-- Electro Optic Systems Holdings (ASX:EOS) reported a contract backlog of AU$518 million as of March 31, up 13% from the end of 2025, according to a Thursday filing with the Australian bourse.
The company closed the March quarter with unrestricted cash holdings of AU$95.1 million, representing a decrease of AU$11.8 million from the end of 2025, per the filing.
(Updates to add stock movement in the headline and last paragraph)Woolworths Group (ASX:WOW) reported fiscal third-quarter sales of about AU$18.1 billion, up 4.5% from AU$17.31 billion in the year-ago period, according to a Thursday filing with the Australian bourse.Australian food sales increased 5.9% year over year to AU$13.83 billion, while New Zealand food sales measured in the local currency ticked 1.4% higher, per the filing.While the impact of the Middle East conflict on the company's business has so far been limited, "higher fuel costs and secondary effects are likely to have an increasing inflationary impact as we move through the calendar year," CEO Amanda Bardwell said.Reported fiscal 2026 Australian food earnings before interest and taxes growth is still expected to be in the mid to high single-digit range but no longer at the upper end of the range, Woolworths said.The guidance reflects incremental costs associated with direct fuel exposures as well as initiatives to support customers during a period of budgetary constraint, including a freeze on shelf prices for 300 household staples, the company disclosed in a separate Thursday statement.The price freeze includes Woolworths-branded or exclusive products, including eggs, bread, chicken, sausages, pasta, and diapers starting from May 1 for the next three months.The company's shares fell around 6% in recent Thursday trade.
Kingsgate Consolidated (ASX:KCN) produced 21,036 ounces of gold and sold 21,954 ounces of gold during the March quarter, according to a Thursday filing with the Australian bourse.The gold was produced at an all-in sustaining cost of $2,201 per ounce and sold at an average price of $4,814 per ounce of gold during the quarter, the filing said.For the quarter ended March 31, 2025, the company produced 20,628 ounces of gold at an AISC of $1,839 per ounce and sold 20,000 ounces of gold at an average price of $2,875 per ounce, an earlier filing showed.The company said it remains on track to meet its fiscal 2026 guidance of 93,000 to 103,000 ounces of gold equivalent and all-in sustaining cost of $1,550 to $1,750 per ounce.The company's shares fell around 6% in recent Thursday trade.
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) on Thursday called on the financial sector to enhance its management of AI-related risks, warning that information security practices are struggling to keep up with the speed of the technology's adoption.In a letter to the industry, the regulator outlined the findings of a review it launched last year, noting that the growing use of advanced AI is creating multiple new financial and operational vulnerabilities for banks, insurers, and superannuation trustees."Frontier AI models such as Anthropic's Claude Mythos, which could enhance the discovery of vulnerabilities by bad actors, are expected to further increase the probability, speed, and scale of cyber attacks," APRA said.The regulator found that financial corporates have a high interest in the potential benefits of AI usage, but in many cases lack the technical knowledge to effectively manage the associated risks.The APRA is not proposing to introduce additional requirements at this stage but expects to see a "significant improvement" in how the financial sector approaches AI-related risk management and governance.