The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) went up 2.75% this week in another strong performance by the Australian share market.
Australia is moving closer to lockdowns being lifted. Investors are hoping for that V-shaped recovery once the economy opens up again. Time will tell what type of recovery it is and whether the ASX 200 recovery can be sustained.
Here are some of the highlights from the ASX 200:
Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) FY20 result
Australia's major investment bank announced its FY20 profit fell 8% to $2.73 billion. The main cause of the decline was credit and impairments of $1.04 billion largely relating to the potential economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. Earnings per share (EPS) dropped a bit more, down 10% to $7.91.
And the dividend? A final dividend of $1.80 per share was declared, which brought the full year dividend to $4.30, this was a decline of 25%.
Investors felt pretty positive about the result from the ASX 200 financial share, the Macquarie share price rose 5.7%.
REA Group Limited (ASX: REA) FY20 third quarter
Property portal giant REA Group released its March 2020 quarter numbers to the market this week.
Revenue increased by 1% to $199.8 million. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) went up 8% to $119.6 million, however free cash flow dropped 20% to $66.7 million.
The company said that the initiatives it's taking will help but may result in a delay of revenue recognition.
April was the probably the first complete month where the property market was affected. Last month national residential listings were down 33%, Sydney residential listings were down 18% and Melbourne listings were down 27%.
REA Group was one of the top performers within the ASX 200, it rose 7.7% on the day.
Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) HY20 result
The major ASX bank reported statutory net profit fell 62% to $1.19 billion. Cash profit was down 70%. Even after excluding notable items, cash profit was down 44% to $2.28 billion.
The board of Westpac decided to defer the dividend decision until a later date when there's a better understanding of the financial situation. It ended the period with a CET1 ratio of 10.8%.
The large ASX 200 bank's share price was almost flat over the course of the week.
