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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Fear and Greed Business News Afternoon Report

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Speaker 1: for Monday, the nineteenth of August twenty twenty four. I'm sure, alma,

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Speaker 1: every afternoon we've got the five stories that happen today

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Speaker 1: that you need to know about. Story number one, the

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Speaker 1: SMPASX two hundred closed up just to touch zero point

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Speaker 1: one percent to seven nine hundred and eighty points today. Broadly,

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Speaker 1: the utility stocks did best and the consumer staples company's worst.

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Speaker 1: The big banks were all higher, while the miners dropped.

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Speaker 1: WWISE Tech Global, James Hardy and Goodman run the performers

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Speaker 1: Aria was one of the best. Story number two. Am

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Speaker 1: Pole will cut back on the pace of its electric

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Speaker 1: vehicle charger rollout as EV sales slow and it's also

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Speaker 1: facing challenges in its core aviation and heavy transport markets.

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Speaker 1: The fuel refiner and retailer are now stay twenty nine

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Speaker 1: percent drop in net profit for the six months to

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Speaker 1: the end of June and cut its dividend, sending its

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Speaker 1: share price down four and a half percent today. Chief

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Speaker 1: executive Matt Halliday set a challenge with rolling out new

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Speaker 1: EV charge is actually getting them connected to local distribution

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Speaker 1: networks as well as the fact that sales growth has slowed.

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Speaker 1: More than two thirds of mpoles fuel sales are actually

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Speaker 1: to aviation and heavy transport operators, and the shift to

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Speaker 1: sustainable fuels is challenging for the group. Mister Harday praised

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Speaker 1: the result in tough economic conditions, saying the resilience of

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Speaker 1: mpole's local retail earnings was particularly pleasing and had helped

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Speaker 1: offset setbacks at its light and refinery in Brisbane and

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Speaker 1: softer international sales stroying. Number three, lend Lease, has fallen

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Speaker 1: to a one and a half billion dollar annual loss

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Speaker 1: after taking heavy write downs on its offshore operations. They

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Speaker 1: would insist that its turnaround plan is on track. The

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Speaker 1: property developer says it is on the way to selling

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Speaker 1: off the bulk of its international development and building businesses

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Speaker 1: and return about four and a half billion dollars of

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Speaker 1: capital to Australia now. It dumped its global ambitions back

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Speaker 1: in May, following pressure from activist investors. Chief executive Tony

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Speaker 1: Lombardo said the company was simplifying its business and the

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Speaker 1: results reflected challenging business conditions and the early actions from

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Speaker 1: its refreshed strategy. He said the group's priorities are strengthening

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Speaker 1: its balance sheet, returning capital to shareholders, investing in its

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Speaker 1: local operations, and growing its international investments platform. Len Lisa's

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Speaker 1: core operating profit after tax raised by two percent for

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Speaker 1: the year end of June thirty. The one and a

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Speaker 1: half billion dollar loss included one point three eight billion

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Speaker 1: dollars of impairments and charges on businesses it is selling off.

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Speaker 1: There was also a five hundred million dollar ride off

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Speaker 1: of goodwill, primarily related to its acquisition of British building

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Speaker 1: firm Bobus Construction, which is being prepared for sale. Story

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Speaker 1: number four. Team Australia, which includes the big iron ore

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Speaker 1: producers and steel makers, are being hammered by enormous levels

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Speaker 1: of steel being sold by Chinese steel mills into the

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Speaker 1: Asian region, according to Bluescope boss Mark Vasella. Bluescope is

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Speaker 1: Australia's largest steel maker, and mister Vasella said steel margins

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Speaker 1: had been more than halved thanks to the actions of

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Speaker 1: Chinese makers. Said it will hurt companies like bagp and

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Speaker 1: Rio Tinto and it isn't a great outcome a Team Australia.

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Speaker 1: He was speaking after announcing a drop in net profit.

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Speaker 1: Now the claps and steel margins, combined with the housing

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Speaker 1: construction slow down in Australia, prompted the company to forecast

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Speaker 1: much weaker earnings for the first half of this financial year.

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Speaker 1: Luscope's share price fell three point four percent and finally

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Speaker 1: straight at number five. You had another profit, a too.

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Speaker 1: Milk company share price tunnels nineteen percent today, even after

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Speaker 1: it said it had won a bigger share of the

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Speaker 1: lucrative Chinese infant formula market. A two increased earnings for

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Speaker 1: the last financial year by nearly eight percent, but it

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Speaker 1: was way below expectations, triggering the selloff. Not helping was

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Speaker 1: a disappointing outlook from the group. The infant formula company,

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Speaker 1: which also sells milk, warned that the Chinese market is

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Speaker 1: facing increased competition and challenging microeconomic conditions. Chief executive AT

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Speaker 1: David at bort Lucy said that while China still had

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Speaker 1: forty percent of the world's infant market despite the falling

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Speaker 1: birth rate, A two is looking to expand elsewhere and

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Speaker 1: become more relevant to families over their life cycle. He

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Speaker 1: was talking a lot about the US and Middle East today.

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Speaker 1: On FRIDAYA to cells arbitration disputes with its key supplier, Sinlat,

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Speaker 1: which has agreed to end an exclusivity arrangement that will

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Speaker 1: allow A two to manufacture its own infant formula. That's

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Speaker 1: it for the Afternoon Report for Monday, the nineteenth of

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Speaker 1: August twenty twenty four. Don't forget to follow on the

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Speaker 1: podcast and find Fear and Greed on LinkedIn, Instagram, ex

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Speaker 1: TikTok and Facebook. Join Michael Thompson and I Tomorrow I'm

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Speaker 1: wanning for the Fast five by Fear and Greed, the

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Speaker 1: top five business stories you need to know for just

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Speaker 1: five minutes. I'm Suan Elma. Enjoy your reading