Woolies profit up but bag ban slows sales
Woolworths has delivered a 12.5 per cent jump in annual net profit to $1.7 billion but says supermarket sales in the new financial year have been hampered by its ban on single-use plastic bags. Chief executive Brad Banducci said sales slowed in the first seven weeks of 2018/19 as customers adjusted to the removal of…
France to set penalties on non-recycled plastic
France plans to introduce a penalty system next year that would increase the costs of consumer goods with packaging made of non-recycled plastic, part of a pledge to use only recycled plastic nationwide by 2025, an environment ministry official said Sunday.Brune Poirson, secretary of state for ecological transition, said the move was one of several…
Kogan shares hit 7-month low after update
Kogan shares have slumped to a seven-month low, despite the online retailer flagging a 90 per cent jump in full-year earnings to $23.7 million. Kogan shares were down 72 cents, or 11 per cent, to $5.90 in a higher Australian share market at 1314 AEST – the lowest level for the stock since Christmas. CommSec…
Australian government bans foreign interns amid espionage fears
Foreign university students are no longer able to serve as interns in the offices of Australian Members of Parliament as fears of espionage grow. The Australian National University arranges internships in Canberra, which it accepts as credit toward its courses. However, recent complaints about the level of access enjoyed by Chinese students has resulted in…
Building approvals slow in May
Record Adelaide building; Consumers still chipperBuilding approvals; Consumer confidenceBuilding approvals: Council approvals to build new homes fell by 3.2 per cent in May – the third fall in four months. But the rolling annual total of approvals rose to a 15-month high.Consumer confidence: The weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence rating fell by 0.8 per cent…
Ex-boss of bailed-out Anglo Irish Bank guilty of fraud
The former chief executive of Anglo Irish Bank was found guilty Wednesday of fraud and false accounting at the institution whose rapid fall from grace epitomised the Irish financial collapse.David Drumm, 51, had denied conspiring to inflate deposits in the bank by 7.2 billion euros ($8.5 billion) in 2008, at the start of the crisis…
CommSec Daily Report Friday
Latest NewsThe local sharemarket is softer on Friday with the cancellation of an upcoming summit between the US and North Korea putting a dent in shares globally. The ASX 200 is recovering from its earlier lows, trading 2 points lower at 6035 points and is pointing to a second consecutive weekly loss for the index…
Consumer confidence at 14-week high
Consumer confidence has risen for a fifth straight week, but whether the trend continues could depend on wage and employment data out later this week . The ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence index rose to a 14-week high of 120.8 last week, according to data released on Tuesday. The one per cent rise was in…
Electronics giant Philips posts 27% drop in Q1 profits
Dutch electronics giant Philips Monday posted a 27 percent drop in first quarter profits, hit partly by the costs of restructuring and some acquisitions.Net income fell in the first three months to 94 million euros ($115 million) compared to 128 million euros over the same period in 2017, the company reported.
Aussie market in for another volatile week
Traders are preparing for another week of volatility when the Australian share market resumes with investors adjusting their portfolios in the wake of official corrections in the United States. A late rally in the US on Friday saw the Dow Jones finish 330 points higher – almost 1.4 per cent – but experts suggest the…
