Australia Looks Ahead to Federal Budget, PanAust Backs $1.2 B Offer

Marcus Jacob
11 May, 2015
New York City

Australian market indexes opened higher but struggled to advance ahead of Federal Budget tomorrow. PanAust Limited backed a sweetened takeover offer of $1.2 billion from China controlled company.

[R]5:30 PM Sydney – Australian market indexes opened higher but struggled to advance ahead of Federal Budget tomorrow. PanAust Limited backed a sweetened takeover offer of $1.2 billion from China controlled company.[/R]

Australian stocks opened higher but struggled to advance ahead of Federal Budget tomorrow and a private survey showed business confidence in April was steady.

Australian dollar closed at 79 U.S. cents and in stock trading turnover rose to 685 million shares worth $4.8 billion.

At close, the ASX 200 Index fell 9.40 or 0.2% to 5,625.20 and the broader All Ordinaries Index slid 7.80 to 5,627.60.

In commodities trading, gold gained US$5 to US$1,189 an ounce and Brent crude rose 0.15 cents to close at US$65.54 a barrel.

Australian Stock Movers

Incitec Pivot Ltd declined 3.3% to $3.78 after the fertilizer and chemical distributor reported revenues in the first-half ending in March climbed 6% to $1.59 billion form $1.51 billion in a year ago period.

Net income in the period soared 27% to $146.4 million compared to $115.7 million and diluted earnings per share increased to 8.8 cents from 7.1 cents in the same period a year ago.

JB Hi-Fi Limited increased 1% to $20.06 after the home entertainment retailer forecasted total sales for the third-quarter ending in March of about $3.6 billion and net profit between $127 million to $131 million.

PanAust Limited soared 6.9% to $1.85 after the mining company recommended shareholders to accept takeover offer of $1.85 a share by Chinese state-owned resources group Guangdong Rising Assets Management.

Watpac Limited gained 1.3% to 79.5 cents after the construction and mining services was awarded a contract by Ramelius Resources Limited worth about $17 million for its mining services at Kathleen Valley Gold Project in Western Australia.