Today, the All Ordinaries (ASX: XAO) was trading 0.42% higher, with shares of National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX:NAB), TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX:TPM) and Breville Group Ltd (ASX:BRG) moving the Australian share market.
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Important Australian Investor News
1. National Australia Bank – up 3%
NAB is one of the four largest banks in Australia in terms of market capitalisation, earnings and customers. However, as of 2019, it was Australia’s largest lender to businesses and has operations in wealth management and residential lending. It also operates the online-only Ubank.
In its first-quarter trading update NAB notched up a profit of $1.7 billion and cash earnings/profit hit $1.65, up 1% over the same period in 2019. On the capital front, NAB had some 10.6% of CET1 Capital.
“One of our key priorities is to grow our bank safely,”
CEO Ross McEwan said. “In a challenging operating environment, featuring a low cash rate and subdued lending growth, our 1Q20 performance is sound.”
Pleasingly for shareholders, the bank’s credit impairment charges fell to $185 million, from $223 million last quarter.
2. TPG Telecom Ltd – down 3%
TPG Telecom is one of Australia’s largest broadband and mobile phone providers, with around 2 million broadband subscribers. In 2018, TPG planned to merge with the owner of Vodafone Australia, Hutchison Telecommunications (ASX: HTA), in a potential $15 billion deal, with legal proceedings related to the merger ongoing.
TPG shares entered a trading halt earlier this week pending the Federal Court of Australia’s decision whether or not its merger with Vodafone Hutchison Australia (ASX: HTA) would lessen or reduce competition in the telecommunications market.
The court declared that the proposed merger would not hurt competition and, therefore, there is now hope for TPG and Vodafone Australia to merge and create a substantial competitor to Telstra and Optus.
TPG executive chairman, David Teoh, said, “TPG is very pleased with the Federal Court decision and looks forward to combining with VHA to create Australia’s newest fully integrated telecommunications operator.”
TPG and HTA will now need to clear other legal and regulatory hurdles before the full integration will proceed.
3. Breville Group Ltd – down 5%
Breville Group was established in Melbourne in 1932 as a radio manufacturer, but during the 1960s the focus shifted to household products and kitchen appliances. Breville Group now includes the brands Breville, Kambrook, Sage and several others, and the products range from toasted sandwich makers to vacuum cleaners.
Yesterday, the small appliance maker reported its half-year financial results showing a 25% increase in revenue and a profit of $49.7 million, up 14%. Dividends per share rose 11% to 20.5 cents. Over the full year, Breville’s management expects operating profit (also known as EBIT) to be consistent with analysts’ consensus forecasts of $110 million.
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