Gen Z Morning Brief · 5-minute read Monday , 31 AUGUST 2026. The daily business and fraud briefing that tells Gen Z how today's headlines affect tomorrow's pay.

Good morning. Wesfarmers just posted an 8.3% profit jump on the back of Bunnings and Kmart, and investors punished the stock anyway, sending it below A$80 for the first time this year. In Manila, the stock market slid for a fourth straight day, dropping below the 6,000 mark as a rate hike and a fund rebalancing collided.

Maybank's quarterly profit climbed in Malaysia, Comvita clawed its way back into the black in New Zealand, and Thailand's central bank is bracing for a soft patch after a weak quarter of growth. Here's what actually happened, and what it means for your money..- Miko Santos

Markets are closed for the weekend, so equities carry Friday's last prices, and bitcoin is still sitting near where it landed after Fed governor Kevin Warsh reopened the door to a US rate hike at Jackson Hole. Wesfarmers is the interesting one: underlying profit actually grew, but the market sold off anyway on higher capital spending and soft early guidance for the new financial year.

Wesfarmers reported an 8.3% jump in underlying profit for FY26, and its shares fell anyway. Statutory net profit after tax came in at $2,874 million, revenue rose 3.4% to $47.27 billion, and the board lifted the full-year dividend 7.8% to $2.22 a share. Bunnings and Kmart carried the result; Officeworks grew sales but its earnings slipped. Shares still dropped 4.58% to $79.46, their first close below $80 this year, as investors focused on rising capital spending and a soft start to FY27. Source: The Bull, 27 August 2026 →

Maybank's second-quarter net profit rose 2.4% to RM2.69 billion, taking its first-half profit to RM5.17 billion. The bank credited disciplined cost management and sharply lower impairment provisions for the gain, with group current-and-savings-account balances growing 7.6% year on year. Source: Xinhua, 27 August 2026 →

The Philippine stock exchange dropped below 6,000 for the first time this year, falling 0.8% on Friday to 5,956.33. MSCI's index rebalancing triggered broad selling on top of Thursday's central bank rate hike, and foreigners were net sellers to the tune of ₱3.51 billion. The slide came the same week second-quarter GDP growth slowed to 2.3%, a post-pandemic low. Source: Philstar, 29 August 2026 →

New Zealand honey company Comvita has swung back to profit, reporting $7.7 million net profit after tax against a $104.8 million loss the year before. Revenue for the year to June rose 10.7% to $213 million, debt was paid off entirely after a recapitalisation from Singapore's F&N Ventures, and North American sales roughly doubled. Source: Just Food, 28 August 2026 →

Thailand's central bank is expected to hold its interest rate for a third straight meeting after growth slowed sharply in the second quarter. High energy prices tied to the Middle East conflict are weighing on the economy, which the Bank of Thailand now projects will grow just 2.3% this year and 1.8% next. Source: Bloomberg, 26 August 2026 →

A company's profit going up doesn't mean its share price will. Wesfarmers grew earnings and still got sold off, because the market was pricing in next year's spending, not last year's result. If you're watching a stock ahead of results, the headline number is only half the story.

Rate hikes ripple past the currency they're set in. The Philippine central bank's move to cool inflation helped tip its own stock market below 6,000 days later — a reminder that a rate decision doesn't stop at the exchange rate.

A "return to profit" headline can hide the real story. Comvita's comeback rests on paid-off debt and a recapitalisation, not just stronger sales — check what actually changed before you trust a turnaround.

Vietnam kicked off three wind power projects worth roughly US$239 million in Ca Mau province on Thursday. The 170-megawatt combined capacity adds to the country's clean-energy build-out as it works to meet rising electricity demand. Source: Vietnam+, 28 August 2026 →

Indonesia's stock exchange opened higher on Friday, gaining 0.21% to 6,535.72, as investors positioned ahead of next week's MSCI rebalancing. Analysts expected the index to trade sideways through the session, watching the rupiah for direction. Source: Aktualita, 28 August 2026 →

ANZ now forecasts 2.7% GDP growth for New Zealand this year, up from earlier estimates. The bank's August outlook cites firmer inflation and activity data, though labour market conditions stay soft. Source: ANZ Research, August 2026 →

Someone gets a text saying their mobile carrier needs to verify their SIM after a "network upgrade." They read back a one-time code, thinking it confirms the upgrade. Within the hour their phone loses signal entirely: the SIM has been ported to a device the scammer controls. Banking apps that use SMS for login or password resets are now wide open. The scammer resets the passwords, drains what they can, and moves the money through a chain of accounts before the victim even gets a replacement SIM sorted.

Remember:

Stat: ₱280.5 billion. That's what the Global Anti-Scam Alliance's most recent State of Scams Philippines report put annual scam losses at, with 77% of Filipinos saying they'd encountered a scam attempt in the past year. It's an older report, not this week's news, but it's the most recent comprehensive estimate for a country that shows up twice in today's brief. Subscribe to the daily brief. Source: Global Anti-Scam Alliance, "State of Scams in the Philippines," November 2025 →

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