ASX 200 finishes down on Wednesday as iron ore sector crunched
Sky News Business Reporter Edward Boyd says the overall stock market opened lower this morning and bounced around throughout the day.
"Iron ore stocks were the worst performers. Tech companies and energy stocks did well,' Mr Boyd said.
The ASX 200 finished the day down just 0.12 per cent on Wednesday.
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ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
'Golden parachutes' for Australia's top corporate leaders drop to lowest level in 15 years
So-called "golden parachutes", or big pay-outs when the leaders of Australia's largest listed companies leave, might be a thing of the past. The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors' annual review of how much chief executive officers at ASX 200 companies are paid found termination payouts have dropped to their lowest level in 15 years. Total termination payouts have dropped to $8.4 million in the financial year 2024, down from $33.5 million the previous year. Some of that is explained by a smaller number of departures; however, the average payout per CEO also fell, from $1.97 to $1.4 million. "The research indicates this is saving Australian investors about half a million dollars per termination," said ACSI's executive manager of stewardship, Ed John. Mr John noted that there has been a continual decline in the size of payouts since the Corporations Act changed in 2009 after the global financial crisis. "This was a really major issue in Australia, and we saw more than $80 million of shareholders' money paid out to terminated CEOs before the law was changed in 2009," he said. "What those laws did was give shareholders a vote on large termination payouts. At Australia's largest listed companies, in the ASX 100, leaders' salaries come in at 55 times the average earnings of an Australian worker, despite flattening over the past decade. That's up from 50 times the average earnings in the 2023 financial year, but down significantly from 2014, when CEO salaries were 71 times the average worker's. "Australia is actually doing well relative to other markets where there's been a significant breakout in CEO pay," said Mr John. "There's been recent studies that show CEO pay is a multiple of about 106 times median salaries in the UK and in the US, that's actually more than 300 times in the largest companies." This table shows the chief executives with the highest realised pay (which includes fixed pay and bonuses received): The top earner was US-based Robert Thomson, who runs News Corporation, and earns almost $42 million a year. The only woman on the list, Shemara Wikramanayaka, CEO of Macquarie Group, made just shy of $30 million last financial year. The median realised pay for ASX 100 leaders, which includes fixed pay and bonuses received, was $4.15 million, compared to $3.96 million in 2014. Corporate governance expert, Swinburne University's Helen Bird, said the two-strike rule against remuneration has had a dampening effect on pay rises. It is designed to hold directors accountable for executive salaries and bonuses. That is because if shareholders vote against a company's remuneration report two years in a row, the entire company board can face re-election. While salaries at the very top end of town have been (relatively) constrained in recent years, the bosses of smaller listed companies are enjoying increasingly generous paydays. The highest-paid Australian-based chief executive was Lovisa boss Victor Herrero. The jewellery chain has a market capitalisation of $3.6 billion. In comparison, the Commonwealth Bank's market value is around $302 billion. CEO pay at smaller listed companies has increased over time, with the median climbing from $1.74 million in 2014 to $2.2 million in 2024. "The trend in small companies is interesting, so we'll have to do further work on this," said Mr John. Most chief executives received a bonus in 2024, with just five of the 142 eligible leaders missing out altogether, with most tied to company performance. Those left without a bonus were Tony Lombardo from Lendlease, Credit Corp's Tom Beregi, Mark Allison from Elders, Jamie Pherous from Corporate Travel Management, and Julian Fowles from Karoon Energy. The median CEO bonus was paid at just under 66 per cent of the maximum, which is in line with the long-term trend. "There is a concern among investors that in some places these are becoming a given or an expectation," said Mr John. "What we see is that the fixed rate of pay, which is the very basic salary of a CEO, hasn't changed much, but they're still getting very significant bonuses, up to 60-70 per cent of their entitlement is being paid, so they're getting quite significant incentives to work harder," said Ms Bird.
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Property prices tipped to hit record highs in 2025-26, bringing pain for buyers and a boom for sellers
Australian property prices are set to jump even higher in the coming year, which is more bad news for first-home hopefuls. But higher prices will help sellers boost profits from the sale of properties, as they capitalise on the current interest rate-cutting cycle. Two new reports released today reflect the interests of two very different groups of people in Australia. According to Domain's latest Price Forecast Report, Sydney and Melbourne prices will lead the charge in the next 12 months. The median house price in Sydney is forecast to jump by another 7 per cent in 2025-26, to a staggering $1.83 million by June 2026. It means the typical house price in Sydney will rise by $112,000, which is more than the average full-time worker earns before tax ($103,000). The median house price in Melbourne is tipped to rise by 6 per cent, after two years of downturns, to $1.1 million. Property prices in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, once hotspots for affordability, are showing signs of cooling, but not nearly enough to ease the pressure on first home buyers. Nicola Powell, Domain's chief of research and economics, says the forecast price rises will be a "reality check for many people." "If you're trying to break into the property market, the next year could be your toughest challenge yet," she warned. "While interest rate cuts and government support may offer some help, they're also likely to keep prices rising, especially in Sydney and Melbourne, where the market is more sensitive to rate changes. "Growth will slow compared to past cycles, but affordability is still a major barrier, with housing costs consuming a large portion of household income," she said. It will be a similar story for unit price growth. Domain said affordability constraints and first-home buyer incentives will likely push more buyers toward units, where prices are cheaper than the detached housing market, and unit prices will hit record highs in most capital cities. It says lower interest rates help to boost property prices because they improve the borrowing power of Australians. It says the Reserve Bank has already cut the cash rate by 50 basis points this year, and the market is pricing in an additional 80 basis points of cuts by mid-2026. However, it says strong housing demand could also ease a little over the next 12 months, because population growth is expected to slow down. The median unit price in Sydney is forecast to jump by 6 per cent in 2025-26 (up $53,000 in 12 months) to $889,000, which will be a record high. In Brisbane, the median unit price is tipped to jump by 5 per cent (up $31,000) to $701,000, also a record high. Similarly, Perth will see the median unit price jump 6 per cent (up $33,000) to $552,000, and Adelaide will see the median unit price rise by 3 per cent (up $18,000) to $586,000. Domain's report does not include property prices in Hobart. Meanwhile, Cotality (formerly CoreLogic) has released its latest Pain & Gain report, which views properties from the perspective of people who are interested in making a "profit." It analysed 86,000 resales in the March quarter and found 94.9 per cent of property resales "delivered a profit" for the sellers, with a median nominal gain of $305,000. That was down slightly from $310,000 in the previous quarter, marking the first financial quarter since March 2023 that median nominal gains have fallen. But Eliza Owen, Cotality's head of research, said the results reflected a housing market in transition, with profitability set to rise further after the RBA's February and May rate cuts, which have reignited demand and lifted values 1.3 per cent in the three months to May. "Although profitability held steady in early 2025, we're seeing clear signs of renewed momentum," Ms Owen said. "With rate reductions now flowing through to buyer demand and value growth, we expect stronger resale returns in the months ahead." Cotality's report says regional hotspots such as Noosa, Busselton, Grant, and the Sunshine Coast delivered some of the biggest profit uplifts in Australia in the March quarter. In those markets, median resale profits surpassed $400,000 in the quarter, "a staggering increase compared to five years ago." It says houses also continued to outperform units nationally in the March quarter, with 97.2 per cent of house resales delivering a profit, compared to 90.1 per cent of unit sales. "The difference in returns was striking over the March quarter, with the median gain on houses at $355,000, around 73 per cent higher than the $205,000 median gain for units," the report says. "Interestingly, despite the wide gap in gains, the median loss was nearly identical. The median loss was $45,000 for houses and $44,000 for units."
The Age
2 hours ago
- The Age
ASX slides amid concerns over Middle East escalation while miners decline
Welcome to your five-minute recap of the trading day. The numbers The Australian sharemarket closed lower on Wednesday yet again as investors track developments in the escalating conflict in the Middle East, with mounting speculation that the US is on the verge of joining Israel's attack on Iran. The S&P/ASX 200 slipped 10.10 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 8531.20, pushed down by the dominant mining sector, even as eight of the 11 industry sectors ended higher. The slight drop came after the local market treaded water over the past two sessions. The Australian dollar declined overnight but traded 0.5 per cent higher at US65.09¢ just before 5pm AEST. The lifters Among winners of the day were energy stocks, though some of their share prices fluctuated as much as the oil prices driving them. Oil and gas giant Woodside closed down 0.2 per cent after gaining earlier in the session, while rival Santos – which on Monday received a $30 billion takeover bid from Abu Dhabi's national oil company and US global private equity firm Carlyle – added 0.4 per cent. Ampol, the nation's biggest refiner, added 2.7 per cent and fellow fossil fuel stock Yancoal rose 2.4 per cent. Oil prices swung up and down after rallying around 10 per cent since Israel started its attacks on Iran last week as speculation the US may join the conflict stoked concerns about supply disruptions in the Middle East. Brent traded above $US76 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate was near $US75 after closing at the highest level in almost five months on Tuesday. Uranium stocks rose for a second day after Canadian asset manager Sprott said it would buy some $US200 million ($306 million) worth of the metal for its dedicated physical uranium trust. Boss Energy climbed a further 4.3 per cent and Deep Yellow jumped 3.9 per cent. Tech stocks also advanced, with software firms WiseTech, Xero and Technology One finishing up 1.5 per cent, 1.1 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively.
