Sales for the quarter were flat at
US$13.1 billion. Management had also lowered its 2023 revenue forecast to between $53 billion and $54 billion, compared with the earlier guidance of $55 billion to $57 billion given earlier in the year at February.
The company noted it has been impacted by declining commodity prices and closed export markets due to ongoing concerns with avian influenza. The share price at the time of writing was down 16.4 per cent.
Cloud security company Zscaler’s stock surged as high as 20.0 per cent on opening after the company raised its financial forecasts for the full fiscal year.
Management expects revenue for the three months ended April to be between US$415 million and US$419 million, higher than the previous guidance by US$19 million on both ends of the range.
It also raised the forecast for calculated billings and revenue for the full fiscal year, with complete third-quarter results expected on June 1.
Global investment firm KKR & Company Incorporated reported a 26.0 per cent year on year drop in after-tax distributable earnings in its first fiscal quarter due to a sharp decline in asset sales from its private equity portfolio and lower transaction fees.
KKR’s profit from asset sales was down 70.0 per cent, while transaction fees from the capital markets division slumped by over 60.0 per cent.
KKR raised US$12 billion of new capital and made US$10 billion of new investments in their first fiscal quarter, with a dividend of US$0.165 per share.
Rest of the World
German biotechnology company BioNTech reported its fiscal first quarter earnings of €2.05 per share and revenue of €1.28 billion.
However, it was a significant decline compared to the comparative quarter in 2022 when the company reported earnings of €14.24 per share from revenue of €6.37 billion.
BioNTech attributed the revenue decline in the latest quarter to lower sales of its Covid-19 vaccine worldwide.
Management reiterated its forecast that revenue from its Covid-19 vaccine will be around €5 billion in 2023. At the time of writing the share price is down 4.5 per cent on open.
Taiwan’s April exports contracted for the eighth month in a row, falling 13.3 per cent from a year ago to US$35.96 billion.
Semiconductor exports decreased by 7.1 per cent, while the total shipment of electronic components declined by 8.6 per cent.
Commodities
Bitcoin’s price decreased by 7.2 per cent due to transactions being stalled due to a backlog and high fees.
Binance temporarily halted withdrawals due to network congestion, with more than 444,990 unconfirmed bitcoin transactions in the network’s memory pool.
Australia
Westpac Bank announced its half year fiscal earnings, with management abandoning its cost-cutting target, citing inflation, and has warned of narrower net interest margins in the coming months as interest rate cycles near peaks.
The bank had been targeting annual costs of AU$8.6 billion by 2024.
CEO Peter King said inflation was pushing up overheads and added that the bank had raised wages 4.0 per cent during the period. The first half saw Westpac’s net income rise 22.0 per cent from the same period a year earlier, helped by the higher interest rates.
New dwelling approvals in Australia have fallen to their lowest levels in nearly two and a half years in March, down 15.0 per cent to 180,893 in the year ending in March 2023 compared to the previous year.
Detached house approvals have fallen every month for the past year and declined 17.3 per cent over the same period to 111,570.
New Zealand
Tower Limited has updated its claims cost estimate for the recent weather events and cyclones in New Zealand and Vanuatu and updated its market guidance.
Tower estimates that the cost for the Auckland and Upper North Island Weather Event will be between $195 to $225 million, with an average claims cost that is double that of other recent large weather events due to deeper flood waters causing more damage.
The financial impact of Cyclone Gabrielle is estimated to be between $55 to $75 million.
Management has revised its full year ended November 2023 underlying net profit after tax guidance to be between $8 to $13 million, down from the previous range of $18 to $23 million.
This revision considers the expected cost of further reinstatements to reinsurance arrangements, as well as an increase in the large events allowance.
Pushpay Holdings Limited has announced that it has received final orders from the High Court approving the Scheme of Arrangement with Pegasus Bidco Limited.
As a result, Pushpay has requested the NZX and ASX to suspend trading in its shares and delist Pushpay from the closing of trading on the implementation date.
The scheme record date for determining entitlements to participate in the Scheme is set for May 19, 2023, and holders of Pushpay shares at that time will be entitled to receive the Scheme consideration of NZ$1.42 per share.
Upon completion of the Scheme, Pushpay will be delisted from the NZX and ASX. Upon this date, clothing retailer Hallenstein Glassons Limited will enter the NZX50.
Coming up today
Today in Australia, engineering company Worley will host its investor day.
We will be seeing updates on the country’s retail sales for the first quarter of 2023, the Westpac Consumer Confidence Index as at May, and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s Household Spending report.
In New Zealand, Tourism Holdings will host its investor day, showcasing rentals, sales and manufacturing operations in Auckland and Hamilton.
Stats NZ electronic card spend data for April will be published, alongside Real Estate Institute of New Zealand publishing its April monthly property report.
For more information on the latest market moves, get in touch with Jarden.
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