Australian Stocks Flat; Coles, Newcrest Revenues Rise

Chandrasekhar Atreya
21 Oct, 2010
New York City

Australian shares after trading higher in the morning boosted by resource stocks but lost most of the gains at close. Gold output at Newcrest Mining rises 79% in September quarter. Coles reported 5% increase in revenues in the quarter to September

[R]6:00 PM Sydney, Australia – Australian shares after trading higher in the morning boosted by resource stocks but lost most of the gains at close. Gold output at Newcrest Mining rises 79% in September quarter. Coles reported 5% increase in revenues in the quarter to September.[/R]

Stocks in Sydney trading were little changed at close. Resource stocks opened higher on the back of rising commodities prices in international markets but failed to build on the early lead.

The ASX 200 dropped as little as 0.04% or 2 points to close at 4,622.90 and the Australian dollar closed at 98.86 U.S. cents.

The government said it will provide as much as A$9,000 incentives to people who obtain jobs from high unemployment area to metropolitan regions for relocation.

Employment Participation Minister Kate Ellis told parliament on Thursday the idea was to help people living in high unemployment areas to move to places where more workers are needed. People who have been unemployed for at least a year will get A$3,000 for moving to a metropolitan area and A$6,000 for going to a regional center to take up a permanent job. They will get an additional A$3,000 if they have dependant children.

The Australian Treasury said it put the country’s four big banks on notice that it has concerns about their increased market dominance and said it will step up efforts to rebalance competition in the financial services sector.

Spanish food giant Ebro Foods SA made an unsolicited $600 million takeover offer to acquire Australian agricultural company Ricegrowers Ltd.

Coles’ revenue rose to A$7.49 billion in the 13 weeks ended September 26 from A$7.14 billion a year earlier, Perth-based Wesfarmers said in a statement today.

Coles increased sales of liquor and food, at about three times the rate of rival Woolworths in the September quarter despite falling prices and aggressive discounting.

Queensland’s wet weather reduced the coal output from Wesfarmer’s Curragh mine in the Bowen Basin, the company said in a statement.

Graeme Samuel, Chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission clarified that what he said about the NBN at an interview to the Business Spectator had been misrepresented.

“Let me make it quite clear that I did not say a cost benefit analysis was not needed,” he told a Senate estimates hearing in Canberra on Thursday.

New Hope Corp said it will lodge its bidder’s statement for Queensland’s Northern Energy on Friday as the two-week window for lodging the statement comes to a close.

Great Australian Operations, northwest Queensland copper mine operator was fined A$135,000 for causing “serious environmental damage” to Coppermine creek, after the company pleaded guilty in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

Dean Ellwood, Assistant Director General at the Department of Environment and Resource Management said 2 kilometer stretch of the creek was harmed when contaminated storm water got transported by a pipe burst from around the mine site to storm water ponds, following the 2008-09 rains.

AGL Energy, Australia’s largest energy retailer said it expects its net profit to grow by 12% next year, helped by cost cuts and price increases to power and gas consumers.

Newcrest Mining reported a jump in quarterly output of gold, boosted by its takeover of Lihir Gold. Newcrest produced 674,219 ounces of gold in the September quarter, up nearly 78.8% from a similar quarter a year ago, and 28.1% from the previous quarter.

Resources News

Rio Tinto said it is in talks with Kazakh government regarding opportunities for exploration and some advanced projects in that nation, as part of an aggressive expansion plan for Central Asia.

Rox Resources Ltd said it had agreed in principle to the key terms for a farm-in and joint venture with Canadian mining company Teck Resources Ltd for the Myrtle zinc-lead deposit in the Northern Territory.

Fortescue Metals Group said that the pre-market trading halt announced was due to its offering of $2.04 billion worth of senior unsecured notes.

Mineral sands miner Iluka Resources said zircon demand from customers in the September quarter remained in excess of its ability to supply, forcing the company to allocate its production among several customers.

Gainers & Losers

Murchison Metals Ltd led gainers in the ASX 200 with a rally of 11.84% to A$1.70 followed by Graincorp Ltd 4.72% to A$7.76, Paperlinx Ltd 4.71% to A$0.445, Medusa Mining Ltd 4.43% to A$5.42 and 100F Holdings Ltd 3.76% to A$7.17.

Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd led decliners in the index with a drop of 9.39% to A$10.61 followed by Sims Metal Management Ltd 7.22% to A$16.19, Macmahon Holdings Ltd 5.66% to A%0.50, Ausenco Ltd 4.92% to A$2.51 and Infigen Energy 4% to A$0.60.