ASX 200, August 10-14 wrap: earnings season review and outlook

ASX 200 wrap: the week that was and the week ahead

It's been a big week for corporate Australia, with earnings results from AMP, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Telstra, and Treasury Wine Estates all being released over the last few days.

Looking at the broad strokes of these results: Commonwealth impressed, reporting good growth across its lending portfolio while declaring a 98 cents per share dividend. AMP pulled a similar move, revealing a special 10 cent dividend that saw investors rush back into the stock. Telstra, by comparison, disappointed the market with its full-year release, guiding for lower FY21 revenue and underlying EBITDA. The telco saw its share price plunge 8% in response.

More broadly, it’s been a mixed week for the ASX 200 benchmark – registering gains on Monday and Tuesday, while experiencing declines on Wednesday and Thursday. Positively at least, the ASX traded modestly higher on Friday.

To read our coverage of CBA’s full-year earnings, click here now.

3 key earnings results you may have missed

Beyond the stocks discussed above, a number of other key ASX 200 companies also reported their latest earnings results this week, including: Sydney Airport, Woodside Petroleum, and SEEK.

Sydney Airport (SYD) reported a disappointing, though not surprising set of interim results on Tuesday, as the coronavirus pandemic heavily weights on travel companies across the globe.

Centrally, SYD reported a 56.6% decline in passengers over the half, earnings (EBITDA) figures of $300.4 million (-35.4%) and a loss after tax of $53.6 million.

In a move aimed at providing the company with future optionality, SYD also announced plans behind a $2.0 billion capital raise as part of its interim results. On Friday the company announced it had completed the institutional portion of this capital raise – gnerating $1.3 billion in the process.

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Woodside Petroleum share price modestly lower following interim results

Like SYD, Woodside Petroleum (WPL) also delivered a weak set of results, as lower and volatile oil prices weighed on the company's top and bottom-line performance.

Indeed, although WPL saw production increase from 39.0 MMboe (H1 FY19) to 50 MMboe (H1 FY20), this did not translate to stronger sales, with operating revenues falling to US$1,907 million.

On the bottom line, profits after tax came in at negative US$4,067 million, while underlying net profits came in at US$303 million. The company attributed the decline in net profits to 'impairment losses and onerous contract provision announced' in July.

Despite the challenging conditions that have seen Woodside’s operational performance deteriorate, the company still announced a 26 US cent per share dividend – equal to 80% of underlying profits.

Looking forward, the company said it expects to still meet its previously increased full-year production guidance of between 97-103 MMboe.

SEEK share price: a large revenue opportunity awaits

Finally, SEEK (SEK) – Australia’s most popular jobs and employment site delivered a set of full-year results that disappointed investors – with the stock falling ~8% in response.

Though SEEK stressed that it was ‘executing on its long-term growth strategy’ – the company reported sluggish revenue growth, weaker earnings (EBITDA) and an after tax loss of $111.7 million.

Commenting on these results, the SEEK CEO Andrew Bassat said:

Our near-term profits will be impacted by COVID-19 but our focus is on executing and investing for the long-term. We are confident our investment and long-term focus is the right approach as SEEK's revenue opportunity remains large and under-penetrated.'

How to trade ASX 200 stocks, long or short

however, declinesWith some of Australia’s most prominent companies now having reported their latest set of half, full and in some cases, quarterly earnings: do you see bullish or bearish opportunities in the markets? Whatever your view, you can use CFDs to trade both rising and falling markets, through IG’s world-class trading platform now.

For example, to buy (long) or sell (short) CBA using CFDs, follow these easy steps:

1. Create an IG Trading Account or log in to your existing account
2. Enter ‘CBA’ in the search bar and select it
3. Choose your position size
4. Click on ‘buy’ or ‘sell’ in the deal ticket
5. Confirm the trade

ASX 200: the week ahead

Looking forward, next week is poised to be another busy period for analysts, investors and market commentators, with two of Australia’s largest companies – CSL and BHP Group – both set to hand down their full-year results to the market. Moreover, both Westpac and ANZ are poised to release their third quarter (Q3) results.

The following table highlights some of the key earnings releases set to occur next week – from 17 August to 21 August.