Dick Smith and Nine Entertainment Revive Australian IPOs

Marcus Jacob
04 Dec, 2013
New York City

Australian markets halted a 3-day slide in a broad rally that included banks, miners and energy stocks. Dick Smith closed flat on the first day of trading and the electronics retailer raised $315 million in an offering. Nine Entertainment set its initial price and valued the company at $1.9 billion.

[R]4:30 PM Sydney – Australian markets halted a 3-day slide in a broad rally that included banks, miners and energy stocks. Dick Smith closed flat on the first day of trading and the electronics retailer raised $315 million in a public offering. Nine Entertainment set its initial price at $2.05 a share and valued the company at $1.9 billion.[/R]

Australian market indexes advanced after three days of decline and gains were broad to include banks, resource and energy stocks.

Australian economy expanded at an annual rate of 2.3% in three months to September, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said today.

The September quarter growth was 0.6% after adjusting for seasonality and when compared to the previous quarter and matched the rate in the June quarter.

A separate private report suggested that the service sector contraction rate shrank in November.

The Australian Industry Group’s performance index was 48.9 in November.

Australian dollar rose to 90.77 U.S. cents. In stock trading, turnover climbed to 857 million shares worth $4.4 billion.

The ASX 200 index gained 17.70 or 0.3% to close at 5,273.80 and the broader All Ordinaries rose 17.90 to 5,267.50.

Stocks in Review

Rio Tinto dropped 36 cents to $65.49. BHP slumped 45 cents to $36.45. Woodside Petroleum Limited rose 2 cents to $37.02.

Westpac rose 5 cents to $32.35 and the competition commission said that the purchase of $1.45 billion Australian assets from Lloyds Banking Group does not substantially diminish car loan market competition.

Crown Resorts Limited gained 0.9% to $16.65 after the casino operator said proposed $400 million Sri Lankan resort and casino complex proposal is unlikely to receive approved before the year end.

Dick Smith Holdings Ltd closed unchanged at $2.20 after the Australian electronics retailer raised $315 million in its initial public offering.

Fairfax Media Limited dropped 2.4% to 60 cents after the media company agreed to sell its holiday rentals website Stayz to the U.S. based HomeAway Inc for about $220 million.

Nine Entertainment Co. Holdings Limited, the free-to-air television services provider set its initial public offering price at $2.05 a share and valued the company at $1.9 billion, bottom of the range. The stock is expected to open between $2.05 and $2.35. The company plans to raise $643 million.

Santos Limited rose 0.8% to $14.41 after the oil and gas producer expects 2014 production in the range of 52 million barrels to 57 million barrels of oil equivalent as its liquefied natural gas production in Papua New Guinea is set to increase.

Westfield Retail Trust fell 0.3% to $2.99 after the mall operator group split domestic and international businesses and merged its Australian and New Zealand operation and formed a new venture named Scentre Group.

Westfield Group rose 4%.