Reporting season: All the latest news from companies releasing financial results to the ASX today

The Finance Sector Union wants Commonwealth Bank to cough up “inflation-busting” pay rises for it members after the lender today reported a full-year profit of almost $11 billion.

The union said the staggering sum came after a year of “savage” job cuts and offshoring of roles “as the workers who delivered the profit wait for the bank to agree to a new, and overdue, enterprise agreement”.

“The FSU is seeking a fair 5 per cent pay increase for the majority of the bank’s 37,000 employees as well as guarantees around job security, safe workloads and staffing, and flexible work,” said national secretary Julia Angrisano

“Despite 10 meetings with CBA since February, the bank only presented the FSU with its counter-offer last week.

“The offer will lead to a decline in real wages as around two-thirds of staff will receive a wage increase below the consumer price index in the first year.“

The union said CBA’s minimum pay rate is $29.26 an hour, less than $3 above the national minimum rate and only slightly more than a Bunnings employee who can earn $28.64 an hour, with the added benefit of five weeks leave and a nine-day fortnight.

This is what Aussie investors were buying last week ...

How have they fared?:

• 4D Medical is off 12.9 per cent for the past five trading days but up 2.5 per cent today to $$4.18.
• Fortescue has shed 3.6 per cent since last week and dropped 1.5 per cent today to $17.74
• DroneShield is down 5.3 per cent for the past five trading days and lost 2.1 per cent today to $2.07
• WiseTech dropped 0.8 per cent today to $40.48, but is actually up nearly 3 per cent over the past five trading days.
• BHP has shifted just 0.4 per cent higher over the past week but slipped almost one per cent today to $63.44.

Lower customer power usage due to milder weather, alongside softer energy prices and higher gas supply costs, has fed into a dip in still-solid earnings by one of Australia’s biggest energy retailers.

AGL Energy reported an annual underlying net profit - which strips out some one-off and volatile items - of $631 million, which was down almost 2 per cent from the year before.

The result was in the middle of the group’s guidance for an outcome between $580m and $680m for the year ended June 30.

“We were well within our guidance range,” chief executive Damien Nicks told AAP on Wednesday.

“So again, a very solid result because it had been, I would say, a milder year from a weather perspective and a probably softer year from an energy markets perspective.

“May and June were some of the mildest weather we’ve seen in a long time.”

AGL, which generates and sells electricity and gas to residential and business customers, reported a bottom-line net profit of $756m, up from $112m in the previous year.

That result was driven by a one-off gain of $268m from an asset sale and other one-off items.

However, AGL also said its results were supported by stronger consumer electricity and gas margins.

Asked about customer hardship cases, Mr Nicks said AGL had seen a “small” increase, “as you’d expect this year”.

Full-year revenue fell 5.2 per cent to $13.6b, though AGL did deliver $30m in cost savings and kept its costs broadly flat.

AGL continues to pivot its portfolio from coal-fired plants to renewables and batteries as it steps up to meet the climate change-driven energy transition.

AGL declared a final dividend of 26c per share, taking the total for the year to 50c.

$291 billion banking giant Commonwealth Bank’s small share price gain has help ease the early bleed on the Australian share market.

The stock was up 0.3 per cent to $174.87 after the first hour of trade as all but two of the S&P/ASX200’s 11 sector opened lower this morning.

Utlities and the banks were the only ones to hold in the green.

Telcos were down 1.4 per cent, with healthcare, consumer discretionaries and staples, industrials, real estate, miner and energy stocks all off just under one per cent.

The index was down 0.6 per cent at 9200.

Solomon Lew’s Premier Investments was among the biggest losers, shedding 8 per cent after the retailer trimmed guidance and revealed it would exit its three flagging Peter Alexander stores in the UK.

Online job ads platform was the day’s worst performer so far, plunging 16 per cent after reporting a full-year writedown-weighted loss of more than $370 million.

A disaster-ridden year has cost Australia’s largest insurer almost half its underlying profit after it paid out hundreds of millions of dollars more in claims than it bargained for.

Suncorp, which owns insurers AAMI, GIO and Shannons, paid $10.1 billion in claims in the year to June 30, exceeding its natural hazard allowance by more than $254 million.

Its bottom-line net profit nosedived 44 per cent to land at $1.03b, as executives announced a $250m share buyback.

“We have simplified materially over the past decade, our supply chains and reinsurance arrangements are broad and deep,” Suncorp chief executive Steve Johnson said.

“Our low-risk investment portfolios are expected to benefit from the current higher yields.”

The total of all the premiums Suncorp charged in the year to June 30 was $15.42b, up 2.7 per cent.

More than 120,000 claims had arisen from 32 weather events across Australia and New Zealand, including 18 declared natural hazard events, the insurance giant said.

The disasters had taken a massive three-quarter chunk out of Suncorp’s half-year profit compared to the previous year

The company took out a $2.4b reinsurance policy that kicked in at the end of June, at an eye-watering $40.2m premium.

“Suncorp will have significant financial protection from a multi-year aggregate reinsurance cover,” Mr Johnson said.

Shareholders pocketed a 52c-a-share dividend after Suncorp wrapped up a $400m share buyback for the 2025/26 financial year.

They will receive a special fully-franked 10c a share after the underwriter completes another $250m buyback in the coming financial year.

The Commonwealth Bank has joined Westpac and NAB in noting a drop-off in home loan applications since the Federal Government announced in its May Budget that it would overhaul the capital gains tax system to open more of the housing market to first-homebuyers.

CEO Matt Comyn said housing activity has softened from a “high base” but loan application numbers appear to have stabilised in recent weeks.

On Monday, Westpac revealed its mortgage applications had fallen 20 per cent since the Budget, while NAB indicated on July 31 that its home loan applications were down 15 per cent in the June quarter.

Homebuyers did get some relief yesterday when the Reserve Bank of Australia left rates on hold for a second straight meeting.

Premier Investments is drawing the curtains on Peter Alexander’s UK misadventure, marking a rare retail stumble for Aussie retail king Solomon Lew.

Blame for the withdrawal has been pinned on the UK’s deteriorating economy.

The three bricks-and-mortar Peter Alexander sleepwear stores in Bluewater, Stratford and White City will continue to serve customers through an online presence only.

In only a brief statement as part of a portfolio trading update issued this morning, Premier said the board’s decision followed “sustained difficult trading conditions” and had “regard to the continued negative outlook for the United Kingdom economy”.

“Peter Alexander is also actively exploring international wholesale opportunities with global best-in-class wholesale partners, leveraging Premier Retail’s existing expertise in this channel,” it said.

The sleepwear brand has been a bright light for Premier in Australia - where its recently launched loyalty program has continued to exceed expectations - but failed to gain traction in the crowded UK market after opening its doors there in late 2024.

Premier also revealed its unaudited sales for FY26 were likely to come in at $795.5 million, down 2 per cent on the previous year.

It also trimmed earnings expectations from $183m forecast in March to $176m.

Lew said discretionary retail conditions in the second half of FY26 had been very challenging, in particular during the latter months.

KPMG Australia’s general counsel Louise Capon and human resources chief Dorothy Hisgrove are leaving the firm, the latest senior staffers to depart.

Capon and Hisgrove finalised their exits with the KPMG board on Tuesday, according tomedia reports. Both were part of the firm’s response to a whistleblower’s allegations of misconduct in its audit division.

A KPMG spokesperson confirmed the executives’ departures.

Documents released by a parliamentary committee on Monday suggested KPMG provided the law firm Ashurst with an incomplete picture of allegations raised by the whistleblower.

The saga has triggered a sweeping leadership shake-up at KPMG Australia. Former chairman Martin Sheppard and a slew of other executives have left the firm amid a broader restructuring following the whistleblower’s allegations that confidential client information was used to help secure business.

KPMG appointed John Sams as chief executive of its Australian unit last month.

The exits come as KPMG prepares to face another parliamentary hearing into the scandal on Friday.

The session, following one in June, will seek to examine the way the firm treated the whistleblower and KPMG’s response to the allegations.

Bloomberg

Just 24 hours after booking a $140 million job at a New Zealand gold mine, Macmahon has revealed it has been selected by Medallion Metals as the preferred underground mining contractor for the Ravensthorpe gold project.

The $240m contract will run for an initial term of three years, with work set to start in December.

The scope of the works includes portal establishment, underground development, production and ancillary works.

Centred on the Kundip mining centre, Medallion said ongoing exploration and development would continue to increase ounces, expand production and extend mine life.

Macmahon boss Michael Finnegan said development of Ravensthorpe represented an exciting opportunity not only for Medallion and Macmahon, but also for the local communities that will support the project.

“We look forward to building strong local relationships, creating employment and development opportunities, and making a positive contribution to the region over the life of the project and beyond,” he said.

Macmahon is due to report its full-year results next Tuesday.

Australia’s economy remains resilient but growth is slowing as higher interest rates and inflation continue to pressure household budgets, the nation’s biggest bank says, after delivering a massive annual profit.

Commonwealth Bank has reported a statutory full-year net profit of $10.9 billion, up 7 per cent from the previous year, on a 7 per cent boost in revenue to $30.2b.

Cash net profit - its preferred measure of profitability - came in at $11b, also up 7 per cent, and ahead of market expectations.

“The Australian economy has remained resilient, supported by historically low unemployment and longer-term investment,” chief executive Matt Comyn said this morning.

“However, growth is slowing, with higher interest rates and inflation placing uneven pressure on household incomes and economic activity.”

Mr Comyn noted that housing activity has softened from a “high base”, after Federal Government policy changes weighed on the property market.

But the bank’s loan application numbers appear to have stabilised in recent weeks, he added.

On Monday, Westpac revealed its mortgage applications had fallen 20 per cent since the May Budget, while NAB indicated late last month that its home loan applications were down 15 per cent in the June quarter.

CBA grew at or above system - which refers to the average banking sector performance - in each of its five core domestic product categories in the full year - home lending, business lending, consumer finance, household deposits and business deposits.

“It is the first time CBA has achieved this and the first time any major Australian bank has done so in the past 15 years,” Mr Comyn said.

“We remain the main financial institution for one in three Australian and one in four Australian businesses.”

CBA reported a net interest margin - which reflects the earnings it makes on its lending business - of 2.05 per cent, which was down three basis points on 2024/25 although it was two points higher from the first half of 2025/26.

The bank declared a final dividend of $2.70, taking the total for the year ending June 30 to $5.05, which was a four per cent improvement on the prior year.