0353 GMT - Latitude Group's lack of commentary about potential one-off items adds uncertainty ahead of its FY 2023 result announcement in February, Citi analyst Thomas Strong writes in a note. He tells clients that while the Australian credit provider's reiterated cash net profit guidance is in line with market expectations, there is no clarity on the impact of likely below-the-line items. Latitude has already set aside funds for customer remediation over a data breach but could also face penalties. Strong also thinks that Latitude's comments on its FY 2024 outlook suggest that current market forecasts are too optimistic. Citi has a sell rating and A$0.95 target price on the stock. Shares are down 0.9% at A$1.16. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

0227 GMT - Premier Investments' guidance for a 10% 1H EBIT decline suggests that sales have been especially weak outside of its record Black Friday-linked trade, Macquarie analyst Marni Lysaght says. She writes in a note that the challenging discretionary retail environment is likely driving Premier's sales decline. Lysaght acknowledges Premier's observation of significant future growth opportunities for its Smiggle and Peter Alexander businesses, but points out that potential catalysts associated with the retailer's strategic review have yet to play out. Macquarie has a neutral rating and A$23.00 target price on the stock, which is up 2.1% at A$24.94. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

0214 GMT - Premier Investments could soon expand its kid-focused Smiggle stationery stores into North America, analysts at Unified Capital Partners say. They tell clients in a note that they expect Premier's 1H results in March to include an announcement on plans for both Smiggle and the Peter Alexander sleepwear brand as they execute on strong global rollout opportunities. With Premier still engaged in a strategic review of these businesses, Unified Capital Partners analysts think that the end of 2024 looks like the right time to generate premium valuation multiples for any spinoff. UCP has a buy rating and a A$30.78 target price on the stock, which is up 1.9% at A$24.89. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

0130 GMT - E&P analyst Phillip Kimber isn't rushing to any conclusions from what looks to be a positive trading update by Premier Investments. The Australian retailer reported record sales over the Black Friday trading week, although Kimber notes that this comment didn't carry with it any quantitative sales data for the period. He also points out in a note to clients that sales at the start of 1H were down 2.0% on-year and that Premier's key Christmas period is still ahead. E&P has an A$30.02/share sum-of-parts valuation on the retail conglomerate. Shares are up 2.2% at A$24.96. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

0054 GMT - Conditions in Australia's property market look helpful for listing volumes at the country's major classified ad companies, Jefferies analyst Roger Samuel says after speaking with a local mortgage broker. Samuel writes in a note that the number of mortgage pre-approvals processed by the broker suggests that buyer interest remains strong, and that prospective purchasers are pricing in the possibility of one more interest-rate rise by the Reserve Bank of Australia. He says that buyer interest is inspiring confidence among sellers, among whom there is little sign of stress. This could change in 2024, he reports the broker as saying. Jefferies continues to prefer Domain over rival REA due to the former's large exposure to Sydney and Melbourne listings. REA is 61% owned by News Corp., which also owns Dow Jones & Co., the publisher of this newswire and The Wall Street Journal. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

0041 GMT - The market expects Australian banks' net interest margins to decline into FY 2026, says UBS analyst John Storey in a note. Credit costs look set to peak in FY 2025 and remain elevated, according to sell-side consensus, he says. The second half of 2023 was difficult, "with a continuation of these trends expected into the new year," UBS says. The trends include ongoing cost inflation, and competitive pressures weighing on NIM, with "extreme levels of competition," between banks persisting into 2024, UBS says. It prefers CBA and ANZ over NAB and Westpac.(alice.uribe@wsj.com)

2337 GMT - Commonwealth Bank may have been surprised by the extent of its mortgage market share loss since the end of June, and is likely looking to get home loan growth closer to the wider system level of growth in 1H of 2024, say Morgan Stanley analysts in a note. Even so, MS reckons CBA's management is satisfied with its mortgage strategy, but thinks the lender will adjust its pricing tactics to improve growth. More widely, MS notes that system mortgage growth ticked up 4.5% in October versus around 4% for most of the year, with ANZ, NAB and WBC all having a solid start to FY 2024. On business loans, MS says it's watching for signs of a sustained slowdown. (alice.uribe@wsj.com)

2328 GMT - Iress still has work ahead to complete its turnaround but Macquarie analysts have seen enough to turn bullish on the Australian financial software provider. They raise their recommendation to outperform from neutral, citing better-than-expected revenue trends and the company's progress in offsetting inflationary pressures with cost-out measures. They tell clients in a note that any risk of a capital raise also appears to have abated with the improvement in Iress's balance sheet and the likelihood for further asset sales. Macquarie raises target price 22% to A$8.35. Shares are up 2.6% at A$7.21. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

2325 GMT - The speed of the turnaround at Iress turns Wilsons analysts from bears into bulls. They register surprise at the Australian financial software provider's progress and see its upgraded FY 2024 Ebitda guidance as evidence that it might have hit an inflection point sooner than expected. They tell clients in a note that the company's mortgages unit might be next for divestment, and anticipate proceeds of more than A$100 million that would strengthen the balance sheet. Wilsons lifts target price 44% to A$8.16 and raises its recommendation to overweight from underweight. Shares are up 3.7% at A$7.29. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

2308 GMT - Mortgage pricing amongst Australian major banks looks to be continuing to converge, with the gap between CBA and the cheapest of the majors now cut to between 10 and 15 basis points, say Macquarie analysts in a note. The investment bank reckons this may have been driven by CBA lowering its pricing to stop market share losses, and peers lifting their to improve the returns from newly acquired customers. From this, Macquarie thinks the majors' market shares should start to converge, and expects CBA to start growing mortgages, albeit likely below the wider system. But, it adds that for CBA growing below system shouldn't be a significant risk for the lender, with mortgage headwinds being a smaller issue for the major banks in FY 2024. (alice.uribe@wsj.com)

2244 GMT - Westpac has set new financed emissions targets in residential housing and agriculture, as part of its FY 2023 sustainability market update, say Macquarie analysts in a note, adding that the Australian major lender plans to set its remaining aluminum sector target by 2025. The investment bank notes that agriculture represents 26% of Westpac's scope 1 and 2 financed emissions. At the same time, Westpac has exceeded its 2025 scope 1 and 2 absolute emissions reduction target after achieving a 66% reduction in 2023 relative to the 2021 baseline, and is On track for 100% renewable energy across global operations by 2025, says Macquarie noting that Westpac has set a new A$95 billion sustainable finance target. It was previously A$25 billion. (alice.uribe@wsj.com)

2224 GMT - Jefferies raises its price target on Clarity by 21% to A$3.15/share after the radiopharmaceutical company said it would carry out a phase 3 diagnostic trial on advanced prostate cancer patients. The so-called Clarify study will test its 64Cu-SAR-bisPSMA product, and aims to generate enough evidence to support an application to the US FDA for its approval as a new diagnostic imaging agent in prostate cancer. "As it is now in Phase 3, we note that 64Cu-SAR-bisPSMA now has probability of getting to market of 61% (from 21% previously)," Jefferies analyst David Stanton says in a note. Clarity ended Thursday at A$1.425. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

0432 GMT - Queensland's government asset manager QIC has an appetite for what it calls the "mid-risk" part of its portfolio, as it looks to build resilience amid more volatility in the market. Its state chief investment officer Allison Hill tells an Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia conference that while QIC remains attracted to real assets, it sees private debt as having "interesting risk adjusted return characteristics." Other mid-risk assets of interest include core real estate. Hill says it's all about diversification and spreading that across the portfolio amid a more volatile market.(alice.uribe@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 30, 2023 22:58 ET (03:58 GMT)