Australian Stocks Fall; Billabong Rejects Buyout Offer

Marcus Jacob
27 Feb, 2012
New York City

Australian stocks edged lower on the first day of trading after higher crude oil price dragged down market indexes in China, India and Japan. Mining companies traded lower. Billabong rejected $765 million offer. Telstra Corp released its broadband Internet access plans for consumers.

[R]8:00 PM Sydney – Australian stocks edged lower on the first day of trading after higher crude oil price dragged down market indexes in China, India and Japan. Mining companies traded lower. Billabong rejected $765 million offer. Telstra Corp released its broadband Internet access plans for consumers.[/R]

Australian stocks edged lower in a choppy trading as mining and resources sector stocks closed lower. BHP Billiton traded ex-dividend.

Market sentiment was weak after indexes in China, Japan and India declined on the rising crude oil prices in the international markets. Three largest economies of Asia are dependent on imported oil from the Middle East and Africa.

The ASX 200 index closed lower 39.4 to 4,267.4 and All Ordinaries index declined 34.5 to 4,354.5.

The Australian dollar edged higher to close at $1.0721.

Stock Movers

BHP Billiton Ltd fell 72 cents to $35.82, Rio Tinto Ltd added 69 cents to $67.40 and Fortescue Metals Group added 2 cents to $5.41.

Lynas Corporation Limited closed down 6 cents to $1.23 and Iluka Resources decreased 13 cents to $16.52. Newcrest Mining rose $1.04 to $33.51.

Oil Search Limited decreased 8 cents to $6.95, Santos Limited fell 7 cents at $14 and Woodside Petroleum decreased 70 cents to $37.16.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia decreased 26 cents to $49.44, Westpac declined 7 cent to $20.71 and NAB decreased 3 cents to $23.49. ANZ decreased 12 cent to $22.08.

David Jones Limited increased 11 cents to $2.76 and Harvey Norman Holdings closed unchanged at $2.15. Woolworths decreased 16 cents to $25.

Billabong International Limited increased 14 cents to $3.05 after it rejected the takeover offer from the U.S. based TPG Group and held out for a better offer. The offer of $3 a share or $765 million for the company was rejected by its founder and 15% stakeholder Gordon Merchant.

The company plans to sell its 51.5% stake in Nixon to a leveraged buyout firm Trilantic Capital Partners for $285 million to pay off the debt.

Qantas Airways Ltd closed flat at $1.68, Virgin Australia closed up 1 cent at 42 cents and Flight Centre increased 3 cents to $21.75.

Telstra Corporation Limited declined 3 cents to $3.23 and the company released its fibre optic high speed Internet access plans for retail customers that bundles the copper line based voice telephony. The monthly plan ranges between $80 and $150.

QR National closed down 9 cents to $3.84.