1 September 2025 | Weekly Snapshot
Saward Dawson > Wealth Advisory Insights > Weekly Snapshot > 1 September 2025
Did you know?
BYD has the largest market share of car sales across the globe, with 13.7% of total vehicle sales. BYD is China’s manufacturing poster child for electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in-hybrids (PHEV). VW and Toyota hold positions #2 and #3 with sales predominantly in combustible engines (ICEs).
Market Movements
The Australian market was flat last week, disguising some larger moves in healthcare and telcos (both down 2.2%), whereas financials were higher by 0.7%. Ramsay (down 12%) and Telix (down 22%) both fell on the back of weaker earnings results. Coles was among the stronger performers, having announced strong earnings performance. Online ordering is presenting them with a great cost-out opportunity in being able to fulfil those orders at large distribution centres. Woolworths has the same opportunity but is a little behind Coles.
The US market was higher by 0.3% led by energy (up 1.7%) and materials (up 0.5%). We saw some reversion in the big tech names, including Oracle (down 3.9%) after being up as much as 40% for the year.
The FOMC (US central bank) continues to face pressure from the government to cut interest rates, and this is seemingly yielding results, with the Chairman (Powell) shifting gears at last week’s Jackson hole conference. He cited the softening jobs market as the reason to be cutting interest rates despite inflation being towards the top end of the bank’s targets (3% vs 2%). The combination of falling interest rates, sticky inflation, is ‘fuel to the fire’ for inflation-linked assets, such as gold and commodities.
Portfolio Movements
Ali Baba reports strong Q1 – Developing new chip for AI inference tasks
- Alibaba, the leading China B2B ecommerce platform for global trade reported a strong Q1 on Friday. Revenue was RMB247,652 million (US$34,571 million), up 2% YOY. Or up 10% YOY revenue on a like-for-like basis if revenue from disposed businesses (Sun Art and Intime), were excluded.
- Q1 non-GAAP earnings per ADS (American Depositary Share) of CNY14.75 was a decent beat on the CNY14.16 expected.
- Separately, a Wall Street Journal article claimed Alibaba is developing a new, more versatile chip for a broader range of AI inference tasks. And is being manufactured by a Chinese company. There was no comment from the company but is thought to be a replacement for Nvidia’s H20 chip, the most powerful AI processor it is allowed to sell in China.
Harvey Norman reports strong FY results – ASX reporting season wraps up
- Leading large format retailer, Harvey Norman, has reported a strong FY result this morning with EBIT of $871.0M up 33% YOY and well ahead of the $713.0M estimate. FY consolidated revenue of $4.47B was also a decent beat on the $4.30B expected. The FY div of 26.5 cents also up on the 22 cents for FY24.
- The company noted “A pivotal year of renewed momentum and strategic execution across our integrated retail, franchise, property, and digital system, as we accelerate efforts to capitalise on the rebound in Australian retail confidence and expand our global brand footprint”
- That pretty much warps up the ASX FY reporting season. It’s been a busy few weeks with some unusually large moves making it one of the most volatile reporting seasons in over a decade.
Ramsay reports FY results – Notes improved performance
- Ramsay Health Care, our largest private hospital owner / operator has reported an improved FY result this morning with underlying NPAT attributable continuing ops of $305.3M up 1.7% YOY and ahead of the $296.1M expected. FY revenue of $17.79B up 5.1% was largely in line.
- The company noted solid performance in the core hospital businesses in Australia and the UK following a tough few years after covid with the multi-year business transformation well underway. But not out of the woods yet with Elysium and Ramsay Santé continuing to face challenges. They are still progressing the evaluation of strategic options in relation to their 52.8% shareholding in Ramsay Sante announced at the first half but no further news yet.
- For FY26 they expect activity growth in all regions and EBIT growth in the Australian business.
The Week Ahead
- Monday 1 September: Australia Building Approvals MoM (Jul) -5.0% (prior 11.9%). United Kingdom S&P global UK Mfg PMI (Aug F) 47.3 (prior 47.3).
- Tuesday 2 September: USA S&P Global US Manufacturing PMI (Aug F) 53.3 (prior 53.3).
- Wednesday 3 September: USA ISM Manufacturing (Aug) 49.0 (prior 48.0), ISM Prices Paid (Aug) 65.0 (prior 64.8), Construction Spending MoM (Jul) -0.1% (prior -0.4%). Australia GDP QoQ (2Q) 0.5% (prior 0.2%), GDP YoY (2Q) 16.% (prior 1.3%).
- Friday 5 September: USA Unemployment Rate (Aug) 4.3% (prior 4.2%), Change in Nonfarm Payrolls (Aug) 75k (prior 73k), ISM Services Index (Aug) 50.9 (prior 50.1). United Kingdom Retail Sales Inc Auto Fuel MoM (Jul) 0.4% (prior 0.9%).
Saward Dawson Wealth Advisors Pty Ltd, a Corporate Authorised Representative of Akambo Pty Ltd t/a Accountants Private Advice
The information presented in this publication is general information only, and is not intended to be financial product advice. It has not been prepared taking into account your investment objectives, financial situation or needs, and should not be used as the basis for making an investment decision. Before making any investment decision you need to consider (with your financial adviser) your particular investment needs, objectives and financial circumstances.
Some numerical figures in this publication have been subject to rounding adjustments. Akambo Pty Ltd (including any of its directors, officers or employees) will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of any reliance on this information. The market commentary reflect Akambo Pty Ltd’s views and beliefs at the time of preparation, which are subject to change without notice.
