Miners Lead Australian Indexes Lower, AHG Begins $115 Million Offering

Marcus Jacob
25 Mar, 2014
New York City

Australian market indexes declined in active trading and precious metals miners led the decliners. TPG Telecom Ltd surged after the company reported better than expected first-half results. Automotive Group Holdings commenced its $115 million public offering.

[R]5:00 PM Sydney – Australian market indexes declined in active trading and precious metals miners led the decliners. TPG Telecom Ltd surged after the company reported better than expected first-half results. Automotive Group Holdings commenced its $115 million public offering.[/R]

Australian stocks eased in active trading and miners were in focus after precious metals prices declined and general worries about China slowdown persisted.

Australian dollar eased to 91.36 U.S. cents and stock market trading turnover grew to 753 million shares worth $4.44 billion.

The ASX 200 index fell 10.30 to 5,336.60 and the broader All Ordinaries slipped 11.10 to 5,351.

Stocks in Review

Rio Tinto jumped 88 cents to $62.38. BHP rose 18 cents to $35.92. Woodside Petroleum Limited slipped 28 to $38.36.

Westpac Banking Corp increased 24 cents to $33.86.

Macquarie Group Limited gained 11 cents to $56.53 and Richard Gibbs the global head of economics estimated price of iron ore this year to range between $110 and $120 a ton.

Premier Investments Limited surged 11.2% to $8.95 after the specialty retail fashion chain operator reported revenue in the first-half jumped 3.7% to $477 million and retail sales in the period climbed 5.3% from a year ago.

Net profit in the period soared 12% to $52 million from a year ago.

Santos Limited slipped 1.3% to $13.18 after the oil and gas producer increased its gas output in Indonesia ahead of schedule. The company extracted first gas from Peluang project offshore of East Java.

TPG Telecom is up nearly 7% after the company lifted its half-year profit ending in January 15% to $90.1 million and EBITDA climbed 8% to $165.6 million.

TPG said during the half-year it signed 36,000 new broadband subscribers, slightly less than the forecast.

Automotive Group Holdings was placed on hold after the company commenced its offering of 33 million shares to raise $115 million. The auto dealer and logistics company plans to use proceeds to acquire three privately owned trucking companies.