PRE-MARKET AUSTRALIAN STOCKS NEWS: Westpac (WBC AT) FY (AUD) net fell 1% Y/Y to 6.81bln, rev. rose 1% Y/Y to 22.6bln

Westpac (WBC AT) - Co. FY (AUD) net fell 1% Y/Y to 6.81bln, net excluding notable items flat Y/Y at 7.0bln, rev. rose 1% Y/Y to 22.60bln, final dividend 0.77/shr, CET1 capital ratio 12.5% at end-September (fell 7bps Y/Y), deposits rose 6% Y/Y and lending rose 5% Y/Y. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

Domino's Pizza Enterprises (DMP AT) - Co. renewed its France master franchise agreement until November 1st, 2041. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

Downer EDI (DOW AT) - Co. awarded a roughly AUD 400mln contract by Homes Victoria for maintenance and repair services for social housing, with an initial five-year term and extension options. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

Ingenia Communities (INA AT) - Co. said AVID exercised its matching right and raised its takeover offer to AUD 5.45/shr, excluding a potential AUD 0.05/shr dividend, with the board deeming the proposal equal or superior to Warburg Pincus's offer and terminating Warburg Pincus's due diligence access while the AVID process deed remains in effect. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

St Barbara (SBM AT) - Co. received Nova Scotia approval for the Touquoy restart, is assessing the impact of a required Canadian federal assessment on its 15-Mile project timetable, has begun planning for a potential resumption of Touquoy ore mining and announced an on-market buyback of up to 100mln shares. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

Sunrise Energy Metals (SRL AT) - Co. approved its Syerston Scandium Project, targeting first production in H2 2028, while accelerating studies into potential capacity expansion dependent on customer commitments and other factors. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

• AGL Energy (AGL AT) accused Transgrid of failing to manage its own contractor as the transmission operator seeks to pass on a AUD 1.2bln cost blowout to household power bills. (The Australian)

• Coles Group (COL AT) price target cut by 4% to AUD 24.00/shr by Macquarie.
• Helia Group (HLI AT) price target cut by 3.9% to AUD 3.65/shr by Macquarie.
• Origin Energy (ORG AT) price target raised by 2.7% to AUD 11.40/shr by Macquarie.
• Pinnacle Investment Management (PNI AT) price target cut by 4.8% to AUD 22.81/shr by Macquarie.
• Reece (REH AT) price target raised by 1.3% to AUD 15.40/shr by Macquarie.
• ResMed (RMD AT) price target raised by 1.5% to AUD 47.50/shr by Macquarie.

Australian major-bank results have historically traded less on the headline net number than on margin trajectory and cost discipline, with the net interest margin disclosure typically the swing factor for the whole peer set on results day, since one major's print tends to be extrapolated across the other three. Here the profile of flat underlying earnings against modestly negative reported profit is a familiar shape for the sector in recent seasons: volume growth in housing and deposits holding up, revenue barely moving, and the debate sitting on expense growth and the quality of the deposit franchise. The CET1 ratio slipping a touch while a final dividend of AUD 0.77 is declared keeps the capital return question live; large banks in this position have historically been judged on whether buybacks or special distributions survive unchanged earnings, and any capital management commentary on the call tends to matter more than the print itself. Lending up 5% and deposits up 6% against revenue up 1% implies continued spread compression, and the mix between owner-occupier and investor credit growth is the usual tell. The follow-ons are the strategy and margin guidance offered on the analyst call and how the read-across lands on the other majors, which have tended to move as a block on the first of the reporting cohort. Elsewhere in the wrap, the Ingenia situation is a live contested bid with a matching right exercised and the board switching preferred suitor, a sequence that in past episodes has usually extended rather than concluded the auction.