0200 GMT - The shock of Genesis Minerals's big step-up in capex over the next five years is more than offset by the boost to production from this investment, says Macquarie. Genesis outlined plans to spend A$520 million in growth capex in FY 2025-FY 2029, well above Macquarie's A$92 million estimate. In a note, Macquarie said it had expected only two open pit ore sources for Genesis's Laverton operation. Genesis signaled it will develop four in total. "Production beyond five years was materially stronger than our prior estimate, while longer-term all-in sustaining cost also appears to be better," says Macquarie, upgrading Genesis to outperform from neutral. Genesis's production can grow at a compound annual rate of 10% over the next decade, Macquarie says. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

0116 GMT - Smaller businesses around the world will find it hard to compete with large-scale players, particularly in a digital environment, says Westpac CEO Peter King. "I think scale wins. If you look at banking, if you look at insurance, you look at superannuation," he says at the Australian Financial Review Banking Summit. King says firms are being pressured by a range of factors including cyber-protection needs, regulatory reporting and stress tests from regulators. "All of these are putting pressure on companies' resources, and so I think what we see is scale winning in all sectors...we're seeing it globally." King sees this as a long-term trend, and while not naming a timeframe, he believes the "direction is scale will win over time in any country around the world." (alice.uribe@wsj.com)

2334 GMT - The theme of a recovery in global capital markets is better played via Macquarie than ASX, say Morgan Stanley analysts in a note. The investment bank reckons the former stands to benefit most from an improvement in global M&A activity within MS's Australian financials coverage. "It has leverage via its gains on sale and performance fees revenue, in addition to M&A advisory fees," says MS on Macquarie. It has an overweight call on the stock and raises its target price 11% to A$225.00. On ASX, MS remains underweight and thinks it is too expensive, with an optimistic revenue recovery and better cost management seemingly already baked into the share price. Macquarie falls 0.4% to A$196.84.ASX is flat at A$65.79 (alice.uribe@wsj.com)

2305 GMT - Westpac is likely to provide more detail on its technology-simplification roadmap at its technology update this week, but probably won't announce any new financial targets, say Morgan Stanley analysts in a note. The investment bank sees that the Australian bank could provide more detail on the likely composition of its around A$2 billion per annum of investment spend, but is unlikely to issue an update on expected cost savings or new targets for the cost base. "In our view, any evidence that technology simplification can deliver better-than-peer cost management will not begin to emerge until FY 2025," says MS. (alice.uribe@wsj.com)

2208 GMT - Manawa Energy's talk of operational efficiencies as a driver of its recent earnings upgrade is especially pleasing, Forsyth Barr says. Manawa Energy now expects FY 2024 Ebitdaf of NZ$142 million-NZ$147 million, up 11% at the midpoint compared to prior guidance. In a note, analyst Andrew Harvey-Green says three of the four factors cited by Manawa Energy for the improved earnings outlook appear one-off in nature and relate to favorable operating conditions. "The fourth factor cited, 'a focus on operational efficiencies' (i.e. reduced operating costs), can be considered structural and is the most encouraging aspect of the guidance upgrade," he says. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

2203 GMT - Fisher & Paykel Healthcare's earnings upgrade hasn't prompted Forsyth Barr to scrub its bearish call on the stock. Analyst Matt Montgomerie was particularly pleased by stronger homecare revenue and demand for new apps, leading him to view FY 2025 consensus expectations as more achievable. The market currently forecasts FY 2025 revenue of NZ$1.92 billion and a net profit of NZ$328 million, which represents growth of 11% on FY 2024 revenue guidance and net profit growth of 25%. "All this said, we retain our underperform rating given Fisher & Paykel Healthcare's relative valuation to global heathcare peers remains elevated, and our concerns around the new apps consumables revenue growth required over the long term to justify the current share price," Forsyth Barr says. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 26, 2024 00:00 ET (04:00 GMT)