Stocks to watch on the Australian stock exchange on Friday, July 13
ARA – ARIADNE AUSTRALIA LT – steady at 32 cents
CVW – CLEARVIEW WEALTH LTD – up seven cents at 53.5 cents
Shares in ClearView Wealth Management soared by 15 per cent after the financial services group received a $220 million takeover offer.
BHP BILLITON LTD – down 65 cents at $30.40
Global miner BHP Billiton is reportedly investigating selling its aluminium assets in Brazil.
CSR – CSR LTD – down three cents at $1.20
Construction products company CSR fears the soft housing market and low aluminium prices will be a drag on its first half earnings.
ILU – ILUKA RESOURCES LTD – down 29 cents at $8.98
Mineral sands miner Iluka Resources will cut its production and sales volumes to protect margins amid downturns in global markets
MYR – MYER HOLDINGS LTD – down 1.5 cents at $1.66
Struggling department store Myer is shedding 100 jobs in its latest attempt to shave costs during the toughest trading conditions in a quarter of a century.
PPT – PERPETUAL LTD – down 49 cents at $22.30
Wealth management group Perpetual Ltd is to sell its mortgage processing business to the local subsidiary of US giant First American Financial Corp for an undisclosed sum.
RIO – RIO TINTO LTD – down $1.40 at $54.25
Rio Tinto’s chief financial officer and long-serving board member Guy Elliott will step down from his post at the end of 2013.
TCL – TRANSURBAN GROUP – up 15 cents at $5.83
Roads operator Transurban has lifted its annual toll revenue by nearly six per cent to $943.9 million.
TLS – TELSTRA CORPORATION LTD – down one cent at $3.85
Telstra is selling its New Zealand subsidiary TelstraClear to Vodafone for $NZ840 million ($A660 million), possibly paving the way for the cashed-up telco to make smaller acquisitions.
UGL – UGL LTD – up seven cents at $12.46
Specialised engineering and asset management group UGL has secured $350 million of new contracts.
WES – WESFARMERS LTD – up 19 cents at $30.47
Supermarket operator Coles says the retail landscape is getting more competitive as big overseas retailers move into the Australian market, but Coles won’t be expanding internationally at this stage.