Westfield Loss; Consolidated Media Sells Seek

Mayank Mehta
26 Aug, 2009
New York City

Australian stocks edged higher as international markets closed up. The positive sentiment was further bolstered by a surge in earnings at Macarthur Coal. Westfield surged after it reported a net loss but guided stable property values and said it does not need additional capital.

[R]8:00 PM Sydney – Australian stocks edged higher as international markets closed up. The positive sentiment was further bolstered by a surge in earnings at Macarthur Coal. Westfield surged after it reported a net loss but guided stable property values and said it does not need additional capital.[/R]

ASX 200 index in Australia increased 48.70 or 1.11% to 4,454.50.

Gainers & Losers

Consolidated Media Holdings surged 12% to $3.28 after the beleaguered company sold its 27% stake in online job site Seek for $440.6 million and use proceeds to buy back up to 10% of its stock. The company is battling with Seven Network Ltd to prevent hostile takeover.

For the year Consolidated Media reported net profit of $427 million compared to $6.08 billion a year ago when it recorded one-time gain related to its split from casino Crown Ltd.

Separately, Seven Network closed at $6.66 after it reported 91% drop in profit.

Resource stocks increased despite a fall in energy and commodities prices in London trading. BHP Billiton increased 0.9% to $38.15 and Origin Energy gained 2.1% to $15.23.

Lihir Gold increased 7.8% to $2.76 after it reported first profit of $185.2 (US$154.90) revised its gold reserves estimate in Papua New Guinea by 31% to $15.23.

Macarthur Coal Limited increased 2.3% to $9.40 after it reported sharply higher earnings.

Telstra increased 1.2% to $3.39 in volatile trading in last three days after Future Fund lowered its stake in the telecom operator.

Transfield Services increased 9.2% to $3.80 after it reported 17% surge in net profit to $123.60 million.

Westfield surged 4.7% to $13.03 after the company announced a loss of $708 million compared to a profit of $1.29 billion and said it is not planning to raise any equity or looking to refinance its debt.

Other real estate trusts increased after the Westfield news. Stockland increased 5.4% to $3.71, Mirvac increased 6.4% to $1.335 and GPT surged 7.5% to 57.5 cents.

Earnings Review

Macarthur Coal Limited, the miner said full-year sales rose 73.8% to A$695.4 million. Net profit for the full-year rose 132% to A$168.6 million compared to net profit of A$72.68 million a year ago.

Macarthur Coal Limited, in the last one year traded as high as A$14.65 August 2008 and as low as A$2.36 in February 2009. Based on the yesterday’s closing price of A$9.45 the company has market cap of A$2.30 billion.

ASX 200 Index Movers

Pacific Brands Ltd led the decliners in the ASX 200 index of 10.2% followed by losses in Macmahon Holdings Limited of 5.6%, in Western Areas NLof 5.4%, in Virgin Blue Holdings Limited of 4.1% and in Cabcharge Australia Ltd of 3.7%.

Babcock & Brown Infrastructure Group led gainers in the ASX 200 index with a rise of 89.6% followed by gains in PMP Ltd of 12.8%, in Consolidated Media Holdings Ltd of 11.9% and in St Barbara Limited of 9.5%.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed higher 142.35 or 1.36% to 10,639.71, Hang Seng index in Hong Kong increased 21.08 or 0.10% to 20,456.32 and CSI 300 index in China higher 62.56 or 2.01% to 3,172.39. ASX 200 index in Australia increased 48.70 or 1.11% to 4,454.50. The FTSE Bursa KL Composite index in Malaysia closed higher 1.47 or 0.13% to 1,172.56.

The Kospi Index in South Korea increased 12.74 or 0.80% to close at 1,614.12. SET index in Thailand closed higher 2.82 or 0.43% to 658.28 and JSE Index in Indonesia decreased 0.43 or 0.02% to 2,380.09. The Sensex index in India increased 81.38 or 0.52% to 15,769.85.