Also higher were operating income – up 1%, and underpinned by growth in lending volume and higher trading income – and operating performance, which was 1% higher than the first half quarterly average, and 6% higher the prior comparative quarter.

CBA was also buoyed by stronger data for business loans, which rose 9.1% to $3.7 billion from the previous quarter.

But the bank also underscored a 1% rise in operating expenses during the period, as a result of higher spending on technology and frontline staff, and partly offset by two less days in the quarter and the benefit of ongoing productivity initiatives.

CEO Matt Comyn said the bank was navigating successfully through a period which he acknowledged was ‘challenging’ for many Australian households and businesses as a result of cost-of-living pressures.

“Our focus on supporting our customers, investing in our franchise to deliver superior customer experiences and executing our strategy with consistency and discipline has delivered solid results for our shareholders,” he said.

“Our balance sheet settings remain strong. We have maintained strong capital and provisioning levels, and have successfully completed our FY25 funding task during the March quarter.

“Our deliberate and long-term conservative approach to key balance sheet settings enables us to support our customers, the economy and our shareholders through a range of macroeconomic scenarios.”

CBA shares have been $166.14.

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The company reported an impressive result in the 9 months to 31 March, with its revenue shifting up 18% to $1.25 billion during that period, compared with the prior comparable one.

Earnings numbers – that is, operating EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) excluding associates – were also in the green, at $734 million: this being an increase of 19%.

In the 3 months ended March 31, REA saw its revenue grow by 12% for a figure of $374M: bolstered by double-digit revenue rises across Residential, Commercial, Financial Services and India. EBITDA excluding associates also rose by 12% to $199M during this period.

REA Group CEO Owen Wilson said demand for housing in Australia continued to trend positively, supported by a recent decision by the Reserve Bank.

“REA delivered a strong third quarter result underpinned by double-digit yield growth as wecontinued to drive increased value for customers across our premium products,” he said.

“The first interest rate cut in 4 years, combined with expectations of more to come, spurred buyer demand and supported house price growth across the country.”

REA shares have been trading at $250.08.

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Sales reached 3.14 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) during 4Q24, with the 53% hike explained by the timing of liftings at Karoon’s Baúna development offshore Brazil.

As a result, sales revenues for the quarter were US$222.2 million, bringing overall revenues for 2024 to US$776.5 million – a record for the company.

Also highlighted was Karoon’s completion of an exploration program in the Gulf of Mexico, achieving success with two out of three wells, and an upward revision of 190% in NRI contingent resource at Who Dat East 2C (from 5.4 MMboe to 15.7MMboe).

Karoon is also carrying out an evaluation of the resources at Who Dat South, while an assessment at Who Dat West found no significant hydrocarbons.

Gross production from Who Dat overall was 3% lower compared to 3Q24, mainly due to a planned annual platform shutdown and gas compressor maintenance.

CEO and managing director Dr Julian Fowles said Karoon’s performance in this quarter had been strong.

“Despite a number of operational challenges in the last quarter of 2024, including a 12-day shut-in to repair two FPSO anchor chains at Baúna and an active hurricane season in the US Gulf of Mexico, CY24 full-year production of 10.4 MMboe (NRI basis) was a record for the company,” he said.

“Full-year sales revenue of US$776.5 million was also the highest ever achieved by Karoon.

At 3:32 AEDT, Karoon shares were trading at $1.53 – a rise of 7.7%.

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During the quarter, 6M wet metric tonnes (wmt) were mined from Onslow, for an overall production total of 8M wmt across this project, plus the Pilbara and Yilgarn hubs, and total shipments of 5.2M wmt.

The company’s ramp-up program at Onslow is also on track, with quarterly activities including the MinRes’ jumbo road train fleet commencing its use of the 150-kilometre haul road, and a third transhipper starting work at the Port of Ashburton in October, as the company anticipates the arrival of a fourth in February.

In lithium, MinRes saw quarterly spodumene production of 136,000 dmt across all three sites – Mt Marion, Wodgina and Bald Hill; shipments reached 143,000 dmt.

The company noted Bald Hill had been placed under care and maintenance in November.

The main quarterly developments in its energy division were its transaction with Hancock concerning MinRes’ oil assets in the Perth Basin and Carnarvon Basin – with the deal totalling up to $1.1B.

This resulted in the sale of 100% of EP 368 and 426 to Hancock on December 18, with an initial consideration of $780 million being received.

MinRes has been trading at $36.25.

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Production rose 9% during the quarter, reaching 132,419 ounces, while all-in-site costs (AISC) for the same period were US$1,127 per ounce; up from US$1,201.

Production for the first half of the 2025 fiscal year and the 2024 calendar year is at the higher end of guidance, while costs for the same periods were towards the lower end of guidance.

Gold sales were also higher by as much as 20% – comprising 136,623 ounces during the December quarter – with this explained by sales of gold whose shipment had been delayed in the prior comparable period.

Looking ahead, market guidance for the June 2025 half-year is 215,000 to 220,000 ounces at US$1,360 to US$1,435 per ounce, while guidance for the 2025 fiscal year is 469,709 to 504,709 ounces at US$1,250 to US$1,280 per ounce.

Another notable development during the December quarter was Perseus’ Final Investment Decision (FID) to develop the Yaouré gold mine.

Perseus has been trading at $2.73.

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The company shipped 49.4Mt in the second quarter of FY25 to make up those numbers, also noting a 10% fall in the cost of hematite C1 – now set at US$18.24/wet metric tonne (wmt) – compared to Q1 F25.

Average revenue from hematite was US$87/dry metric tonne (dmt) for the quarter, this being 85% of the average Platts 62% CFR Index. Additionally, concentrate revenue from Iron Bridge was US$117/dmt – 99% of the average Platts 65% CFR Index and 113% of the average Platts 62% CFR Index.

The numbers have been quite impressive for the period, Fortescue CEO Dino Otranto declared after the Thursday update release.

“It’s been an outstanding operating performance in the quarter, with iron ore shipments of 49.4 million tonnes contributing to our highest-ever half-year shipments of 97.1 million tonnes,” Mr Otranto said.

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“We achieved this while maintaining our focus on safety, as well as driving costs lower.“Our decarbonisation plan is also making progress with a major heavy mobile equipment contract awarded to XCMG during the quarter, which will support the transition of our diesel mining fleet to zero emissions by 2030.”

FMG shares fell after the news. At 10:38 they were trading at $18.93; a 0.53% drop.

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The bank registered an unaudited net profit of $1.8 billion in the third quarter, a rise of 6% on the quarterly average for the first half of the year. When the impact of notable items was excluded (specifically related to hedge accounting), this meant a 2% rise.

Westpac’s net interest margin (NIM) for the third quarter was at 1.92% – an increase of 3 basis points compared to the first half of 2024. Core NIM had risen 2 basis points to 1.92%.

Customer engagement with the bank was also solid during the quarter, with deposits growing by $15.5 billion, and loans growing by $14.7 billion.

Drilling into the first one, Westpac said that household deposit growth had been 3% and housing loan growth had registered at 8% for the period – both of these being strong numbers in given the inflation-impacted conditions for customers.

Chief Executive Officer Peter King said the numbers reflected Westpac’s emphasis on providing for customer needs.

“Our consistent focus on customer service has contributed to another solid quarter. We grew the business and maintained a strong financial position,” he said.

“I’m particularly pleased with our efforts to enhance customer experience and keep customers safe.

“This quarter we launched an online ID verification process for new to bank home loan customers, introduced mobile notifications alerting customers of bonus interest opportunities on their savings, reduced the time for existing small business customers to receive a cash-backed Bank Guarantee from up to five days to less than two days, and released a new version of Westpac Verify to enhance detection of payment scams and reduce mistaken payments.”

Mr King added that he was aware of how the cost of living and high interest rates were affecting people’s lives, including businesses which were witnessing weakened demand and cost pressures too.

Westpac has been trading at $29.66

.

In its June quarterly report, Fortescue told the market its iron ore production was expected to be between 190 million and 200 million tonnes during the 2025 Financial Year, with this including between 5 and 9 million tonnes from Iron Bridge, with the direction production (C1) cost for Pilbara Hematite being set between US$18.50 and US$19.75/wmt (wet metric tonne).

During the fourth quarter of the 2024 Financial Year, the direct production cost of Pilbara Hematite was US$18.53/wmt – two percent lower compared to the previous quarter.

The company also said it had $US4.9 billion cash on hand at the end of June, plus a net debt of $US500 million.

The iron ore price forecast is significantly down on the US$108 it is trading at today.

Fortescue has been trading at $20.76 (11.30am AEST).

Second quarter results have also been well received for Newmont Corporation (ASX:NEM), which reported its attributable gold production had fallen 4% to 1,607 thousand oz during the period – compared to 1,6800 in the prior quarter – mainly due to lower production from Cerro Negro in Argentina, following the death of two workers which suspended operations on April 9.

These were resumed the following month, but Newmont also reported a suspension at Telfer in the Pilbara region of Australia mid April, due to further work needing to be completed to remediate the safe operation of the tailing’s facility there.

Newmont’s gold all in sustaining costs (AISC) for the second quarter of 2024 was set at $1,562 compared to $1,439 in the previous period, while the adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was sitting at $1,966, up from $1694 the previous period.

Newmont has been trading up 2.38% today at $73.10.

And petrol retailing giant Ampol Ltd (ASX:ALD) has been trading flat at $33.12 after revealing total fuel sales for the first half of the 2024 Financial Year were expected to fall nearly 6% (5.9%) to 13,252 ML: from 14,081 ML in the prior corresponding period.

Within this, the company reported a drop of 4.8% in convenient retail fuel sales, which were 1,819 ML in the first half of FY 2024, compared to 1,911 ML for the prior corresponding period.

Meanwhile, Australian wholesale sales volumes rose 1% to 5,677 ML in the first half of FY 2024, from 5,620 ML in the prior corresponding period; international sales volumes were down 16% to 3,927 ML in the first half of 2024 from 4,649 ML for the same period last year.

Z Energy sales volumes were also lower: at 1,829 ML in the second half of 2024 compared to 1,901 ML- a drop of 3.8%.

Ampol also said it was in a strong position in terms of earnings, with adjusted EBIT expected to finish between $500 million and $510 million for the six months to June 30, together with an operating cost profit (RCOP EBITDA) of around $735-745 million for the same period.

The company cited citing earnings growth in convenience retail and New Zealand sales – as well as solid profits from the Australian market – as being the underlying factors.

And compared to the same quarter last year, profits were down 5%.

The bank’s operating performance was also tracking weaker, down 3% from the 1H2024 quarterly average, and also falling 5% since the third quarter of 2023.

In more specific operational developments, Commonwealth said that home lending volumes were up 3% in this quarter compared to December 2023, while business lending for the same period was up 7.3%, and household deposits also rose by 5.6%.

Loan impairment expenses were sitting at $191 million, with collective and individual provisions being slightly higher.

Commonwealth’s CET1 ratio was at 11.9%, a rise of 30 basis points.

But Commonwealth maintained that its portfolio credit remained strong, noting the issuing of $20 billion in new long-term funding already issued this Financial Year, meaning that around 90% of the funding which it had hoped to raise during this period has already been reached.

Within this, it was stated that the bank has already raised the funding needed to repay the remaining $32 billion of Term Funding Facility (TFF) in this Financial Year.

Commonwealth CEO Matt Comyn emphasised the importance of Australians having strong banking institutions they could turn to, particularly during this period of inflation and financial stress.

“We know that many Australians are feeling under pressure due to the higher cost of living, and we are here to support those customers that need our help,” he said.

“We have continued to strengthen our balance sheet to ensure we remain well positioned to support our customers, communities and the economy. All Australians benefit from strong and stable banks.

“We further strengthened our peer-leading provision coverage, and our CET1 capital ratio remains well above the minimum regulatory requirement.”

Commonwealth has been trading at $119.74.

The 2.8% rise in group sales took Woolworths to $16,800 in the third quarter of the 2024 FY, a rise from $16,338 million for the same period last year.

Within this, the biggest rise was in Australian business-to-business (B2B) sales, which were up 3.2% to $1,098 million, while more modest increases were evident in food sales – which rose 1.5 percent to $12,578 million, New Zealand food sales lifted 1.4% to $1,884 million.

Big W sales were down 4.1% to $1,002 million – from $$1,046 million the same time last year.

Woolworths Group CEO Brad Banducci, said the results indicated greater caution being taken by customers in their spending habits, although he expected the situation to improve as inflation continued to moderate.

“It was a challenging quarter across the Group with a noticeable shift in customer sentiment and shopping behaviours since Christmas,” he said.

“Customer metrics and sales growth across the Group have been impacted but encouragingly unit volumes and customer metrics improved as the quarter progressed and we expect more stable trading in Q4.

“In Australian Food, total sales increased by 1.5% with Woolworths Food Retail’s adjusted total sales also increasing by 1.5%: sales growth reflects the context of a very strong Q3 F23, a material moderation in inflation, and the cycling of collectibles.

“BIG W total sales for the quarter declined by 4.1% reflecting increased consumer caution and downtrading most evident among budget customers.”

Mr Banducci added that both Australia and New Zealand had experienced weak consumer sentiment for a while, causing people to change their behaviour in shops due to concerns about the overall cost of living.

“Customers are looking for more ways to save, are cross-shopping more, buying more own brand and buying more product on promotion,” he said.

Woolworths Group Ltd has been trading at $31.82.