PRE-MARKET AUSTRALIAN, JAPANESE & SOUTH KOREAN STOCK NEWS: BHP (BHP AT) quarterly and FY output updates

AUSTRALIA

AMP (AMP AT) - Co. expects H1 underlying net profit of AUD 170mln-180mln, citing a stronger contribution from its China partnerships, around AUD 5mln higher group investment income Y/Y and favourable impacts from North Guarantee of around AUD 5mln. (Dow Jones Newswires)

BHP Group (BHP AT) - Co. reported Q4 iron ore production fell 3% Y/Y to 68.1mln tonnes, copper production fell 5% Y/Y to 491.9k tonnes, steelmaking coal production rose 10% Y/Y to 5.7mln tonnes and energy coal production rose 3% Y/Y to 4.2mln tonnes; FY26 iron ore production rose 1% Y/Y to 264.7mln tonnes, copper production fell 3% Y/Y to 1.95mln tonnes, steelmaking coal production rose 3% Y/Y to 18.6mln tonnes and energy coal production rose 9% Y/Y to 16.4mln tonnes; expects FY27 copper output of 1.65mln-1.80mln tonnes, iron ore output of 260mln-272mln tonnes, steelmaking coal output of 18.5mln-20.5mln tonnes and energy coal output of 14mln-16mln tonnes, with FY26 copper unit costs at the bottom end of guidance, iron ore unit costs within guidance and BMA coal unit costs towards the top end of guidance. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Champion Iron (CIA AT) - Co. appointed Steve Boucratie as Chief Legal & Strategy Officer and Corporate Secretary, and Michael Marcotte as Chief Financial Officer. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Macquarie Technology Group (MAQ AT) - Co.'s Macquarie Data Centres unit has secured more than eight acres of land for a planned AUD 3bln data centre campus on Sydney's north shore, with management saying data centres are critical national infrastructure. (AFR)

Netwealth Group (NWL AT) - Co. reported Q4 custodial funds under administration inflows rose 11% Y/Y to AUD 8.4bln, total funds under administration rose 20% Y/Y to AUD 135.7bln and managed account funds under management rose 30% Y/Y to AUD 30.5bln. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Ora Banda Mining (OBM AT) - Co. reported FY gold output of 140,949oz, meeting guidance, FY all-in sustaining costs of AUD 3,496/oz and available liquidity of AUD 468mln at end-June. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Broker Ratings/Price Target

Ampol (ALD AT) downgraded to Neutral from Buy, price target raised 16% to AUD 36.65/shr at UBS.

29Metals (29M AT) price target cut 7% to AUD 0.26/shr at Macquarie.

Evolution Mining (EVN AT) price target cut 1.6% to AUD 12.00/shr at UBS.

Nine Entertainment (NEC AT) price target cut 6% to AUD 0.94/shr at UBS.

Southern Cross Media (SXL AT) price target cut 6.5% to AUD 0.58/shr at UBS.

JAPAN

ENEOS Holdings (5020 JT) - Co., Hitachi (6501 JT) and NTT Data are among the companies deploying NVIDIA Nemotron. (Newswires)

Honda Motor (7267 JT) - Co. will start production of its UC3 electric scooter in Vietnam in September and is targeting a price below USD 1,140. (Nikkei)

J. Front Retailing (3086 JT) - Co. reported June consolidated sales rose 1.2% Y/Y, while H1 consolidated sales fell 2.7% Y/Y. (Newswires)

Kawasaki Heavy Industries (7012 JT) - Co. and NVIDIA (NVDA) plan to build a shipyard in Japan. (Nikkei)

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (7011 JT) - Co. announced a collaboration with NVIDIA (NVDA) on AI infrastructure. (Newswires)

Mizuho Financial Group (8411 JT) - Co. plans to collaborate with NVIDIA (NVDA) to create an AI environment that can be used without disclosing customer information or other sensitive data. (Nikkei)

Toyota Motor (7203 JT) - Co. expanded its collaboration with NVIDIA (NVDA) on physical AI for automotive, robotics and urban development. (Newswires)

Yamaha (7951 JT) - Co. has been warned by Fender to comply with copyright protections covering the US company's guitar designs. (Nikkei)

SOUTH KOREA

Hanwha Ocean (042660 KS) - Co. secured a KRW 394.3bln order to build two very large crude carriers for a North American client. (Yonhap)

Samsung Electronics (005930 KS) - Co. is nearing more than KRW 10tln in semiconductor equipment orders for its Pyeongtaek Plant 5. (Newswires)