Australian Capex Falls 2.2%, Nine Entertainment Revenues Up 4.6%

Marcus Jacob
26 Feb, 2015
New York City

Australian market indexes traded down after capital spending in the fourth-quarter declined 2.2%. Aussie dollar edged up for the third day in a row and commodities in volatile trading managed to close higher. Billabong first-half sales edged down. Nine Entertainment first-half revenues jumped 4.6%.

[R]5:30 PM Sydney – Australian market indexes traded lower after capital spending in the fourth-quarter declined 2.2%. Aussie dollar edged up for the third day in a row and commodities in volatile trading managed to close higher. Billabong first-half sales edged down. Nine Entertainment first-half revenues jumped 4.6%.[/R]

Stocks in Australian edged down following volatile commodities prices in international markets and a decline in capital expenditure data in the last quarter.

Seasonally adjusted total private capital expenditure in the fourth-quarter declined 2.2% to $37.465 billion followed by 0.2% increase in the third-quarter, the Australian Bureau of Statistics announced today.

Australian dollar closed at 78.59 U.S. cents and in stock trading turnover jumped to 1.11 billion shares worth $6.2 billion.

ASX 200 Index slipped 36.40 or 0.6% to 5,908.50 and broader All Ordinaries Index fell 30.70 to 5,877.90.

In commodities trading, gold edged up US$1 to US$1,209 an ounce and light crude oil climbed $1.71 to US$50.99 a barrel.

Brent crude fell 26 cents to close at US$61.37 a barrel.

Australian Stock Movers

Adelaide Brighton Limited surged 7.5% to $4.18 after the construction material developer said revenues in the first-half ending in December climbed 8.9% to $1.34 billion from $1.23 billion a year ago period.

Net profit in the period jumped 14.3% to $172.7 million compared to $151.1 million and diluted earnings per share gained to 26.8 cents from 23.4 cents in the same period a year ago.

The company announced fully-franked final dividend of 9.5 cents per share.

Billabong International Limited declined 3.9% to 61.5 cents after the surf-ware products maker reported revenues for the first-half ending in December slid 0.3% to $525.76 million from $527.25 million a year ago period.

Net in the period swung to profit $25.71 million compared to a loss of $126.29 million and diluted earnings per share swung to 1.5 cents from a diluted loss per share of 21.7 cents in the same period a year ago.

Japara Healthcare Ltd soared 7.3% to $2.64 after the nursing home operator said in its first interim report that revenues in the first-half ending in December were $135.66 million and net profit of $15.81 million and diluted earnings per share of 6 cents.

Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd surged 9.4% to $2.03 after the media and entertainment group reported revenues in the first-half ending in December jumped 4.6% to $839.9 million from $802.7 million a year ago period.

Net profit in the period surged 187.2% to $90.98 million compared to $31.68 million and diluted earnings per share increased to 9.7 cents from 3.9 cents in the same period a year ago.

The broadcaster also today announced its plan to share buyback up to $150 million and declared an interim dividend of 4.2 cents per share.

Qantas Airways Limited gained 1.4% to $2.85 after the airline company reported revenues in the first-half ending in December rose 2% to $8.07 billion from $7.90 billion a year ago period.

Net in the period swung to profit $206 million compared to a loss of $235 million and diluted earnings per share swung to 9.2 cents from a diluted loss per share of 10.6 cents in the same period a year ago.

The airline company said liquidity remains strong at $3.6 billion, comprising $2.9 billion in cash and $720 million in un-drawn facilities.

Qantas reported depreciation in the period reduced to $208 million and revenue per available seat kilometer increased to $162 million.

The company added planned capital expenditure unchanged at $900 million for both financial year 2015 and 2016.

Ramsay Health Care Limited climbed 3.6% to $66.42 after the private hospitals operator said total revenues in the first-half ending in December soared 41.6% to $3.34 billion from $2.36 billion a year ago period.

Net profit in the period jumped 27.3% to $200.03 million compared to $157.16 million and diluted earnings per share advanced to 91.1 cents from 74.4 cents in the same period a year ago.