BHP in Australian Wins Tax-free Status for $20 B Spinoff, Fonterra Fined

Marcus Jacob
04 Apr, 2014
New York City

Australian markets rebounded from a 2-day losses and the Aussie dollar gained. BHP Billiton won a tax-free status for its proposed $20 billion non-core assets spinoff. Fonterra was fined by New Zealand court for its August 2013 product warning.

[R]5:00 PM Sydney – Australian markets rebounded from a 2-day losses and the Aussie dollar gained. BHP Billiton won a tax-free status for its proposed $20 billion non-core assets spinoff. Fonterra was fined by New Zealand court for its August 2013 product warning.[/R]

Australian indexes rebounded after two days of losses in thin trading and BHP Billiton, Westpac Banking and Commonwealth Banking Corp led the most actively traded stocks.

Australian dollar closed at 92.34 U.S. cents and stock market trading turnover declined to 563 million shares worth $3.46 billion.

The ASX 200 index increased 12.90 to 5,422.80 and the broader All Ordinaries rose 12.90 to 5,428.60. For the week, the ASX 200 index gained just over 1%.

Stocks in Review

Rio Tinto rose 4 cents to $63.72.

BHP gained 22 cents to $37.75 after the mining company secured crucial tax exemptions from the Australian Tax Office for its potential $20 billion spinoff of non-core assets.

Woodside Petroleum Limited slid 5 cents to $38.76.

Westpac Banking Corp gained 13 cents to $34.60.

Boral Limited increased 0.5% to $5.72 after the building and construction materials maker and CSR Limited proposed a joint venture to combine their east coast brick operations.

The CSR will control 60% and Boral will hold 40% in the venture matching the respective operation’s size and the combined revenue is forecasted to reach about $230 million.

Centaurus Metals Limited declined 3.7% to 13 cents after the Australia-based iron ore explorer raised $5 million through a share placement to advance iron ore projects in Brazil.

Fonterra closed 2.4% lower to $5.75 after the dual-listed New Zealand based dairy was fined a court in Wellington for its August 2013 product warning.

The milk producer had warned that some of its products contained bacteria that could cause botulism. The products are used in infant formula and sold around the world and the milk products maker said it cannot trace where products were shipped.

The defect warning led to a product recall in China.