STOCKS TO WATCH ON THE AUSTRALIAN STOCK EXCHANGE ON WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31
ASL – AUSDRILL LTD – up five cents at $3.36
Mining services firm Ausdrill is targeting about $1 billion in revenue this financial year and another big increase in earnings after it posted its seventh straight record profit.
BPT – BEACH ENERGY LTD – up one cent at $1.025
Beach Energy is confident of taking advantage of expected rising gas prices, after booking a full year loss.
CBA – COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – down three cents at $47.93
COU – COUNT FINANCIAL LTD – up 36 cents at $1.42
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) swooped on Count Financial, offering $373 million for the financial planning accountants network in a deal that will make CBA’s dealer group Australia’s second biggest.
HVN – HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LTD – down three cents at $2.00
Australians should be “as happy as pigs in sh**” with low unemployment and a resources boom, but instead they’re scared to spend money, retail king Gerry Harvey says.
IAG – INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LTD – up one cent at $2.97
QBE – QBE INSURANCE GROUP LTD – up six cents at $14.11
SUN – SUNCORP GROUP LTD – steady at $7.81
Insurance payouts after the Queensland floods and Cyclone Yasi have reached $1.86 billion.
BPT – BEACH ENERGY LTD – up one cent at $1.025
Beach Energy has booked a substantial full year net loss, due mainly to a large impairment charge on the mothballed Basker Manta Gummy (BMG) gas project offshore Victoria.
KCN – KINGSGATE CONSOLIDATED LTD – down six cents at $9.06
Shares in Kingsgate Consolidated backtracked after the gold miner booked a sharp fall in full year net profit due to lower sales of the precious metal.
MCC – MACARTHUR COAL LTD – up six cents at $15.86
Macarthur Coal has backed an improved, $4.83 billion joint takeover offer by the world’s largest steel maker, ArcelorMittal, and US coal miner Peabody Energy.
PSA – PETSEC ENERGY LTD – ended day at 17 cents
Oil and gas producer Petsec Energy has booked a solid half year net profit and is now debt free.
RIO – RIO TINTO LTD – up $1.18 at $71.79
The West Australian government has rejected a call by mining giant Rio Tinto for it to consider using nuclear energy plants to supply some of the state’s future electricity needs.
RSG – RESOLUTE MINING LTD – down 1.5 cents at $1.54
Resolute Mining says it swung back to profitability in 2010/11 and expects gold production to rise in the current year.
TLS – TELSTRA CORPORATION LTD – down eight cents at $2.99
The competition watchdog says it cannot accept a crucial aspect of Telstra’s move to structurally split its retail and wholesale arms.
TEL – TELECOM CORPORATION OF NEW ZEALAND LTD – down one cent at $2.12
The New Zealand government has approved Telecom’s plan to split its assets after structural separation – the first major step in the company’s proposed demerger process.
