Business

News on companies, industries, and corporate developments.

Business
What's old is new: ESG investing is dead, long live ESG
The off-again and on-again sentiment by governments and capital markets toward fossil fuel-based investments since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 has left the market wondering if all former bets are off when it comes to environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing. With a lot of companies now doing the previously unheard of and pushing back against an ESG focus, Azzet went in search of clues as to where ESG is currently at. Here's what we found. To add to current confusion, the cold shoulder treatment dished out to renewables by the new Trump administration has given the market renewed reason to question whether the ESG investing framework is still being taken seriously. Mounting scepticism towards ESG, after all, is a 180-degree flip from market sentiment only a decade earlier. Due in part to the commitment governments around the world originally made to the 2016 Paris Agreement and carbon emission reductions, institutional investors and lenders started progressively turning away from fossil fuels. Five years later, banks, asset managers and insurers were hell bent on showing off their green credentials by joining global initiatives that sought to speed up climate action. This crescendoed at the COP26 -
Business
Earnings season - QBE, Alibaba, Walmart, Airbus, Block
Welcome to our live blog coverage of earnings season! This is the time of year when publicly traded companies report their financial results, giving investors and analysts a glimpse into their performance and future outlook. We'll bring you real-time updates, analysis, and commentary on the latest earnings reports from major companies across various sectors. Stay tuned as we break down the numbers, highlight surprises, and provide insights into what these results mean for the market. ______________________________________________________________________________________ Summary Walmart shares dive after disappointing results Guzman y Gomez shares trading lower than expected Airbus going strong, outperforming Boeing _______________________________________________________________________________________ 8:35 am (AEDT): Hello everyone, Sienna Martyn here to take you through some earnings reports today. We have a lot of big companies coming through, such as QBE, Alibaba, Walmart, Booking.com, Guzman y Gomez and many more! To kick us off, let's take a look at Walmart Inc (NYSE: WMT). Shares in the company dived after the American retailer disappointed the market with profit and sales forecasts that were below expectat
Business
Spark New Zealand struck down 18.8%; net profits tank
Spark New Zealand tumbled 18.8% on the ASX 200 during Friday's trade, down 18.9% on the NZX 50 after reporting a steep decline in net profit amid ongoing challenges in its enterprise and government divisions. Net profit after tax (NPAT) plunged 77.7% to $35 million, primarily due to lower EBITDAI (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, ammortisation, and net interest income) and increased depreciation and amortisation costs. Excluding non-recurring operating model transformation costs of $29 million, adjusted EBITDAI fell 15.5% to $448 million, while adjusted NPAT declined 64.3% to $56 million. The company’s revenue fell 1.9% to $1.94 billion, impacted by declining IT services, mobile performance, and the continued erosion of legacy voice revenue. Growth in mobile devices, cloud, data centres, and IoT provided some offset. The decline was largely attributed to Spark’s Enterprise and Government division, which faced spending cuts, mobile fleet reductions, a shifting product mix, and intensified price competition. Spark Chair Justine Smyth acknowledged the difficult conditions, stating, “When we updated the market in October, we outlined that we were experiencing one of the longest and deepest recessionary perio
Business
Afterpay parent Block finishes year in the black
Financial services company Block Inc turned around its performance in the fourth quarter of the 2024 financial year (Q4 FY24), tapping out an operating profit of US$13 million (A$20.6 million) versus a loss of $131 million in the last quarter of 2023. Block, which provides payment services including point-of-sale systems, said adjusted operating profit increased 17% to $402 million and gross profit grew 14% to $2.31 billion in the three months to 31 December 2024. The company, formerly known as Square, said diluted earnings (net income) per share (EPS) was $3.05 compared with 16 cents, while adjusted EPS rose 51% to 71 cents, in Q4. For the 2024 year, net profit after tax was $2.897 billion, compared with a loss of $9.772 million in 2023. Gross profit increased 18.4% to $8.889 billion while net revenue rose 10% to $24.121 billion.Source: Block Inc.Block is best known in Australia for buying Australian "buy now, pay later" company Afterpay in 2021 for A$29 billion in an all-stock transaction, making billionaires of founders Nick Molnar and Anthony Eisen. In February 2025, Block began integrating Afterpay with its Cash App Card, enabling eligible customers to retroactively pay over time for their purchases. Block said
Business
Mayne Pharma skyrockets on news of takeover by US giant
ASX-listed mid-cap Mayne Pharma (ASX: MYX) looks destined to exit the main board after Private equity-backed US pharmaceutical giant Cosette $672 million cash takeover bid for the drug maker of birth control and menopause treatments. The market clearly liked today’s news with Mayne’s share price up 33% in early afternoon trading. The company took little time to recommend shareholders accept the $7.40 a share bid, which is a 37% premium to the company’s closing share price yesterday. Mayne chairman Frank Condella told investors that New Jersey-based Cosette had recognised significant value in the company’s women’s health and dermatology businesses, with the offer giving shareholders the opportunity to receive cash value at a significant premium. “The deal is in line with the board’s priority to deliver value to our shareholders, and also to provide significant benefits to broader stakeholders,” Condella said. Added weight to the board’s recommendation, both Viburnum Funds and Bruce Mathieson - the company’s two largest shareholders with a combined 14% stake – have already given the deal the nod. It’s also understood that Rubric Capital, which owns all of the convertible notes that Mayne Pharma issued late in 2022,

Business
Guzman y Gomez tanks on worrisome US expansion
Shares in recently listed Guzman y Gomez (ASX: GYG) were trading around 10% lower at midday (AEDT), despite telling the market it was on track to beat its prospectus profit forecast for the year. Strong sales and earnings growth in 1H FY25 saw the Mexican food chain post revenue of $212.5 million, which delivered an inaugural profit of $8.1 million compared with the $4.3 million loss posted in the previous period. What the market clearly didn’t like was a slushy looking United States result that came in 25% down on market expectations. The U.S. segment experienced a 12.7% decline in network sales to $4.9 million and corporate restaurant margins also decreased, due to additional investment in restaurant labour ahead of anticipated sales growth. US segment concerns Underscoring the future importance of getting its U.S. operation right, RBC Capital Markets notes that while this segment isn’t currently material to the group, its current valuation hinges on a successful U.S. expansion. “…this may receive outsized attention from investors,” the broker noted. The company noted that demonstrating proof of concept in the U.S. remains a priority, with focus remaining on driving sales through expanding brand awareness an
Business
Anglo American spurs its transition to copper giant
London-based global miner Anglo American is divesting a bunch of non-core assets in coal, nickel and diamonds for working capital to focus on the development and acquisition of copper and iron ore assets. Since fending off a US$49 billion takeover offer from BHP (ASX : BHP) which wanted exposure to the coveted Collahuesi mine, Anglo American (LON : AAL) has decided to concentrate on shoring up its copper assets Collahuesi is considered one of the world’s largest and highest grade copper mines in the world, of which Anglo American operates in a JV with fellow takeover target Glencore. Pivot to copper The sale of its steelmaking and coal business will generate US$4.8 billion and it will bank an extra US$500m with the sale of its ferro-nickel businesses in Brazil to China-backed MMG. A demerger of its Anglo American Platinum (AAP) business is expected in June, with the company retaining a 19.9% interest. “We are fast transforming Anglo American into a far higher margin and more valuable mining company focused on exceptional copper, premium iron ore and crop nutrients assets and significant growth optionality,” Anglo American chief executive Duncan Wanblad said. “Copper is at the forefront of our growth ambitions
Business
QBE kicks profit goals and excited about future
Global insurer QBE Insurance has announced a 31% increase in net profit after tax (NPAT) to US$1.78 billion (A$2.28 billion) for the 2024 financial year (FY24). The Australian company, which offers coverage for businesses, individuals and institutions including property, casualty, health, and life insurance, said revenue increased by 5% to $21.78 billion in the 12 months to 31 December 2024. QBE said adjusted net profit after tax surged 27% to $1.73 million, resulting in an adjusted return on equity of 18.2%. Gross written premium growth of 3% tracked in line with expectations and was supported by group-wide renewal rate increases of 5.5% and new business growth. The combined operating ratio improved to 93.1% ahead of the plan for the year, and was supported by a favourable catastrophe experience and more stable central estimate reserve development. The strong investment performance continued, with total investment income rising 4.5% to $1.49 billion, equating to a return of 4.9%. The board declared a final dividend of 63 Australian cents per share, 4.8 cents of which were franked, to be paid on 11 April to shareholders registered on 6 March. This brings the full-year payment to 87 Australian cents per share.Sour
Business
Alibaba surges with strong e-commerce, cloud growth
Alibaba saw strong growth in revenue and income last quarter, with major increases in its e-commerce and cloud divisions. Its revenue was CN¥280.2 billion, besting LSEG forecasts of ¥279.3 billion. This is an 8% year-over-year jump. “This quarter’s results demonstrated substantial progress in our ‘user first, AI-driven’ strategies and the re-accelerated growth of our core businesses,” said CEO Eddie Wu. “Looking ahead, revenue growth at Cloud Intelligence Group driven by AI will continue to accelerate. We will continue to execute against our strategic priorities in e-commerce and cloud computing, including further investment to drive long-term growth.” The company’s net income was CN¥48.9 billion, up 333% year-over-year and above analyst estimates of ¥40.6 billion. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share were CN¥2.67, rising 13% from the prior year. Alibaba’s International Digital Commerce division posted the sharpest year-over-year revenue growth, increasing 32% to CN¥37.76 billion. This was largely driven by cross-border business, the company said, including investments during international shopping events and user growth initiatives in Europe and the Gulf region. Its Taobao and Tmall division reported the highe