PRE-MARKET AUSTRALIAN, JAPANESE AND SOUTH KOREAN STOCKS NEWS: Murdochs are reportedly contemplating a re-merger of Fox and News Corp, SK Hynix breaks ground on its first US HBM facility in Indiana
AUSTRALIA
Channel Infrastructure NZ (CHI AT) - Co. signed a 15-year contract with bp for additional jet and diesel storage at Marsden Point, expected to generate around AUD 130mln in revenue over the initial term, with planned investment of roughly AUD 65-70mln. (Motley Fool)
Civmec (CVL AT) - Co. FY (AUD) net rose 22.5% Y/Y to 52.1mln, EBITDA rose 17.0% Y/Y to 107.3mln, rev. rose 11.4% Y/Y to 903.0mln. (Motley Fool)
Corporate Travel Management (CTD AT) - Co. FY25 (AUD) net loss 346.7mln, underlying EBITDA 83.6mln, rev. 643.4mln, FY26 underlying EBITDA guidance 113.6mln and rev. guidance 669.9mln. (Motley Fool)
Evolution Mining (EVN AT) - Co. will acquire QIC Queensland Critical Minerals Fund's 13.7% stake in Carnaby Resources via the issue of around 2.6mln new shares, with its takeover of Carnaby on track for scheme implementation in November. (Dow Jones Newsplus)
Judo Bank (JDO AT) - Takeover speculation has reportedly returned around the Co. after a difficult trading period, two years after a potential merger with Bendigo and Adelaide Bank fell through. (The Australian)
McMillan Shakespeare (MMS AT) - Co. FY (AUD) net rose 11% Y/Y to 106.1mln, rev. rose 6.9% Y/Y to 602.1mln, final dividend AUD 0.70/shr. (Dow Jones Newsplus)
News Corp (NWS AT) - Rupert Murdoch and Lachlan Murdoch are reportedly contemplating a re-merger of the Co. with Fox Corp. (Newswires)
Qantas (QAN AT) - Co. is making a roughly AUD 9bln investment in its international fleet that could significantly reshape its network. (The Australian)
Sandfire Resources (SFR AT) - Co. has reportedly tapped RBC to sell one of the highest-grade undeveloped copper projects in the US, although most prospective buyers have already walked away. (The Australian)
St Barbara (SBM AT) - Co. FY (AUD) net 489.7mln (prev. loss 94mln Y/Y), final dividend AUD 0.05/shr. (Dow Jones Newsplus)
Virgin Australia (VGN AT) - Co. FY26 (AUD) underlying net rose 21.9% Y/Y to 404mln, statutory net rose 4.7% Y/Y to 501mln, underlying EBIT rose 13.4% Y/Y to 753mln, dividend AUD 0.076/shr. (Motley Fool)
Westgold Resources (WGX AT) - Co. FY (AUD) net 443.1mln, rev. rose 79% Y/Y to 2.44bln, final dividend AUD 0.10/shr. (Dow Jones Newsplus)
Broker Ratings/Price Target
- Centuria Capital (CNI AT) price target cut 20% to AUD 1.60/shr by Morgan Stanley.
- Qantas (QAN AT) price target raised 2.4% to AUD 12.80/shr by Morgan Stanley.
- Ramsay Health Care (RHC AT) price target raised 18% to AUD 40.90/shr by Morgan Stanley.
JAPAN
Fujitsu (6702 JT) - Co. signed an MoU with US drone maker General Atomics Aeronautical Systems to cooperate on maintenance of surveillance drones in Japan. (Nikkei)
Itochu (8001 JT) - Co. will spend around JPY 250bln to take a stake in Dentsu Soken as part of a deal to delist the Dentsu Group subsidiary. (Nikkei)
Kioxia (285A JT) - Co. and Sandisk plan to invest more than USD 31bln in memory production capacity and technology in Japan through 2032. (Bloomberg)
SBI Holdings (8473 JT) - Co. is set to spend USD 270mln for a 20% stake in Indonesian online brokerage Ajaib Group, making it an equity-method affiliate. (Nikkei)
Toyota Motor (7203 JT) - Co. plans to begin producing a next-generation electric SUV in China in autumn 2027 and will introduce its own Level 2++ self-driving technology in passenger vehicles in 2028. (Nikkei)
Banks
Japan's top banks have regained access to Anthropic's Claude Mythos AI model after the US government suspended overseas access in June over cybersecurity concerns. (Nikkei)
Other News
Japanese PM Takaichi confirms a cabinet reshuffle will take place in mid-to-late September. (Yomiuri)
Japan LDP tax panel head Onodera said a JPY 5tln consumption tax cut is "fully feasible". (Newswires)
Nippon Life is open to becoming a net JGB buyer next fiscal year. (Newswires)
SOUTH KOREA
SK Hynix (000660 KS) - CEO said the Co. is not seeing significant signs of a memory downturn and expects the memory shortage to continue through end-2030; the Co. broke ground on its first US HBM facility in Indiana and plans to begin volume production of next-generation HBM4E chips there in H2 2029, with the site expected to become a key US HBM production base, while Korean media reported the Co. is lagging rivals in NAND process-node transitions, with slower upgrades and reduced NAND capex eroding its cost competitiveness and South Korean market share. (Newswires/Nikkei/ChosunBiz)
Pre-market roundups of this kind set the tone for the Asia session but rarely move index-level pricing on their own; the actionable content is in the single-stock items with a clear transmission channel. The Fox and News Corp re-merger speculation is a recurrence: a similar recombination was explored and abandoned on previous occasions over valuation and governance objections, so the pattern to note is whether this progresses beyond the contemplation stage to a formal proposal and how the non-Murdoch shareholder base responds, since that is where prior attempts stalled. The SK Hynix item carries the more structural read: a first US HBM facility extends the established pattern of memory capex migrating toward customer and subsidy geography, and management's pushback on downturn talk sits against reported NAND node-transition slippage, a divergence between the HBM franchise and the legacy business that has historically determined how the stock trades relative to its memory peers. The Nippon Life comment on returning as a net JGB buyer is the fixed-income tell in the pack, as life-insurer demand at the long end has been the swing factor in past episodes of super-long yield pressure, and it lands alongside consumption tax cut chatter that feeds the fiscal premium debate. Watch whether any of the M&A items draw formal confirmation or denial in the session, since reported-sourcing stories of this kind typically resolve within days.