The S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) was eventful this week. Here are four big stories you may have missed that affected the ASX 200 index:
Coles Group Limited (ASX: COL) gives Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) the boot
Right at the end of the week we learned that Coles has ditched Telstra as its telecommunications provider.
Instead, NBN Co will build a fibre optic network for all of the Coles locations in the country, then after that Optus will be the provider of the telco services. The entire deal could amount to $100 million or more.
House prices keep falling
It was another rough month for Australian house prices according to CoreLogic figures.
National dwelling prices fell by 0.7% in February 2019, with Sydney and Melbourne dwelling prices each declining by 1%.
Some people thought that big banks such as Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX ANZ) might lend more and help resuscitate the market after the Royal Commission, but the decline only slowed down a little.
Ramsay Health Care Limited (ASX: RHC) surprises
Private hospital business Ramsay Health Care saw its share price grow 6% over the past week.
The shares went up particularly strongly after the company reported revenue growth of 14.9% to $5.1 billion and core net profit increased by 1% to $290.8 million, with a particularly pleasing performance from the Australian segment.
However, management warned that the Capio acquisition is likely to be dilutive to earnings this year, but see a lot of promise for it over the coming years. Ramsay continues to predict profit growth of up to 2% for the year.
Seek Limited (ASX: SEK) keeps growing revenue
The trend for revenue growth but flat profit continued for Seek as it also reported its result, it achieved strong revenue growth in China but continues to invest heavily across its businesses.
Seek also declared an interim dividend that was flat compared to last year.
