Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX: XJO) (^AJXO) was weighed down by Medibank Private Ltd (ASX: MPL) and Washington H. Soul Pattinson & Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL) on Thursday afternoon.
Key data points:
- ASX 200 – down 0.3%
- All Ords – down 0.3%
Underperformers
- Soul Patts – down 6.3%
- Medibank – down 2.4%
- Brickworks – down 5.4%
In the green:
- Seven Group – up 6%
- Pilbara Minerals – up 6.9%
- Rio Tinto – up 3.6%
The Latest Investing News
Today, markets braced for the financial reports of Washinton H. Soul Pattinson, Premier Investments Limited (ASX: PMV) and Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW).
Soul Patts, which owns Chemists and large chunks of private and public companies (like Brickworks), reported a 17% jump in profit and a dividend of 56 cents.
Commenting on the results Chairman Robert Millner said the company’s “…diversified portfolio has again delivered outstanding results for shareholders with a Total Shareholder Return for the year of 27.5% (outperforming the All Ordinaries Accumulation Index by 12.6%.”
Click here to read Rask Media’s full news update.
Premier Investments, the owner of retail brands Smiggle and Just Jeans (among others), reported an 8.2% increase in full year sales and a 17% increase in dividends.
Solomon Lew, Premier’s Chairman, said, “this year’s result was driven by the continued growth of Smiggle and Peter Alexander as well as positive momentum within the apparel brands.”
Brickworks, which is responsible for the Austral range of bricks and is partially owned by Soul Patts, delivered a 14% increase in profit for its 2018 financial year.
Again, Robert Millner said the group’s diversification helped the business deliver strong returns for shareholders.
“Our strong financial performance during the year again reinforced the benefit of our diversification strategy, which has consistently grown net asset value over the long term and helped deliver solid returns and stability to our shareholders,” Millner commented.
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