Australian Stocks Rebound; St Barbara Proposes Merger with Catalpa

Marcus Jacob
13 May, 2011
New York City

Australian stocks rebounded a fraction after commodities prices stabilized. St Barbara offered Catalpa Resources cash and stock and proposed a merger to produce 480,000 ounces of gold in 2012.

[R]5:00 PM Sydney – Australian stocks rebounded a fraction after commodities prices stabilized. St Barbara offered Catalpa Resources cash and stock and proposed a merger to produce 480,000 ounces of gold in 2012.[/R]

Stocks in Australia inched higher after commodities prices declined and markets in Europe focused stable growth in manufacturing. Crude oil and copper gained on the prospect of steady demand in Asia.

The ASX 200 index increased 15.30 or 0.3% to 4,711.40 and All Ordinaries index added 10.7 or 0.2% to 4,787.30.

The Australian dollar was nearly unchanged at US$1.0709 and crude oil price increased US$1.27 to US$100.24.

Stock Movers

BHP Billiton gained 19 cents to $44.32 and Rio Tinto added 36 cents to $80.15.

Catalpa Resources increased 31.5 cents to $1.69 after St. Barbara proposed a merger. St Barbara declined 11 cents to $1.875.

St Barbara valued Catalpa at $349 million offered 0.4535 St Barbara share and 96.13 cents in cash for each Catalpa share. The merged company is valued at $865 million.

Borat Longyear declined 19 cents to $4.27 and the company reaffirmed its guidance for “solid growth” in the current year on the record non-ferrous demand.

Energy complex stocks closed higher. Woodside Petroleum increased 4 cents to $45.07 and the recently appointed chief executive Peter Coleman said the company is not expected to restart its efforts to build its Sunrise liquefied natural gas project.

PaperlinX dropped 5.5 cents to 20.50 cents after the company estimated annual net loss between $23 million and $30 million in the current year.

Three of the four largest banks closed higher. National Australian Bank declined 4 cents to $26.89. ANZ gained 8 cents to $22.46, Commonwealth Bank gained 5 cents o $51.75 and Westpac edged up 12 cents to $23.73.