Stocks to watch on the Australian stock exchange at the close on Monday:
AZJ – AURIZON – down 25 cents, or 4.8 per cent, at $4.92
AQA – AQUILA RESOURCES – up 89 cents, or 36.3 per cent, at $3.34
Shares in Aquila Resources have soared after rail operator Aurizon and Chinese steelmaker Baosteel Resources launched a $1.42 billion bid for the iron ore miner.
BEN – BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK – in a trading halt, last traded at $11.39
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has beefed up its presence in the agribusiness market with the $1.78 billion acquisition of the Victorian government’s Rural Finance Corporation.
IVC – INVOCARE – up five cents, or 0.5 per cent, at $10.50
Bledisloe New Zealand, the local funeral services arm of Australia’s largest undertakers InvoCare, has sought antitrust clearance to buy the 70-year-old Cremation Society of Canterbury.
MTS – METCASH – up two cents, or 0.7 per cent, at $2.76
The company behind IGA supermarkets has settled a multi-million dollar dispute with the tax office.
TLS – TELSTRA – up one cent, or 0.2 per cent, at $5.21
The sale of Telstra’s Hong Kong mobile business is expected to go ahead within weeks after the local regulator approved the move.
WBC – WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – down 42 cents, or 1.2 per cent, at $34.45
Westpac made a record first half cash profit of $3.77 billion, up eight per cent from the prior corresponding period and above analysts’ expectations.
WES – WESFARMERS – up 20 cents, or 0.5 per cent, at $43.25
Australia’s competition watchdog is taking supermarket giant Coles to court over what is alleges is the “unconscionable” treatment of its suppliers.