Aussie Dollar Rebounds, Village Roadshow and CITIC in China Deal

Marcus Jacob
23 Mar, 2015
New York City

Australian market indexes closed lower and the Aussie dollar rebounded as gold and crude oil advanced in active trading. Village Roadshow struck a partnership with CITIC Ltd and develop theme parks in China. Premier Investments first-half net profit jumped 9%.

[R]5:30 PM Sydney – Australian market indexes closed lower and the Aussie dollar rebounded as gold and crude oil advanced in active trading. Village Roadshow struck a partnership with CITIC Ltd and develop theme parks in China. Premier Investments first-half net profit jumped 9%.[/R]

Australian market indexes declined and Aussie dollar advanced in active trading and crude oil and gold prices rose.

Australian dollar closed at 78.21 U.S. cents and in stock trading turnover declined to 559 million shares worth $3.8 billion.

ASX 200 Index slipped 19.40 or 0.3% to 5,956.10 and broader All Ordinaries Index fell 15.30 to 5,921.

In commodities trading, gold jumped US$12 to US$1,183 an ounce and light crude oil gained 92 cents to US$46.45 a barrel.

Brent crude slid 0.49 cents to close at US$54.83 a barrel.

Australian Stock Movers

Village Roadshow Ltd gained 0.4% to $5.48 after the cinema chain and theme parks operator said it will form a partnership with China-based CITIC Ltd for about $500 million to invest in theme parks on the mainland and across Asia.

Premier Investments Limited surged 11.1% to $12.54 after the specialty fashion retailer reported revenues in the first-half ending on January 24 jumped 4.1% to $497 million form $477.2 million a year ago period.

Net profit in the period soared 9.1% to $56.8 million compared to $52.1 million and diluted earnings per share increased to 36.07 cents from 33.11 cents in the same period a year ago.

The company declared an interim dividend of 21 cents per share, as well as a special dividend of 9 cents per share.

RCG Corporation Limited soared 44.4% to $1.04 after the footwear retailer resumed trading and completed institutional offering to raise $25 million.

The company forecasted revenues to soar 197% to $276.4 million and operating earnings to surge 150% to $44.1 million and earnings per share to jump to 26%.