The Australian sharemarket declined from a record close amid a flurry of earnings results, including CSL, which fell sharply after a “messy” earnings outsee and a revenue miss.
The S&P/ASX 200 index was down 68.20 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 8891.10 at 2.15pm AEST, as five out of the 11 sectors traded in the red.
Healthcare stocks dropped 8.2 per cent, dragged lower by a 15.8 per cent plunge in CSL – its hugegest drop on record – after the plasma giant declared it would cut 3000 staff globally, or around 15 per cent of its workforce, as revenue came in below expectations. The third-largest company wiped 53 points off the index.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Craig Wong-Pan also declared CSL’s guidance for the current fiscal year could create a somewhat messy trading environment.
The energy sector also weighed on the bourse as Santos dived 2.3 per cent after the company declared its binding agreement with its Abu Dhabi suitors was unlikely to happen before the deadline.
Woodside, which ruled out creating a rival bid for Santos, dropped 1.9 per cent after it posted a 24 per cent drop in first-half core profit to $US1.247 billion amid lower prices and other adjustments.
BHP, meanwhile, climbed 1.5 per cent amid news it’s planning to slash spconcludeing on new mines. The mining giant reported a 26 per cent slide in earnings and has cut dividconcludes to the tinyest in eight years.
Heavyweight financials were slightly up led by a 0.8 per cent bounce in National Australia Bank after Monday’s trading update, while Commonwealth Bank rose 0.6 per cent, ANZ by 0.2 per cent and Westpac was flat at $37.06.
Stocks in focus
In company news, Seek was the market leader on the ASX 200 as it rose 6.6 per cent after posting an increase in revenue off fewer job ads, after increasing prices to beat analyst expectations for the 2025 financial year.
ARB Corporation rallied 6.5 per cent as it reported sales revenue of $729.9 million, up 5.3 per cent on the prior year in the 12 months to June 30.
Challenger bank Judo Capital jumped 3.1 per cent with a cost-led beat, supporting pre-impairment profit surpass consensus by around 2 per cent.
Sims fell 4.3 per cent as it flagged softer demand, trade policy uncertainty, the implementation of tariffs by US President Donald Trump and a glut of Chinese steel hitting the market.
Reliance Worldwide Corporation dived 8 per cent as it posted a 13.5 per cent rise in full-year net profit to $US125 million, supported by the first full-year contribution from Holman Industries and ongoing cost savings.
Strike Energy tumbled 12.5 per cent as it flagged a write-down of oil and gas assets of between $85 million and $108 million.
And HMC Capital retreated by 10.4 per cent after it informed investors to expect weaker growth in the coming year.
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