Stocks to watch on the Australian stock exchange at noon on Wednesday:
BBG – BILLABONG – down 19 cents, or 26 per cent, to 54 cents
Shares in troubled surfwear retailer Billabong have dived to record lows amid disappointment at its moves towards a cut-price $287 million takeover deal.
WES – WESFARMERS – down 56 cents, or 1.4 per cent, to $39.93
Wesfarmers’ supermarket chain Coles has signed a decade-long deal with dairy producer Devondale to supply it with home brand milk.
LEI – LEIGHTON HOLDINGS – down 21 cents, or 1.05 per cent, to $19.88
BHP – BHP BILLITON – up 77 cents, or 2.3 per cent, at $33.88
Leighton is warning it will lose up to $260 million after BHP Billiton ended its contract at a coal mine in Queensland’s Bowen Basin two years early.
BOQ – BANK OF QUEENSLAND – down 10 cents, or one per cent, to $9.56
British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson is selling his Virgin Money business in Australia to Bank of Queensland for $40 million.
BPT – BEACH ENERGY – up 5.5 cents, or 3.9 per cent, at $1.475
ORG – ORIGIN ENERGY – up two cents, or 0.16 per cent, at $12.71
Beach Energy has signed a deal to sell gas to Origin Energy over eight years.
SUN – SUNCORP – down eight cents, or 0.69 per cent, to $11.45
Financial services group Suncorp plans to raise about $500 million through a notes issue.
