0044 GMT - Siteminder's move into customer revenue management is a logical step for the hotel-commerce platform that should improve unit economics, Citi analyst Siraj Ahmed says. He writes in a note that average-revenue-per-user for revenue management is typically higher, while the additional service should also reduce churn and accelerate subscription growth. It is a key step in continuing Siteminder's evolution from a single-product channel manager to a hotel-tech platform, he adds. Citi lifts its target price 5.8% to A$5.50 on higher medium-term earnings forecasts and reiterates its buy rating. Shares are up 0.4% at A$4.56. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

0030 GMT - Bank of Queensland still has a bear in Morgan Stanley analyst Richard E. Wiles, who sees the regional Australian lender disadvantaged by reinvestment costs and weak volume growth. Ahead of the bank's annual result announcement on Oct. 11, Wiles cuts his fiscal 2023 EPS forecast by 33% to 20.5 Australian cents to reflect the A$125 million in one-off charges flagged last week by the lender. Wiles anticipates 2H cash profit to be almost 20% down on 1H at A$206 million, with pre-provision profit down by 17% over the same period. MS cuts target price 1.8% to A$5.50 and maintains an underweight rating on the stock, which is up 1.1% at A$5.68. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

0017 GMT - Morgans analyst Nathan Lead is looking for Bank of Queensland to use its FY 2023 result announcement to outline the likely financial benefits of the lender's so-called simplification program. Lead writes in a note that there has been a lack of clarity on the costs and benefits of the program, noting execution risks around the regional lender's digital transition and risk-management upgrade program. His forecasts for net interest margin through FY 2025 are more optimistic than average analyst expectations, and he thinks that the bank should hold its dividend at A$0.20/share despite 2H EPS being likely to decline 17% on 1H. Morgans trims its target price 14% to A$5.65 on lower earnings and higher equity costs but maintains a hold recommendation. Shares are up 1.1% at A$5.68. (stu0art.condie@wsj.com)

2347 GMT - Investors seem to be pricing in potentially higher homebuilder cancellation rates ahead for Australian building products supplier James Hardie, whose shares are down by roughly 15% since early September. But Citi analyst Samuel Seow remains cautiously optimistic on the outlook. "While there's little doubt about the correlation between rates and housing activity, our early work suggests that there are multiple factors that indicate backlog depletion may be more muted than prior periods," says Seow. That includes limited inventory in the existing home market and rising house prices and rents, he says. Still, he continues "to watch the situation carefully." Seow cuts Citi's target on the stock to A$50.50 from A$55.10 but keeps a buy rating. James Hardie is flat in Sydney at A$39.60. (rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com; @RhiannonHoyle)

2250 GMT - Westpac will likely continue to grow its mortgage lending book, albeit at a slower pace than currently, Citi analysts write in a note. They point out that Westpac's strong lending growth over the past three months followed a period in which problems with its mortgage-origination platform meant that the Australian bank's home-loan book was growing at a slower pace than the broader industry. Westpac's growth is now about twice that of the broader industry, but they observe that this is also related to the earlier withdrawal by larger rival Commonwealth Bank of cash offers to entice borrowers. Westpac's relative growth will moderate as this impact washes through, they say. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

2233 GMT - Renewed competition among Australian home-loan lenders looks unlikely to analysts at Citi. They think that funding constraints and a slowdown in customer deposits may be behind Commonwealth Bank's decision to cut back on cash offers and pricing competition. They point out in a note to clients that Commonwealth has a record A$68 billion in wholesale maturities in fiscal 2024 and say they see funding constraints continuing. The upshot is that Australia's largest bank is likely to keep its rational outlook on the mortgage market, leaving a breakout in competition looking unlikely. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

2211 GMT -- IDP Education's English-language testing volumes since Canada opened the industry to competition suggest that the Australian company's revenues could miss market expectations through fiscal 2024, Jefferies analysts say. They see potential for group revenues to miss average analyst forecasts for 1H and 2H of fiscal 2024 by 7% and 8%, respectively. They explain their scenario analysis in a note, extrapolating the 4% 2H fiscal 2023 decline in testing volumes across the whole of 1H fiscal 2024. They then normalize the impact across 2H. Jefferies has an underperform rating and A$18.00 target price on the stock, which is at A$21.25 ahead of the open. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

2142 GMT - Pexa's GBP30.8 million acquisition of Smoove provides it with access to the lucrative Sale and Purchase market, and increases the digital property-settlements platform operator's chances of becoming profitable in the U.K., Jefferies says. "We understand there is a risk entering the U.K. market, but not much value is being ascribed to the business anyway at the current share price," analyst Roger Samuel says in a note. "If Pexa could make the U.K. work, then there is upside to the current share price." Jefferies retains a buy call on Pexa, which ended Thursday at A$10.90. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 06, 2023 00:02 ET (04:02 GMT)