PRE-MARKET AUSTRALIAN, JAPANESE & SOUTH KOREAN STOCK NEWS: Earnings from Westpac, Tabcorp agreed to acquire BetMakers, SK Hynix will invest KRW 54.3tln to build new semiconductor fabrication plants

AUSTRALIA Amplitude Energy (AEL AT) - Co. Chairman Ian Davies plans to retire, remaining as director and chairman during a transition period while the Co. begins a process to select a successor. (Dow Jones Newsplus) Bank of Queensland (BOQ AT) - Co. announced an on-market buyback of up to AUD 196mln, affirmed its CET1 ratio at 10.25-10.75% and expects an AUD 47mln pre-tax impairment charge in H2 2026. (Dow Jones Newsplus) CAR Group (CAR AT) - Co. FY (AUD) net rose 13.9% Y/Y to 313.7mln, adjusted net profit rose 8.0% Y/Y to 407.2mln, rev. rose 5.9% Y/Y to 1.25bln. (Dow Jones Newsplus) FleetPartners (FPR AT) - Co. rejected SG Fleet's AUD 3.60/shr cash takeover offer as undervaluing the Co., while Element Fleet Management offered AUD 3.80/shr in cash and proposed raising its offer to AUD 4.00/shr should the Co. enter a process deed. (Dow Jones Newsplus) oOh!media (OML AT) - Co. agreed to be acquired by I Squared Capital for AUD 1.70/shr in cash, implying an equity value of around AUD 898mln. (Dow Jones Newsplus) Qube Holdings (QUB AT) - Co. is reportedly considering an acquisition of Pacific National, valued at around AUD 6bln, as its long-running sale process gathers momentum. (The Australian) Sunrise Energy Metals (SRL AT) - Co.’s Syerston scandium project received a conditional USD 400mln loan commitment from the US Department of War. (Mining.com) Tabcorp (TAH AT) - Co. agreed to acquire BetMakers for AUD 267mln at AUD 0.24/shr, with BetMakers' board unanimously recommending the offer and shareholders able to elect to receive some consideration in shares. (Dow Jones Newsplus) Treasury Wine Estates (TWE AT) - Co. expects an additional AUD 558.4mln post-tax material item charge in its FY26 result related to US asset write-downs and further brand impairments, expects FY26 EBITS of AUD 492.3mln and leverage of 2.8x, and plans to overhaul its US operations. (Dow Jones Newsplus) Westpac (WBC AT) - Co. Q3 (AUD) unaudited statutory net profit 1.8bln, +3% versus the average of the prior two quarters, unaudited net profit ex-notable items 1.8bln, +2% versus the average of the prior two quarters, CET1 capital ratio 12.1%. (Dow Jones Newsplus) Broker Ratings/Price Target Charter Hall Retail REIT (CQR AT) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform, price target raised 1.0% to AUD 4.18/shr by Macquarie. James Hardie (JHX AT) price target raised 14% to AUD 47.10/shr by Macquarie. Nick Scali (NCK AT) price target raised 6% to AUD 17.70/shr by Macquarie. ResMed (RMD AT) price target raised 0.4% to AUD 46.80/shr by Macquarie. JAPAN Aeon (8267 JT) - Co. will sell its Thai supermarket subsidiary to Central Group and fully exit the Thai supermarket business as it focuses on Vietnam. (Nikkei) Eneos Holdings (5020 JT) - Co. will acquire all of Texas-based chemical manufacturer TPC Holdings for an undisclosed sum as it expands its US chemicals business. (Nikkei) Honda Motor (7267 JT) - Co. has delegated some vehicle platform development to Tata Technologies, with the jointly developed platform to be used for hybrids and other electrified vehicles. (Nikkei) Kansai Electric Power (9503 JT) - Co. and Kawasaki Heavy Industries plan to transport captured CO2 from a coal-fired power plant to an off-site location as early as this fiscal year as they develop carbon capture and storage technology. (Nikkei) Kawasaki Heavy Industries (7012 JT) - Co. and Kansai Electric Power plan to transport captured CO2 from a coal-fired power plant to an off-site location as early as this fiscal year as they develop carbon capture and storage technology. (Nikkei) Kirin Holdings (2503 JT) - Co. will acquire Canada's Jamieson Wellness for CAD 1.898bln as it expands its health science business in North America. (Nikkei) Recruit Holdings (6098 JT) - Co. Q1 (JPY) net rose 68% Y/Y to 202.6bln, rev. rose 19% Y/Y to 1.05tln. (Newswires) Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group (8309 JT) - Co.'s banking unit will launch funds investing in renovations of urban offices, hotels and other commercial properties amid rising construction costs. (Nikkei) Banks Japan's MUFG (8306 JT), Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (8316 JT) and Mizuho Financial Group (8411 JT) are increasing foreign-currency liquidity buffers to a combined USD 1.25tln to prepare for a potential surge in dollar funding demand amid the US-Iran conflict. (Nikkei) Index Changes T&D Holdings (8795 JT) and Furukawa Electric (5801 JT) will join the JPX-Nikkei 400, while KDDI (9433 JT) and Asahi Group Holdings (2502 JT) will be removed as part of the annual index reshuffle effective August 31. (Nikkei) Other News Japan's Ministry of Defense will integrate cybersecurity software into air-defence radars, fighter jets and other Air Self-Defense Force equipment as early as 2027. (Nikkei) Japan's GPIF posted a record JPY 24.09tln quarterly gain in the three months through June, returning 8.2% as AI-driven equity gains helped lift assets under management to JPY 317.76tln. (Nikkei) SOUTH KOREA Coway (021240 KS) - Co. Q2 (KRW) net rose 14.6% Y/Y to 178.3bln, EBIT rose 4.3% Y/Y to 253.2bln, rev. rose 14.6% Y/Y to 1.44tln. (Yonhap) Kakao (035720 KS) - Co. management and its labour union reached a final wage agreement following a three-month dispute. (Yonhap) KEPCO E&C (052690 KS) - Co. Q2 (KRW) net rose 736.5% Y/Y to 2.7bln, EBIT 3bln (prev. loss 511mln Y/Y), rev. fell 2.7% Y/Y to 103.3bln. (Yonhap) Lotte Chemical (011170 KS) - Co. Q2 (KRW) net 194.5bln (prev. loss 471.3bln Y/Y), EBIT 110.1bln (prev. loss 250.5bln Y/Y), rev. rose 39.2% Y/Y to 5.68tln. (Yonhap) Paradise (034230 KS) - Co. Q2 (KRW) net fell 35% Y/Y to 21bln, EBIT 35.6bln (prev. 42.9bln Y/Y), rev. rose 11.8% Y/Y to 318.1bln. (Yonhap) POSCO Holdings (005490 KS) - Co. plans to divest KRW 2.5tln of shares in affiliates, comprising KRW 2tln of POSCO International and KRW 500bln of POSCO DX shares. (Yonhap) SK Hynix (000660 KS) - Co. will invest KRW 54.3tln to build new semiconductor fabrication plants to meet rapidly growing demand for AI memory chips. (Yonhap) Geopolitical Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said up to 50,000 North Korean troops could be deployed to Russia and called for closer cooperation with South Korea. (Nikkei)