AUSTRALIA FIRST TO MARKET

Research evidence excerpt

AUSTRALIA FIRST TO MARKET

Asia Pacific Equity Research

Australia First to Market 19 June 2026

Top Stories

Delayed, Not Cancelled (Don Carducci/George Stewart)

FLT and HLO: Resetting into year end

Attention now turns towards the shape of the recovery for FY27. A recovery in AU demand will not be immediate and in full, but

should be accelerated by: 1) Middle East carrier capacity coming back, 2) carrier campaigns deals/incentives (discounts, etc.),

3) the downgrade of DFAT’s Travel Warning to the Middle East (here, discussion below) and 4) improving consumer

confidence. Headline multiples have moderated for HLO and FLT; looking beyond the near term, we believe both businesses

are well placed to capture a normalisation in demand.

Global Research

We don’t need no stinking guidance (Michael Feroli)

For now, the Fed is not providing forward guidance, but that didn’t matter as the FOMC’s dot plot delivered a clear message

today, and it was much more hawkish than expected. Chair Warsh did not submit a dot, and with an even number of

participants the median for this year fell between no change and one hike. Next year’s dots were also generally above

expectations, with the median unchanged from the current rate setting. The decision to leave rates unchanged was reached by

a unanimous 12-0 vote. The post-meeting statement was trimmed down significantly, eliminating a lot of boilerplate language

that seemed unnecessary to begin with. The forward guidance was dropped entirely, with the only thing close being a reference

that: “The Committee will deliver price stability.” Given the terse statement that focused on getting inflation back down, one

might wonder why the Committee didn’t hike today. One was left wondering after Warsh’s inaugural press conference. Warsh