The ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) was eventful this week. Here are four stories you may have missed that affected businesses in the ASX 200 index:
REA Group Limited (ASX: REA)
REA Group reported its half-year result to 31 December 2019.
The property portal business reported revenue was down 6% to $440.3 million with operating expenses down 4%, leading to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) being down by 7% to $272.1 million.
REA Group's net profit fell 13% to $152.9 million and the interim dividend was flat at 55 cents per share.
The company is anticipating a higher number of listings in the second half of FY20 which will deliver a stronger revenue outcome.
Crown Resorts Ltd (ASX: CWN)
The coronavirus has interrupted the sale of Crown shares from James Packer's CPH to Melco Resorts.
Crown said that CPH and Melco Resorts have entered into a deed to terminate the obligations under the share sale agreement about completing the sale of the second tranche of Crown shares.
Melco said that the coronavirus epidemic, with the severe drop in tourism in Asia, has made the company reassess all 'non-core' investments for 2020.
James Packer will keep 36% of Crown's shares.
Nick Scali Limited (ASX: NCK)
Furniture retailer Nick Scali was another business to report this week. Its report sent the share price higher by around 15%. Why did it go up so much? It was better than expected.
Sales fell by 2.5% to $137.5 million with a decline of same store sales by 7.5%. Statutory net profit fell by 15% to $21.6 million which included a $1.3 million post-tax gain on the sale of a property which was previously earmarked for development into a Nick Scali store.
Adjusting for the property gain, the underlying net profit after tax was $20.1 million, which was above the previous guidance range of $17 million to $19 million thanks to stronger sales in the latter part of the period.
Coles Group Limited (ASX: COL)
Coles gave a trading update for the 27 weeks from 1 July 2019 to 5 January 2020.
In the 2020 first quarter sales results on 29 October 2019, Coles reported that in the early part of the second quarter, Coles supermarkets comparable sales growth had trended towards the level achieved in the fourth quarter of the 2019 financial year.
But Coles said its Christmas campaign exceeded expectations with comparable sales growth of 3.6% in the second quarter and 2% for the first half.
Coles' provisional first half FY20 group earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), before AASB16 on a retail calendar basis, is expected to be between $710 million to $730 million.
