Quarterly Outlook

  • Top 200 stocks face weakest reporting season in years

    09 July 2008 | Peter Wells and Gabriella Hold | The Australian Financial Review

    The country's biggest listed companies are expected to post sharply lower earnings growth this year due to the rising Australian dollar, high interest rates, record high oil prices and the credit crunch - the annual earnings season, which starts later this month, is tipped to be one of the weakest for years: As a variety of factors take their toll on profits, balance sheet strength will be crucial in picking the winners.

  • Rock stars will leave others well behind

    09 July 2008 | Jo Clarke | The Australian Financial Review

    Resources are once again set to prop up the sharemarket with much better than average results but there will be a line drawn between the haves and have nots among the miners this reporting season.

  • Opportunities emerge amid the wreckage

    09 July 2008 | Nabila Ahmed and Michael Smith | The Australian Financial Review

    It has been 21 years since the 31-member S&P/ASX 200 Industrials Index has slumped this hard and 13 years since the prospective price-earnings multiple on the stocks was as low.

  • Caution is the catchphrase, but resources offer some hope

    09 July 2008 | Peter Wells | The Australian Financial Review

    The increasing threat of a US recession, record high oil prices and a dramatic jump in borrowing costs are just a few of the issues investors will focus on when earnings season begins next month

  • Choppy US waters create local ripples

    09 July 2008 | Nina Wan | The Australian Financial Review

    A shroud of uncertainty continues to envelop the financial sector as credit market conditions remain tight and the domestic economy moderates.

  • Market decline yields a few good earners

    09 July 2008 | Sue Mitchell | The Australian Financial Review

    The pursuit of sustainability has moved from the environment to equities as investors seek companies capable of maintaining or growing dividends amid a deteriorating outlook for earnings.

  • Resources are still the most resourceful

    09 July 2008 | David Bassanese | The Australian Financial Review

    It may be hard to believe, but the divergent trends in the economy only widened further over the past quarter - which means the upcoming profit reporting season should again show a clear split between resources, industrials and financials.

  • Battered REIT sector expects the worst

    09 July 2008 | Paddy Manning and Robert Harley | The Australian Financial Review

    The shell-shocked real estate investment trusts sector heads into profit reporting season expecting the worst

  • Reporting season will be a tough call

    09 July 2008 | Glenn Mumford | The Australian Financial Review

    How do you frame effective profit guidance when faced with so much uncertainty about likely economic outcomes? That's the challenge facing corporations as they hunker down to prepare for the reporting season.