• Lithium miners surge
  • NextDC also jumps on strong H1, but Flight Centre tumbles
  • Aussie inflation lowest in two years

 

The ASX 200 closed modestly lower on Wednesday with, with gains in Tech offset by losses in Comm Services and Staples sectors.

Lithium miners surged strongly, with Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) and IGO (ASX:IGO) climbing by 5% each.

Among the biggest decliners were Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) and Neuren Pharma (ASX:NEU) – see detail below.

Meanwhile, Australian CPI came in at 3.4% YoY for January, much lower than economists’ consensus of 3.6%. The figure remains the lowest annual inflation since November 2021.

“CPI inflation is often impacted by items with volatile price changes like automotive fuel, fruit and vegetables, and holiday travel. It can be helpful to exclude these items from the headline CPI to provide a view of underlying inflation,” said the ABS report.

When those volatile items were excluded, the annual rise in January was 4.1%, down from 4.2% in December.

“All up, today’s CPI release should be broadly reassuring to the RBA and, on balance, reduces the risk it might consider yet another rate increases in coming months,” said Betashares’ economist, David Bassanese.

 

BIG CAP WINNERS

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NEXTDC (ASX:NXT)’s total revenue for the half increased by 31% to $209.1 million. Underlying EBITDA ncreased by 5% to $102.0 million. The company says it remains well capitalised to take advantage of its strong forward sales pipeline, as well as to continue to build its forward sales and earnings outlook.

APM Human Services (ASX:APM) was the best performing large cap today, up 13% after revenue for H1 was reported at $1,116.8m, up 31% on the pcp. Statutory NPATA was $43.6m, down 41% on pcp. APM has reaffirmed its previous guidance that it expects H2 BITDA and NPATA to be higher than H1, with a second-half earnings skew consistent with prior periods.

 

BIG CAP LOSERS

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Flight Centre Travel (ASX:FLT) achieved a $106 million underlying profit before tax (PBT) for the half year. This was a 565% increase on the pcp, when FLT achieved a $16million underlying PBT. In terms of FY24 outlook, early H2 results are in line with expectations. There is no change to the financial outlook previously provided to the market.

Kelsian Group (ASX:KLS)’s revenue for H1 grew by 44.9% on pcp to $982.7m. Underlying NPATA increased by 20.4% on pcp to $43.1m. Fully franked interim dividend was declared at 8.0 cents per share, versus 7.5 cents per share in the pcp. In terms of outlook, Kelsian says it is well placed to continue to deliver growth underpinned by economies of scale, efficiencies, and global procurement opportunities.

Neuren Pharma (ASX:NEU) says Q4 2023 sales of DAYBUE, the first and only treatment approved by the US FDA to treat Rett syndrome, came in at US$87.1 million. This result is in line with the top end of its previous guidance of between US$80 million to $87.5 million. For full-year of 2024, Neuren has now guided the market to Daybue net sales of between US$370 million and US$420 million.

Meridian Energy (ASX:MEZ) has reported NPAT of $191 million for the half, 5% lower than the same period last year. The board has announced an interim ordinary dividend of 6.15 cents per share, 3% higher than last year’s interim dividend.

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