Christmas has come early for the bank’s shareholders with the decision to slightly increase the 2024 dividend – despite a single-digit decline in the net profit and cash earnings.
Beating the market benchmark is never easy, with 72 per cent of Australian actively managed global equity general funds trailing the S&P World Index in the six months to June 30, 2024. Domestic equity funds performed slightly better, albeit against a significantly lower bar set by the S&P/ASX 200 Index.
ASX struggles under COVID-19 weight
ASX struggles under COVID-19 weight, banks fall, retail sales recover
The ASX200 (ASX:XJO) struggled today, falling 1.1%, as concern around the NSW COVID-19 outbreak weighed on sentiment at the same time that volumes fall ahead of the Christmas break.
Every sector finished lower apart from healthcare, IT, and real estate, the latter benefitting from better than expected retail sales figures.
According to the ABS, retail sales jump 9% in November from October on the back of an incredible 21% jump in Victoria as lockdowns were eased.
The figures were driven heavily by increases in household goods and restaurant spending and actually 13.2% ahead of November 2019.
This is an important sign that the record-high savings rate of 20% throughout 2020 may be moving back towards the average of around 2 to 3%.
If it continues, Australia may lead the world for economic recovery in 2021. The result saw large shopping centre owners Vicinity Centres (ASX:VCX) and Scentre Group (ASX:SCG) among the few winners for the day adding 1.3% and 2.6% respectively.
Property sector stays busy, Magellan bites into burritos, Ramsay secures an extension
Magellan Financial Group (ASX:MFG) continued its march towards becoming an investment bank akin to Macquarie Group (ASX:MQG), as opposed to the asset manager it has been since inception.
This time it was the purchase of a 10% stake in unlisted, fast-growing Mexican food chain Guzman y Gomez for $86.8 million. The investment will form part of their ‘Principal Investments’ business alongside corporate advisory firm Barrenjoey.
This is an interesting move for MFG who is clearly seeking to diversify away from the sometimes-fickle asset management industry, the question is whether it is in the interests of all shareholders.
Charter Hall (ASX:CHC) was in the news once again after announcing the acquisitions of David Jones’ Elizabeth Street store in Sydney for $550 million.
The purchase will be part of a sale and leaseback agreement with David Jones, securing a further term of 20 years and 2.5% annual increases in rent.
The investment will be owned 50% by the Long WALE Trust (ASX:CLW) and 25% by the parent company, which fell 0.5% on the news.
Stimulus passed, positive lead for Australia, Walmart, Apple in the news
The US Government finally passed their USD$900 billion stimulus package just in time for Christmas. It will provide USD$600 one-off cheque along with a continued USD$300 unemployment benefit.
The news supported the markets, but not enough to overcome the threat of the more contagious UK strain of the Coronavirus, the S&P500 fell 0.2% and the Nasdaq increased by 0.5%.
At this point, the concern seems to be overstated with market movements likely tied to lower volumes and weaker sentiment as the Christmas break nears.
Walmart (NYSE:WMT) was in the news for all the wrong reasons with the Government suing the company for helping fuel the opioid crisis in the US by not screening prescriptions appropriately; shares fell 1.5%.
On the positive side, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:APPL) announced it would seek to launch it’s own autonomous vehicle or iCar by 2024 as it continues to pivot away from phones and computers to be a true technology brand; shares moved 3.0% higher.
