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FIVE at FIVE AU: Aussie shares up; Qantas AGM will draw investor scrutiny

Published 25/10/2024, 02:49 pm
© Reuters FIVE at FIVE AU: Aussie shares up; Qantas AGM will draw investor scrutiny
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Australian shares are up 21.10 points or 0.26% to 8,227.40 today.

The stand-out stocks from the day’s trade at 2:00pm were Wisetech Global Ltd and HMC Capital Ltd, up 13.71% and 8.90% respectively.

The index has lost 0.67% for the last five days, but sits 1.87% below its 52-week high.

Information Technology seemed to be the sector doing all the heavy lifting in afternoon trade – it was up 3.92% a little after lunch, with only a clutch of others clearly in the black, including Energy (0.61%), Health Care (0.64%) and Utilities (0.61%).

Consumer Staples and Industrials were both down, 0.54% and 0.43% a piece.

Qantas AGM

Qantas has been in and out of the news a fair bit of late, and the airline’s AGM this year was bound to attract some commentary given some recent brand turbulence the company has been experiencing.

“While Investors will be understandably frustrated at the lack of dividends, they will be reassured by Qantas chairman John Mullen’s acknowledgement, how he has communicated with them, and the expectations he has set for the second half of the financial year,” InvestorHub co-founder and co-CEO Ben Williamson said.

“InvestorHub data shows that most ASX buy volume comes from existing investors, so the board’s renewed focus on acknowledging and rewarding investor loyalty is a great strategy.

“While it has been a good year commercially for Qantas, ongoing brand damage may be making its investors nervous.

“Thankfully, chair Mullen and CEO Vanessa Hudson took the opportunity to address some key concerns, including the prospect of Qatar buying into Virgin, which chairman Mullen made clear Qantas was not opposed to.

“In a year that has shown the ‘feast or famine’ nature of the commercial airline industry, the company's attitude to this competitive threat communicates much-needed confidence to investors.

“CEO Hudson has also shown how the company’s performance over the past 12 months has validated the credentials of the board and leadership team. An overhauled mobile app, putting more information and control in customers’ hands, and making flight credits more flexible are just a few of the changes communicated in today’s AGM.

“Qantas has 170,000 shareholders, most of whom only review their portfolio once a year.

“Setting an optimistic outlook and ensuring investors feel heard after the carrier’s controversial AGM last year was essential – it was an opportunity to reset the tone and ensure that when investors next go to review their portfolio, they are thinking about the company’s future strides, rather than any messes it is still in the process of cleaning up.”

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