Daily FNArena News - Australia

Contributions from all levels of government are finding their way to large infrastructure projects and analysts at ANZ Bank suggest construction activity and demand for workers and materials is slowly heating up.

Taking the Quadrant Energy sale into calculations, brokers revise up earnings estimates for Macquarie Group, despite the usual “broadly in line” guidance.

Incitec Pivot is confident in the FY19 outlook for fertiliser prices while demand for explosives in quarry & construction is robust.

FNArena’s Monitor keeps track of corporate earnings result releases, including broker views, ratings and target price changes and beat/miss assessments.

The severe drought on Australia’s east coast augurs poorly for Graincorp over FY19 but the company has surprised brokers with an upgrade to its FY18 earnings guidance.

The outlook for the A-REIT sector is relatively benign, as brokers note portfolio fundamentals are healthy and gearing is generally low. The favoured segment is office while headwinds continue for retail.

WA gold miner is hoping to leverage the expertise it has gained in revitalising operations at Jundee by extending life of Alaska’s Pogo mine.

Online business continues to advance rapidly and this is driving heightened expenditure as retailers adapt. Meanwhile, housing-related headwinds persist for the consumer sector.

Galaxy Resources has obtained necessary funds via the sale of northern tenements in Argentina to push ahead with its Sal de Vida project, which also brings the timing of the James Bay decision closer.

Sales at Harvey Norman’s Australian franchises have continued to weaken in the first months of FY19 so the focus is turning to offshore expansion to drive revenue and growth.