The S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) was traded 1.3% higher on Monday afternoon. Making today’s ASX sharemarket news was Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) and Transurban Group (ASX:TCL).
Here’s what happened on the ASX 200 and Australian share market today before lunch.
Featured Video: Matt Joass, Maven Funds
If you’re looking for interviews with some of Australia’s most sophisticated investors, start with the free video from The Australian Investors Podcast, above.
ASX 200 market movers
1. Westpac – up 3%
Westpac reported its FY20 half-year result this morning and it didn’t make for great viewing.
The major bank said its cash earnings fell 70% to $993 million. Excluding notable items, like the AUSTRAC penalty provision, profit was still down 44% to $2.28 billion.
Statutory net profit was down 62% to $1.19 billion.
Westpac included an impairment charge of $2.24 billion, including the potential impacts of COVID-19.
Despite all of the above, the bank managed to increase its net interest margin (NIM) to 2.13%, up by 0.01%. The NIM is a key profit measure because it tells how much a bank makes from lending out the money they themselves have borrowed. Continue reading our coverage of Westpac by clicking here.
2. Transurban – up 2.9%
Transurban said COVID-19 traffic impacts were observable from early March with traffic deteriorating then improving in the second half of April.
In case you don’t know, Transurban owns and operates 15 toll roads in Melbourne, Sydney, and the greater Washington area. Revenue growth is derived from traffic growth and its very own rivers of gold – inflation-protected toll prices. CityLink in Melbourne is Transurban’s biggest asset, in 2018 this accounted for approximately 32% of their total toll revenue – working out to be about twice the size of the roads in Brisbane.
Looking at the weekly numbers, including the impacts of Easter 2020, traffic was down 56% and 57% in the week of April 5th and April 12th, respectively. The week of 26 April showed a fall of 44%. However, the company said traffic has stabilised and perhaps improved in certain parts. Read the rest of Jaz Harrison’s article here.
3. Australian Property Markets
With everything that’s gone on in markets in 2020, Rask Australia has taken the opportunity to get inside the mind of one of Australias most respected property commentators, Pete Wargent.
Owen Rask has released a podcast interview with Pete in which they discuss the past, present and future of property in Australia and if now is the right time to buy. It’s certainly worth a watch or listen to keep your finger on the pulse with all things property. You’ll find the link to the presentation here: property: the data & insights with Pete Wargent
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