0134 GMT - Domino's Pizza Enterprises' incoming chief financial officer should make reducing gearing one of his key priorities, Citi analyst Sam Teeger says. George Saoud's strong communication skills and retail experience, including with supermarket giant Coles and grocery supplier Metcash, make him a strong hire for the Australian fast-food franchiser, Teeger writes in a note. He reckons that investors should have confidence in his ability to execute on strategy, and thinks that tackling debt could involve divesting some smaller markets. Citi has a last-published neutral rating and A$37.34 target price on the stock, which is up 0.5% at A$31.69. ([email protected])

0106 GMT - National Australia Bank's bull at Morgan Stanley tempers his buyback expectations for the lender due to weaker-than-expected capital position. Analyst Richard E. Wiles tells clients in a note that NAB's 11.6% CET1 capital ratio at the end of the December quarter was 35 bps below where he expects it to be. He attributes the miss primarily to higher risk-weighted assets from mortgages, derivative exposure and operational risk. As a result, Wiles now expects A$1.5 billion in new share buybacks, down from his previous expectation of A$3.0 billion. MS lowers its target price by 3.9% to A$37.40 but maintains overweight on the stock, which is down 3.6% at A$35.00. ([email protected])

0035 GMT - Property manager Charter Hall's share price had rallied ahead of its 1H earnings and a strong result fuels another 5.4% gain today. Charter Hall upgraded guidance for annual operating EPS by 2.5% to 81 Australian cents, which was ahead of consensus forecasts for 79.1 cents. "More importantly, activity across the platform has increased significantly, with 1H gross transactions and gross equity inflows in line with full year FY 2024 levels, which should set up the business for attractive growth," Jarden analyst Lou Pirenc says. Charter Hall should benefit from interest rates coming down and an improving market for property transactions, says Jarden, which has an overweight call on its stock.([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)

0012 GMT - Super Retail's Supercheap Auto business is to blame for a 14% drop in its stock price today. Supercheap Auto's pretax margin contracted by 150 basis points to 12.6% in 1H, which management attributed to rising labor costs and rents along with efforts to add new stores. Like-for-like sales at Supercheap Auto fell by 0.1% in 1H and are flat in the first seven weeks of 2H. Citi analyst Adrian Lemme says Supercheap Auto's 1H EBIT missed consensus estimates by 9%, taking the shine off some strong performances by Super Retail's other businesses. "The miss in Auto is the most concerning part of the result, in our view," says Citi, which rates Super Retail a buy. "However, we see signs of improvement in 2H momentum across all brands, which is encouraging." ([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)

0000 GMT - Sonic Healthcare may have reiterated its earnings guidance alongside its 1H result today, but Barrenjoey thinks good news may be on the cards from the pathology services provider. Sonic expects FY 2025 Ebitda of A$1.70 billion-A$1.75 billion when currency swings are stripped out. At the midpoint of that range, guidance implies a 52% skew towards 2H, analyst Anshul Baruah says. That is lower than the skew in FY 2019, before Sonic's results got a boost from Covid-19 testing revenues. It suggests Sonic is more likely to achieve the upper end of its Ebitda guidance, Barrenjoey says. Sonic is down 2.3% today. ([email protected]; @dwinningWSJ)

2356 GMT - Wesfarmers Managing Director Rob Scott tells reporters that Australia isn't economically "out of the woods" despite a rate cut this week from the central bank. Cost challenges remain, including from a lower Australian dollar, but the company's portfolio is in good shape, he says. For example, the new and expanded ranges are growing hardware chain Bunnings's addressable market, he says and remains confident of the potential for Wesfarmers's newer businesses, like lithium and consumer health, to deliver attractive returns in the medium term. Wesfarmers has made "meaningful progress across the portfolio to set the group up for growth," he says. Wesfarmers posted a 2.9% rise in net profit for the half year. The stock is 1.8% in recent trade. ([email protected]; @Mike_Cherney)

2306 GMT - The market will appreciate some moderation in Fortescue's spending on energy projects, Citi analyst Paul McTaggart says in a note. The iron-ore miner earlier pared FY25 energy capex guidance to US$400 million from US$500 million. "That said, market will want to see energy capex and opex cut further," McTaggart says. Citi has a neutral rating and A$21.00 target on Fortescue. McTaggart reckons the miner's 1H fiscal result will be neutral to mildly negative for its shares. The stock last traded at A$19.45/share. ([email protected]; @RhiannonHoyle)

2303 GMT - Rio Tinto's cost guidance disappoints RBC Capital Markets analyst Kaan Peker, who was expecting a bigger improvement in costs given the ramp up in volumes at the Oyu Tolgoi and Kennecott mines. In a note, Peker also raises concerns about first ore from Simandou, expected later this year, and the possible impact that will have on the iron-ore market. Otherwise, Rio Tinto is delivering on its strategy and has one of the better growth rates among major miners, with a focus on copper, iron ore and lithium, Peker says. RBC has a sector perform rating and A$120 target on Rio Tinto, which last traded at A$121.95/share. ([email protected]; @RhiannonHoyle)

2245 GMT - Pallet pooler Brambles' volume growth across all its segments should please investors, Citi analyst Samuel Seow reckons. He tells clients in a note that the Australia-listed company's first-half result appears to be materially positive, highlighting better volumes in the Americas and sequential sales growth in EMEA. Seow points out that the result implies a pick up in 2Q pallet volumes despite headwinds in fast-moving consumer goods. Citi has a neutral rating and A$18.50 target price on the stock, which is at A$19.62 ahead of the open. ([email protected])

2241 GMT - Fortescue's 1H Ebitda misses consensus by roughly 3% because of higher-than-anticipated operating costs, Jefferies analyst Mitch Ryan says in note. Although, an interim dividend of A$0.50/share is a beat versus consensus of A$0.35/share, he says. "Iron-ore demand remains the key near-term catalyst, with emphasis on China policy decisions from the Two-Sessions mid-March, 1Q 2025 GDP release mid-April, and Politburo meeting in April," Ryan says. Jefferies has a hold rating and A$18.50 target on Fortescue. The stock last traded at A$19.45/share. ([email protected]; @RhiannonHoyle)

2220 GMT - Analysts at Barrenjoey strike a positive tone on the 1H result from Aussie retail-industrial conglomerate Wesfarmers. They say Ebit is 2% ahead of consensus and that its retail units all performed modestly better than forecast. The company's chemicals, energy and fertilizer unit was well ahead of expectations. They add that Wesfarmers's comments on the outlook indicate relatively healthy retail performance, though possibly weaker earnings in the chemicals, energy and fertilizer business. Overall, "we think the shares consolidate recent gains today," the Barrenjoey analysts conclude. ([email protected]; @Mike_Cherney)

1621 ET - Although demand for travel remained solid, growth in international travel was softer than expected in New Zealand, especially among inbound visitors, according to Auckland Airport. Discussing first half financial results, Julia Hoare, chair of Auckland Airport, said a competitive global market to attract tourists has made it more challenging for New Zealand to secure additional airline routes and services. "We know international air capacity has a direct cascade effect on tourism, trade and New Zealand's economy, and it's vital we tackle this challenge now as a country to close the gap on the recovery and maintain our share of the global market," Hoare said. Auckland Airport Chief Executive Carrie Hurihanganui said first half international market capacity was flat compared to 2019 levels, and added the company welcomed government efforts to boost international tourism, especially from Australia. ([email protected])

2146 GMT - Rio Tinto's dividend beat is a small positive in an overall in-line set of annual fiscal results, Citi analyst Ephrem Ravi says in a note. The miner's total dividend of $4.02/share is a 4% above consensus expectations as compiled by Visible Alpha. Otherwise, Ebitda is as expected, while 2025 production and capital expenditure guidance is reiterated, Ravi says. To be sure, net debt is higher than expected, he says. Citi has a neutral rating and GBP56.00 target on the stock, which closed in London at GBP50.36. In Sydney, Rio Tinto ended Wednesday at A$121.95/share. ([email protected]; @RhiannonHoyle)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires