Major winners and losers on the ASX 200 revealed as the index posts best post-pandemic financial year performance in FY25

Sky News AU

11 hours ago

Australian banks, technology and gold companies have thrived over the past 12 months as the ASX 200 posted its best performance since a surge in 2021.
Despite experiencing strong turbulence from Donald Trump's tariffs and the heated Iran-Israel conflict, the index rose more than 10 per cent in the 2025 financial year.
The tech, financial and telecommunications services sectors all jumped about 25 per cent over the past 12 months.
An Australian that wisely invested in local ship building and defense company Austal on July 1 2024 will have seen their cash grown more than 150 per cent over the 12 months.
Gold miners have thrived with Regis Resources growing 157 per cent, Evolution Mining jumping 126 per cent, Gold Road Resources increasing 94 per cent and West African Resources rising 43 per cent.
Investors flocked to gold as a safe haven after Trump's sweeping tariffs rocked global markets.
Gold hit a record high of $5425 per ounce in April less than a fortnight after 'Liberation Day', before it settled around the $5200 mark.
This is almost a $1000 boost from the beginning of the year.
The ASX 200 has been lifted by the index's largest company Commonwealth Bank of Australia, which soared more than 45 per cent in 12 months.
However, many analysts believe CBA's evaluation is exorbitant and anticipate a downturn as the major bank's share of the ASX 200 has grown from nine per cent to 12 per cent over the past year.
Another major Australian company to thrive over the recent year was Qantas as it continues to recover from its post-pandemic reputational tarnishing, skyrocketing the stock price more than 81 per cent.
The Flying Kangaroo's market dominance of the local aviation sector and its stellar financial performance have ensured the carrier continues to give back to shareholders - even delivering the airline's first dividend since before the pandemic.
Qantas' share price will come under the microscope over the coming months after Virgin Australia went public and exceeded its IPO by about 13 per cent in one day.
Other solid performers in the 2025 financial year were seen in the tech sector.
Digital financial services company Zip Co (up 115 per cent), Life360 (up 107 per cent), software company Technology One (up 125 per cent) and many others drove the tech sector as it continues to boom in Australia.
While the ASX 200 reported stellar gains over the past 12 months, many Australian companies sank amid a myriad of challenges.
International education company IDP Education fell a whopping 76 per cent after a long gradual decline due to caps on foreign students.
In June, the company told shareholders it expected earnings to halve from global uncertainty around the intake of international students.
"Continued uncertainty has impacted IDP student enrolment pipeline size and conversion rates in the important May and June pipeline build given the timing of the fall intake in the UK, Canada and the US, as well as the second semester intake in Australia," the company said.
Mineral Resources, which was plagued by a tax controversy surrounding its outgoing CEO Chris Ellison, fell more than 60 per cent, while Pilbara Minerals sank 56 per cent following diminished demand from China for Australian commodities.
Skin grafting company PolyNovo, which continues to be one of the most shorted companies on the bourse, plunged 48 per cent while pathology company Healius struggled with rising costs in the healthcare sector and dropped 47 per cent.
Reduced discretionary spending ate into the share price of Webjet and Domino's Pizza as Australians were crippled by tighter budgets.
Domino's also sank as it closed 172 outlets in Japan and about 30 elsewhere as pizza-eaters outside Australia and New Zealand turn away from the store.
The ASX 200's rise comes as similar surges were seen in the United States and Europe.
The Nasdaq Composite rose almost 14 per cent, the S&P 500 added 13 per cent and the Dow Jones finished up about 12.6 per cent while the STOXX Europe 600 index rose 5.5 per cent.