Australia: NAB to Raise $5.5 Billion, Scentre, Caltex in Focus

Marcus Jacob
07 May, 2015
New York City

Australian market indexes extended losses for the second day in a row and Aussie dollar hovered near 80 U.S. cents. Scentre Group posted higher sales and reaffirmed funds from operations outlook. NAB plans to raise $5.5 billion ahead of exiting the U.K. business.

[R]5:30 PM Sydney – Australian market indexes extended losses for the second day in a row and Aussie dollar hovered near 80 U.S. cents. Scentre Group posted higher sales and reaffirmed funds from operations outlook. NAB plans to raise $5.5 billion ahead of exiting the U.K. business.[/R]

Australian market indexes opened lower and extended losses in the session despite the late buying rally.

Australian dollar closed at 79.89 U.S. cents and in stock trading turnover slid to 900 million shares worth $7.1 billion.

At close, the ASX 200 Index dropped 46.50 or 0.8% to 5,645.70 and the broader All Ordinaries Index slumped 46.10 to 5,644.80.

In commodities trading, gold fell US$1 to US$1,189 an ounce and Brent crude edged up 0.03 cents to close at US$67.80 a barrel.

Australian Stock Movers

AMP Limited fell 0.9% to $6.33 after the wealth management company said net cash flows in the first-quarter ending in March declined 6% to $342 million from $363 million a year earlier and cash flows from retail customers soared 10% to $661 million.

The company added assets under management in the quarter jumped 6% to $116.1 billion.

Caltex Australia Limited slipped 1.2% to $34 after the petroleum products refiner reported net profit in the first-quarter ending in March surged 68.7% to $162 million compared to $96 million in the same period a year ago.

National Australia Bank Limited closed unchanged at $35.20 after the financial services provider reported interest income in the first-half ending in March jumped 3% to $15.7 billion from $15.3 billion in a year ago period.

Net profit in the period soared 20% to $3.46 billion compared to $2.86 billion and diluted earnings per share increased to $1.40 from $1.18 in the same period a year ago.

NAB agreed with the U.K. regulator to provide an indemnity of £1.7 billion in capital before listing to cover possible losses.

The bank plans to launch a rights issue to raise $5.5 billion and intends to release additional $500 million to reduce the exposure of its wealth-management unit for possible life-insurance claims through unnamed global provider.

Scentre Group Limited slumped 1.9% to $3.69 after the domestic mall operator said comparable specialty store sales in the year ending in March climbed 5.8% and total asset under management in the quarter jumped to $40.9 billion.

The specialty retailer estimated total revenues in the year of about $22.9 billion and specialty retail sales of about $10.27 billion from a year ago period.