Australian Metal Stocks Active; Westfield Falls

123jump.com Staff
11 Aug, 2009
New York City

Australian stocks edged higher ahead of earnings from Commonwealth Bank and BHP Billiton. Weak gold prices failed to dampen the mood in trading as Chinese demand for iron ore and other metals is expected to rise. JB Hi-Fi surged after net profit rose 45%.

[R]8:00 PM Sydney, Australia – Australian stocks edged higher ahead of earnings from Commonwealth Bank and BHP Billiton. Weak gold prices failed to dampen the mood in trading as Chinese demand for iron ore and other metals is expected to rise. JB Hi-Fi surged after net profit rose 45%. [/R]

Ahead of earnings from Commonwealth Bank and BHP Billiton stocks struggled at the opening. Mid-day rally lifted the benchmark index higher at close.

The ASX 200 index in Australia increased 27.90 or 0.65% to 4,332.00.

Gainers & Losers

Commonwealth Bank increased 9 cents to $43.93; National Australian Bank added 56 cents to $26.02 and Macquarie Group increased 98 cents to $45.47.

Weak gold prices in New York and London and ahead of earnings from BHP Billiton, resource stocks declined. Gold fell 0.7% to US$948.73.

Newmont Mining decreased 1 cent to $4.88 and Lihir Gold edged lower to close at $2.62.

The hearing implant maker, Cochlear decreased 9 cents to $58.66 after the company reported annual earnings increase of 13% to $135.54 on 15% increase in revenues to $694.7 million. The company issued final dividend of 95 cents a share. The company also lowered its net debt by $25 million to $108.6 million.

JB Hi-Fi surged 8.7% to $17.30 after it reported better than expected earnings. Other retailers closed higher on the news. Harvey Norman increased 4 cents to $3.22 and David Jones added 7 cents to $4.92.

Woolworths and Wesfarmers edged lowered.

Westfield Group decreased 1.9% to $12.59. The 119 shopping malls operator in the US, UK and Australia is expected to refinance its existing debt of $1.2 billion with a higher interest rate from banks in Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

The news was first reported on Bloomberg and was confirmed by 123jump.com will incur interest rate of 240 basis points more than Libor rate. The shopping mall operator is currently paying 35 basis points premium on debts that are expected to mature in the next two years.


Earnings Review

Australian Agricultural Company Limited, the beef cattle group said first-half revenues rose 121% to $273.6 million from $123.6 million a year ago. Net loss in the first-half was $30.3 million or 11.5 cents per diluted share compared to net loss of $2.2 million 0.8 cents per share a year ago.

Australian Agricultural Company Limited, in the last one year traded as high as A$3.14 in August 2008 and as low as A$1.21 in December 2008. Based on the yesterday’s closing price of A$1.49 the company has market cap of A$392.43 million.

JB Hi-Fi Limited, the consumer electronics retailer said full-year sales rose 27.3% to $2.33 billion from $1.83 billion a year ago. Net profit in the year rose 45% to $94.4 million compared to net profit of $65.1 million a year ago.

JB Hi-Fi Limited, in the last one year traded as high as A$17.12 in July 2009 and as low as A$7.15 in November 2008. Based on the yesterday’s closing price of A$17.38 the company has market cap of A$1.83 billion.

ASX 200 Index Movers

TABCORP Holdings Ltd led the decliners in the ASX 200 index of 4.9% followed by losses in Australand Property Group of 4.4%, in OM Holdings Limited of 4.3%, in Iress Market Technology Ltd of 4.1% and in Platinum Australia Limited of 3.6%.

Flight Centre Ltd led gainers in the ASX 200 index with a rise of 21.6% followed by gains in Platinum Asset Management Limited of 10.3%, in Aquila Resources Limited of 9.8% and Bradken Ltd of 9.4%.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed higher 61.20 or 0.58% to 10,585.46, Hang Seng index in Hong Kong increased 144.69 or 0.69% to 21,074.21 and CSI 300 index in China higher 11.84 or 0.33% to 3,556.38. ASX 200 index in Australia increased 27.90 or 0.65% to 4,332.00. The FTSE Bursa KL Composite index in Malaysia closed lower 1.72 or 0.14% to 1,186.28.

The Kospi Index in South Korea increased 3.10 or 0.20% to close at 1,579.21. SET index in Thailand closed lower 0.73 or 0.11% to 643.02 and JSE Index in Indonesia increased 9.71 or 0.41% to 2,399.28. The Sensex index in India increased 64.82 or 0.43% to 15,074.59.