Fruit and vegetable king Frank Costa has announced his retirement from the Costa Group board, effective immediately.

Rich Lister Mr Costa, who has been with the company since the 1950s, retired as non executive director, a position he has held since the fruit and vegetable retailer became a public company in 2015.

"Now is the right time for me to step back from a formal engagement whilst retaining an active involvement in the company's future progress as an advisor to the board," Mr Costa said in an announcement to the market on Friday morning.

"I have been delighted with the growth and quality of the business as it has become the country's leading horticultural group which continues to set new standards in technology and sustainability across its portfolio."

Tim Boyd has the full story here.

AP Eagers is selling three car dealership outlets in the Newcastle region for $54 million to appease the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and ensure a smoother passage for its broader $2.3 billion merger proposal with Automotive Holdings Group.

The company has struck an agreement to sell the Kloster Motor Group to family-owned Tony White Group, which operates car dealerships across the eastern states.

Kloster Motor Group generates $420 million annually and operates dealerships in Newcastle under the Kloster Motor Group badge, in nearby Cardiff under the Cardiff Motor Group, and Maitland through the Highway Group.

Simon Evans has the full story here.

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Woolworths' announcement of the $10 billion divestiture of its hotels and drinks business this week was the way its chief executive, Brad Banducci, described his ambition for the group.

Woolworths, he said, was evolving into "a food and everyday needs ecosystem."

It would be tempting to see Woolworths recent strategy as one of divestments, partly forced on it, to enable it to, end losses, release capital and re-focus on its core supermarket business.

That's true to a degree.

Stephen Bartholomeusz has the full piece here.

Retail landlord Vicinity Centres has told investors that Peter Kahan has taken a leave of absence from his current role as a non-executive directory due to a health condition.

As part of its management restructure earlier in the year, the group said Mr Kahan would assume the role of chairman following the release of the 2019 annual results on August 14.

Vicinity has announced that the current chairman, Peter Hay, has agreed to be acting chairman from Mr Kahan's commencement as chairman for the duration of Mr Kahan's leave of absence.

VCX shares are up 1 per cent to $2.64 in early trade.

Australian shares are trading slightly higher through the middle of the session after soaring during mid-morning trade.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index is up 6.8 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 6724.8.

CSL shares are up 0.9 per cent, Commonwealth Bank is up 0.5 per cent and Wesfarmers has risen 1.4 per cent,

Western Areas has risen 3.4 per cent, Eclipx Group has advanced 2.9 per cent and Bapcor has firmed 2.2 per cent.

Ethical investment funds controlling billions of dollars could seek to invest in Woolworths after the supermarket giant cleanses itself from pubs, poker machines and bottle shops through a proposed demerger.

But the new $10 billion company it hopes to create out the Dan Murphy's and BWS liquor chains and the ALH Group pub and gaming empire will be shunned by many investors, and trade at a discount because of the risks of owning poker machines, market watchers said.

Under a plan revealed on Wednesday, Woolworths said it would seek to demerge or float the new business, called Endeavour Group, at some point next year to unlock its growth potential while allowing it to focus on its core supermarket operations.

Patrick Hatch has the full story here.

There has been much to confound the financial market punditry so far this year. Of course, there always is. Personal experience has taught this humble pundit that much.

In any case, having issued the pundits' caveat emptor, the element of the financial landscape that continues to confound me is the quite different perceptions of the outlook being taken by developed sovereign bond markets on the one hand, and the equity market on the other.

The former is sounding the alarm on potential recessionary conditions ahead, while the latter are a lot more relaxed about what is to come.

Of course, the simple (and at this stage seemingly accurate) answer is that the decline in yields has ameliorated any nascent equity market concern.

Steve Miller, investment strategy consultant with GSFM, has more here.

Magellan Financial Group grew its funds under management by 4.8 per cent during June with the strongest growth coming from its retail funds which grew 5.7 per cent.

Institutional funds under management expanded from $60.79 billion to $63.5 billion in June while retail rose from $21.97 billion to $23.22 billion.

Average funds under management for the 12 months ended 30 June 2019 was $75.8 billion, 28.5 per cent higher than it was for the prior corresponding period.

Its shares are trading 0.8 per cent lower at $53.98.