Australian Movers: BlueScope, JB Hi-Fi, Newcrest Mining

Marcus Jacob
13 Aug, 2012
New York City

Australian stocks closed higher after a string of earnings reports. But worries linked to China trimmed the market advance. BlueScope agreed to form a joint venture with Nippon Steel for its coated products unit. Newcrest Mining said annual profit increased 23%. JB Hi-Fi guided higher sales.

[R]5:30 PM Sydney – Australian stocks closed higher after a string of earnings reports. But worries linked to China trimmed the market advance. BlueScope agreed to form a joint venture with Nippon Steel for its coated products unit. Newcrest Mining said annual profit increased 23%. JB Hi-Fi guided higher sales.[/R]

ASX 200 index gained 6 points or 0.1% to 4,283.30 and the broader All Ordinaries Index added 6.7 points or 0.2% to 4,309.50.

Australian dollar edged lower to US$1.05 and slipped a fraction against the euro and the pound.

Stocks in Review

BlueScope Steel soared 35% or 9 cents to 35 cents after the company said it plans to sell 50% stake in its coated steel products business to Nippon Steel for US$450 million.

The company will form a joint venture with Nippon Steel called NS BlueScope Coated Products with a value of US$1.36 billion.

BlueScope also estimated net loss of $1 billion in the fiscal year ending in June and estimated net debt at the end of the year of $384 million, before accounting for the transaction.

James Hardie Industries decreased 6.1% to $7.77 after it reported net profit of US$68.5 million.

UGL decreased $1.37 or 11% to $11.49 after the engineering company said its full-year net income declined 15%.

Newcrest Mining increased 4% or $1.07 to $25.40 after its annual profit increased 23% on rising gold prices.

For the fiscal year ending in June, net profit increased to $1.12 billion from $908 million in the previous year. Revenues increased 8% to $4.4 billion and processed 2.29 million ounces of gold in the year, a decline of 10% from a year ago. Copper production increased 1% to 76,015 ounces.

The gold and copper miner estimated gold production to range between 2.3 million ounces and 2.5 million ounces in the current fiscal year and copper production in the range of 75,000 to 85,000 ounces.

Downer EDI surged 11% or 35 cents to $3.47 after the company reported net profit of $112.8 million.

JB Hi-Fi added 6% or 53 cents to $9.75 after it estimated 5% decline in full-year profit but expected higher sales. For the latest financial year, sales increased 7% to $3.13 billion and net income fell 5% to $104.6 million.

Sales in the current fiscal year are expected to increase to $3.3 billion and comparable sales are likely to drop 1%.