hankyu Hanshin Holdings (9042 JT) - Co. reported 9M net income rose to JPY 73.8bln (prev. JPY 67.974bln Y/Y), sales rose to JPY 881.5bln (prev. JPY 804.4bln Y/Y) and announced a share buyback for 7.5mln shares worth JPY 30bln. (Newswires)
Honda Motor (7267 JT) - Co. tapped ace engineer Mahito Shikama to lead its transformation after pausing its EV strategy, as part of an executive reshuffling. (Nikkei)
Japan Post (6178 JT) - Co. FY25 net income rose 1.1% Y/Y to JPY 374.6bln, EPS rose to JPY 129.14 from JPY 119.30 and ordinary income slipped 0.2% Y/Y to JPY 11.4tln. (Newswires)
Japan Post Bank (7182 JT) - Co. FY25 net income attributable to owners of the parent rose 26.8% Y/Y to JPY 525.6bln. (Newswires)
Kioxia Holdings (285A JT) - Co. FY25 (JPY) net rose 104% Y/Y to 554.5bln, rev. rose 37% Y/Y to 2.34tln. (Newswires)
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306 JT) - Co. FY net profit rose 30% Y/Y to a record JPY 2.43tln and announced a share buyback for 45mln shares worth JPY 100bln. (Newswires)
Mizuho Financial Group (8411 JT) - Co. FY25 profit attributable to owners of the parent rose 41% Y/Y to JPY 1.25tln, EPS rose to JPY 502.92 from JPY 350.20 and ordinary income rose 0.6% Y/Y to JPY 9.09tln. (Newswires)
SBI Holdings (8473 JT) - Co.’s SBI Securities and Rakuten Group’s (4755 JT) Rakuten Securities plan to begin selling cryptocurrency investment trusts, while Nomura Holdings (8604 JT) and other major players are considering entering the field after the regulatory framework is established. (Nikkei)
SoftBank Group (9984 JT) - Co.’s Arm Holdings (ARM) unit is facing an antitrust investigation by the US FTC over the licensing of its semiconductor technology. (Newswires)
Automakers - Net profits at the seven largest Japanese automakers this fiscal year are expected to amount to half of the all-time high attained a few years ago, due largely to the impact of the Iran war. (Nikkei)
Rare Earths - Sojitz (2768 JT) and Sumitomo Metal Mining (5713 JT) are looking to Southeast Asia for rare earths, with Sumitomo Metal Mining tapping resources from the Philippines and Sojitz developing mines in Vietnam and Malaysia. (Nikkei)
Other News
BoJ tapering plans face scrutiny from Takaichi's economic advisers, as the central bank weighs whether to cut bond purchases further next year. (Nikkei)
SOUTH KOREA
Samsung Electronics (005930 KS) - Co. is to meet with the labour union in a last-ditch effort to avert a strike, while South Korea’s PM warned over the planned strike and vowed all measures including emergency arbitration. (Newswires/Yonhap)
Other News
South Korean government said it will invest KRW 170bln to support small and midsize companies engaged in the production of advanced strategic materials, parts and equipment. (Yonhap)
The earnings reports from several major companies in Australia and Japan signal a mixed outlook. While Mitsubishi UFJ and Mizuho Financial Group reported significant profit increases, Japan Post's slight rise in net income and Japan Post Bank's solid growth suggest varying strength among financials. This divergence may impact investor sentiment and sector positioning as markets react to the updates, particularly in the context of underlying economic conditions and central bank policies in the region.