At lunch on Wednesday the S&P/ASX 200 index has followed the lead of U.S. markets and dropped lower. At the time of writing the benchmark index is down 0.55% to 6,707.7 points.
Here's what has been happening on the market today:
Woolworths update.
The Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) share price has dropped lower on Wednesday following its first quarter update. Although the conglomerate impressed with strong sales growth in the first quarter, this positive news was offset by a disappointing development. This morning Woolworths revealed that it has underpaid some of its staff by upwards of $300 million in total.
Costa returns and crashes lower.
The Costa Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: CGC) share price has returned from its trading halt and is down 25% at lunch. This morning the horticulture company completed its institutional entitlement offer, raising $87 million at $2.20 per share. It will now seek to raise a further $90 million from retail investors. Costa also downgraded its calendar year guidance to an adjusted net profit of $28 million. This compares to $57 million to $66 million.
AGL Energy guidance.
The AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL) share price is trading slightly lower on the day of its investor day event. Ahead of the event, the energy retailer released an update which reconfirmed its guidance for FY 2020. It advised that it is on track to achieve its underlying profit after tax guidance of $780 million to $860 million. Though, it did warn that market challenges remain.
Best and worst performers.
The best performer on the ASX 200 index on Wednesday has been the Silver Lake Resources Limited (ASX: SLR) share price with a gain of 6%. This is despite there being no news out of the gold miner. Going the other way, the Costa share price is far and away the worst performer with a 25% decline following its profit guidance downgrade and capital raising.
