ASX 200 Live Today - Wednesday, 26th August

Welcome to our live ASX coverage for Wednesday, August 26. Expect a high volume of posts pre-market and more periodic updates throughout the day. We'll be wrapping the blog up around 2:00 pm AEST. Let us know how we can make it even better.

Reporting season is heating up and we've got you covered. Our reporting season calendar has over 250 stocks plus earnings and dividend estimates.

Woolworths lifts EBIT 12.7% with every segment contributing and BIG W back in profit

[9:09 am] Australian Food momentum built through the second half while W Living swung $147m, though New Zealand went backwards and the Other drag widened.

• Group sales up 3.6% to $71,539m vs $71,609m ests (in line)

• EBITDA up 6.7% to $6,089m vs $6,206m ests (2% miss)

• Group EBIT before significant items up 12.7% to $3,105m vs $3,052m ests (2% beat), with all trading segments delivering growth

• NPAT (ex-items) up 15.4% to $1,599m vs $1,545m ests (3% beat)

• Final dividend up 15.6% to 52 cps fully franked, taking the full year to 97 cps vs 94.8 cps ests (2% beat), up 15.5%

• Australian Food sales up 4.6% with EBIT up 8.5%, though excluding cycled industrial action and supply chain costs the underlying figures were 4.1% and 4.8%, with margin up 20bps to 5.5%

• New Zealand Food EBIT fell 7.7% in H2, with gross margin down on customer investment and higher stockloss tied to the new store operating model rollout

• W Living swung to $116m EBIT from a $31m loss, with BIG W returning to a $64m profit and Petstock EBIT up 33.5%

• First eight weeks of FY27 saw Australian Food sales up 7.6%, though roughly 1.5 to 2pts came from the Disney Ooshies program, while BIG W sales declined modestly

  • Consensus for 1H27 Australian Food sales growth is 4.9%

• Wage pressure flagged for F27, with Bardwell pointing to the 4.75% Australian annual increase and progressive pay changes for 18 and 19 year old team members

Company page: Woolworths Group (WOW)

Lovisa lifts FY26 revenue by 17.6% on store rollout

[9:03 am] Americas and Europe carried the growth while comparable store sales stayed modest, and the payout ratio moved to 100% of earnings.

• Revenue up 17.6% to $938.8m vs $950m ests (1% miss), with the Americas up 29.6% and Europe up 29.5% doing the heavy lifting

• Comparable store sales up 2.0%, with 160 new stores opened to take the network to 1,136 at year end

• Gross margin up 60bps to 82.6%, in line with the 82.7% implied by ests

• EBIT up 14.1% to $158.2m vs $157m ests (1% beat), including start-up drag from Jewells, the seven store UK trial brand

• NPAT up 10.7% to $95.6m

• Final dividend up 22.2% to 33.0 cps 50% franked, taking full year dividends up 11.7% to 86.0 cps vs 82.0 cps ests (5% beat)

• Operating cash flow up 21.0% to $294.5m, with new stores and refurbishments fully funded from existing cash flows

• First eight weeks of FY27 saw total sales up 16.4% on a constant currency basis with comparable store sales up 3.0% and momentum improving through August

• No FY27 guidance provided, with management pointing to a long new store runway across physical and digital formats

Company page: Lovisa (LOV)

Tabcorp lifts EBITDA 10% on cost discipline and retail model changes

[9:00 am] Flat revenue but a 140bps margin expansion drove double-digit earnings growth, with a National Tote agreement and the BetMakers bid landing after year end.

• Revenue up 0.8% to $2,636.3m vs $2,646m ests (in line), with domestic wagering turnover up 0.9%, sport turnover up 8.3% and digital-in-venue turnover up 9.1%

• EBITDA up 10.3% to $431.7m vs $422m ests (2% beat), with margin expanding 140bps to 16.4% on a 0.8% underlying cost reduction

  • Wagering and Media EBITDA up 9.9% to $361.8m

  • Integrity Services EBITDA rose 12.0% to $69.9m on 3.3% revenue growth

• NPAT (ex-items) up 43.6% to $71.1m vs $71.9m ests (1% miss)

• Full year dividend up 50% to 3.0 cps vs 2.8 cps ests (7% beat), including a 1.5c unfranked final

• Net debt of $533m with leverage down to 1.2x, alongside extended tenor and more diverse funding

• FY27 wagering turnover growth guided to be broadly consistent with FY26 excluding the FIFA World Cup, with opex growth capped at general inflation of 3.0% to 3.5%

• FY27 capex of up to $160m and D&A of $225m to $235m, with EBITDA expected to benefit from Next-Gen terminal rollout and Phase 2 of the retail commercial model

• BetMakers acquisition targeted to complete in the third quarter of FY27, subject to conditions, following industry agreement on a National Tote

• Tax remains distorted by roughly $67m of non-deductible items tied to Victorian Licence amortisation and discount unwind

Company page: Tabcorp Holdings (TAH)

Helloworld beats on revenue and EBITDA but Middle East disruption caps profit

[8:57 am] Margin expansion and acquisitions drove top-line growth, though a hit to the June quarter left underlying profit marginally lower on the prior year.

• TTV up 4.1% to $4.0bn, with the Middle East conflict weighing on June quarter volumes

• Revenue up 8.1% to $208.5m vs $195.5m ests (7% beat), outpacing TTV growth as revenue margin lifted to 5.1% from 4.9%

• Underlying EBITDA up 8.4% to $60.2m vs $57.8m ests (4% beat), landing at the upper end of the $57m to $62m guidance range

• Underlying NPAT down 0.5% to $30.2m vs $30.5m ests (1% miss), with the gap to EBITDA growth pointing to higher depreciation, interest or tax

• Final dividend of 5.0 cps fully franked takes the full year to 10.0c, in line with ests but down 29% year-on-year

• CEO Andrew Burnes flagged the Middle East impact as the swing on the result, saying performance "would have been considerably stronger" in its absence

• Early FY27 trading is encouraging, with July TTV flat on the prior year but July EBITDA up 8.8%, alongside strong forward bookings

• Recovery playbook flagged, with management noting leisure demand historically rebounds within 60 to 90 days of market stabilisation

• No FY27 guidance yet, with the company signalling it will be provided ahead of the October AGM

Company page: Helloworld Travel (HLO)

Count lifts dividend to a nine-year high on Wealth-led earnings growth

[8:55 am] Acquisitions and organic advice demand drove double-digit revenue growth, with margins expanding as operating leverage builds.

• Revenue up 15.6% to $165.9m, driven by acquisitions and organic growth in the Wealth segment, with financial planning revenue in Equity Partnerships up 15.2%

• FUM up 66.1% to $6.5bn, boosted by insourcing of the Count Portfolios, the Oracle Investment Solutions acquisition, managed account expansion and market conditions

• FUA up 13.7% to $43.0bn on new client growth and net inflows

• Underlying EBITA up 20.5% to $33.4m, with margins expanding roughly 80bps to 20.1%

• Underlying NPAT up 27.2% to $13.9m, with statutory NPAT up 70.8% to $15.2m on the one-off items above

• Final dividend up 9.1% to 3.00 cps fully franked, the highest final payout in nine years

• 10 transactions completed including four financial planning acquisitions, taking the Equity Partnerships adviser count to 93

• Management points to regulatory tailwinds, with CEO Hugh Humphrey citing superannuation, product complexity and proposed changes in the 2026-27 Federal Budget as driving elevated demand for advice

Company page: Count (CUP)

Chalice gets independent tick on Gonneville approvals pathway

[8:54 am] An external review by a former WA EPA chair backs the environmental approvals strategy underpinning a targeted FID in the first half of CY28.

• Review found key environmental risks appropriately identified, with mitigation measures either already in place or planned, and concluded the H1 CY28 FID target is achievable

• Reviewer is Dr Tom Hatton, WA EPA chair from 2015 to 2020 and a 25-year CSIRO veteran, who holds no financial interest in Chalice or the project

• Ministerial approval remains on the critical path, the key gating item between here and FID rather than technical or financing workstreams

• Environment Review Documents due Q4 2026, with environmental modelling recently completed ahead of submission

• Project holds priority status with both the WA and Commonwealth governments, alongside extensive engagement with regulators and Traditional Owners

Company page: Chalice Mining (CHN)

Deep Yellow locks in Tumas water supply and local ownership ahead of Q4 FID

[8:53 am] Two long-standing conditions on the Namibian uranium project have been cleared, tightening the path to a final investment decision.

• Long-term water supply agreement signed with NamWater, covering dedicated capacity over the life of the project across construction, commissioning and production, with financial terms commercial-in-confidence

• Oponona to take a 5% stake in Reptile Uranium Namibia, the holder of mining licence ML237, satisfying the local ownership requirement attached to the licence

• No cash call from the local partner, with Oponona's 5% share of historical and future Tumas spend treated as an interest-free loan repayable only from its future dividends

• Community entity to receive 40% of Oponona's future dividends through a dedicated special purpose entity

• Construction is progressing, with bulk earthworks complete and roughly $34m of civil and concrete works awarded to two Namibian contractors, opening multiple work fronts to reduce schedule risk

• FID still targeted for Q4 2026, subject to market conditions, with engineering, procurement, optimisation and financing workstreams continuing in parallel

Company page: Deep Yellow (DYL)

Vysarn beats across the board as full year subsidiary contribution drives 41% profit growth

[8:51 am] A clean beat on revenue, earnings and profit, though cash conversion went backwards and FY27 is focused on two pending acquisitions.

• Revenue up 31% to $140.1m vs $133.7m ests (5% beat), reflecting a full twelve month contribution from all wholly owned subsidiaries after the CMP and WWS acquisitions

• EBITDA up 36% to $28.9m vs $27.8m ests (4% beat), with the industrial segment delivering a record year on tight water well drilling supply in WA iron ore

• NPAT up 41% to $15.1m vs $14.4m ests (5% beat), with net tangible assets of $66.0m

• Operational cash flow down 13% to $14.9m, converting at just 52% of EBITDA against 81% in FY25

• Industrial second half stepped down deliberately, with two rigs pulled from the field for client-spec rebuilds ahead of a new five year Tier 1 iron ore contract expected to support multiple rigs and double shifting

• Technology earnings were flat and heavily 2H skewed after wastewater plant awards slipped, pushing completion earnings on those plants into FY27

• Two acquisitions pending, with NewGround and Welltech to add water infrastructure, irrigation, facilities management and sewerage services, funded in part by a $65.3m placement at $1.05 per share

• No dividend declared, consistent with ests, with management flagging material FY27 investment in senior management ahead of the step-up in scale

Company page: Vysarn (VYS)

Flight Centre lands record TTV but Middle East hit costs leisure $60m in Q4

[8:48 am] A solid nine months unravelled in the June quarter as Middle East hostilities disrupted travel patterns, leaving underlying profit slightly lower despite corporate's full year uplift.

• TTV up 4.7% to a record $25.7bn, slowing from 6.9% growth over the nine months to March as Q4 disruption bit

• Revenue up 2.5% to $2.9bn vs $2.89bn ests (in line), with revenue growth well behind TTV growth

• Underlying EBITDA up 3.9% to $466m vs $472m ests (1% miss), with the underlying cost margin improving to 9.6%, just shy of the record 9.5% set in FY23

• Underlying PBT down 4% to $278m vs $284m ests (2% miss), landing in the lower half of the $275m to $295m guidance range after tracking near or above the top through Q3

• Circa $60m leisure profit hit in Q4, with higher software amortisation, new leisure lease costs and net interest adding a further $30m drag on underlying PBT

• EPS up 42.9% to 70.9c, outpacing NPAT growth as on-market buy-backs shrank the share count

• Final dividend of 30 cps takes the full year to 42 cps vs 40c ests (5% beat), up 5%, representing 47% of underlying NPAT

• Early FY27 trading is mixed, with record July leisure TTV and the strongest July profit since 2015, offset by corporate 1H27 profit expected below the prior year, and FY27 guidance held back until the November AGM

Company page: Flight Centre Travel Group (FLT)

Perseus beats on cash flow and dividend, lifts payout policy and buyback

[8:48 am] Record gold prices drove a beat across the top line and cash generation, with the surprise coming in shareholder returns rather than earnings.

• Revenue up 19% to US$1.48bn vs US$1.44bn ests (3% beat), with higher realised gold prices offsetting lower production at Yaouré and Edikan on planned ore source transitions

• EBITDA up 16% to US$860.5m vs US$790m ests (9% beat), though cost of sales rose on higher royalty rates in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana plus more waste and lower grades from the new pits

• NPAT up 14% to US$480.5m vs US$482m ests (in line), absorbing a US$235.4m tax expense against US$142.7m a year earlier after the Yaouré tax holiday ended on 31 December 2025

• Operating cash flow up 24% to US$666.4m vs US$548m ests (22% beat), lifting cash and bullion to US$1.03bn alongside a US$400m undrawn facility

• Full year dividend of 14.0 cents vs 11.7 cents ests (20% beat), up 87% on the prior year including a 9.0 cent final, for a 2.7% yield

• Dividend policy rebased to a minimum 20% of operating cash flow after non-controlling interest payments, replacing the prior 1% yield floor

• New buyback of up to $350m from around 24 September after $126m completed in FY26, plus a proposed $100m distribution from Meyas Sand sale proceeds

• FY27 guidance unchanged at 420koz to 480koz production, broadly in line with the 447koz est, while AISC of US$1,835 to US$2,070 per ounce sits around 5% below the US$2,046 est

• Resource base expanded, with Measured and Indicated up 37% and Proved and Probable up 40% on FY25, and Nyanzaga on track for first gold in January 2027

Company page: Perseus Mining (PRU)

Canada retaliates dollar for dollar as US trade war deepens

[8:43 am] Ottawa has matched Trump's 50% tariffs with duties of its own, and the escalation ladder still has plenty of rungs left.

• Canada will tariff more than 700 US goods worth about $20bn from 8 September, with rates of 15% to 50% matching Trump's latest duties dollar for dollar

• Steel and aluminium tariffs double to 50%, with the rest concentrated in paper, construction materials, home appliances, dairy and seafood, sectors chosen because Canada has domestic alternatives

• Targeting is politically calculated, with Industry Minister Mélanie Joly saying the levies were picked to hit specific US states ahead of the midterms

• The scale is still modest, covering roughly 6% of US goods exports to Canada, while the latest US tariffs cover about 5% of US imports from Canada

• The bigger threats sit ahead, with Trump flagging 50% tariffs on Canadian cars, trucks, auto parts and steel from 1 January 2027, and Ottawa holding energy, potash and electricity exports in reserve

ECB primed for September hike but stops short of flagging more

[8:41 am] Sources say the ECB is ready to lift rates again to contain the inflation spillover from the Iran war, without committing to a longer tightening cycle.

• Policy rate set to rise to 2.50% from 2.25% at the 9-10 September meeting, following June's first hike in nearly three years

• Inflation running at close to 3%, driven by rising natural gas prices and elevated petrol prices, both acute for the energy-importing euro zone

• Governors see no need to signal further tightening beyond September, with long-term inflation expectations still anchored at the 2% target, while markets price one or two more hikes

• Euro zone activity is holding up better than expected on output data and business surveys, suggesting the tightening so far is not straining growth

• August inflation data lands next week, ahead of updated ECB staff projections at the September meeting, and the June hike was already embedded in those forecasts

Apple refreshes Mac mini and Mac Studio with M6 and M5 Ultra chips

[8:40 am] New desktops land into pent-up demand after a memory chip shortage forced Apple to lift prices and left machines out of stock for months.

• Mac mini now starts at US$899 on the new M6 chip, up from the original US$599 base that was scrapped in May and an interim $799 following the AI-driven memory squeeze

• Mac Studio spans US$2,499 to US$5,499 on M5 Max and M5 Ultra, with a fully configured M5 Ultra build reaching US$18,299, lifting the mix toward higher-margin professional configurations

• Both machines are out of stock at Apple and most authorised retailers, often for weeks or months, so the refresh should convert quickly into orders rather than sitting on shelves

• Pre-orders open now with retail from 22 September, shipping on macOS 27 Golden Gate, ahead of an iPhone event on or around 9 September that includes Apple's first foldable

• Leadership transition lands in September, with Cook handing over to John Ternus, followed by an updated HomePod mini and a smart home display built around the revamped Siri

Source: Bloomberg

US widens sanctions threat on Iran as Hormuz shipping risk lingers

[8:37 am] Washington is escalating economic pressure on Tehran while stopping short of pulling the trigger, leaving oil and shipping markets in a holding pattern.

• Bessent threatened secondary sanctions on countries refusing to cut economic ties with Iran but imposed no major new penalties, calling it a "warning shot" and giving everyone "the opportunity to remedy bad behaviour"

• A major sanctions announcement targeting an unspecified financial institution is flagged for the end of this week, alongside threats to expel Iranian money laundering facilitators from the US dollar system

• China, India, Turkey, Iraq and the UAE are seen as most exposed, though Bessent declined to say whether Chinese banks would be targeted, and the UAE has already suspended all trade and financial transactions with Iran

• Beijing pushed back, with the Foreign Ministry saying its cooperation with Iran sits within international law and that "economic warfare and maximum pressure provide no solution"

• Trump says all mines have been removed or detonated in the Strait of Hormuz under a "zero tolerance" policy, but a tanker was struck and disabled off Oman and a Saudi Bahri tanker was hit in a Red Sea incident

• Iran's rial has fallen to a record low beyond 2 million per US dollar, with Tehran saying it is "fully prepared" and will not respond purely defensively

Oil down, yields down

[8:35 am] Brent dipped 4.8% to US$85.95 a barrel overnight, driving a sharp pullback for bond yields.

Brent (top left), US 2-year yield (top right), US 10-year yield (bottom left), US 30-year yield (bottom right) | Source: TradingView

Good morning!

[8:24 am] ASX 200 futures are up 29 pts (+0.31%). Here's what happened overnight:

• Chip stocks carried the US market higher, ahead of Nvidia's result tomorrow

  • S&P 500 (+0.32%), Dow (+0.30%), Nasdaq (+0.66%), Russell 2000 (+0.50%), Equal-weight S&P 500 (-0.07%)

• Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up 1.4% but still down 8.1% in the last six sessions

• Brent dipped 4.8% to US$85.95 a barrel, driving a meaningful pullback for bond yields

• Canada matched Washington dollar for dollar, announcing retaliatory tariffs on C$27.6bn of US goods from 8 September as the trade fight escalated