Stocks to watch on the Australian stock exchange early on Friday:
AZX – AUZEX RESOURCES LTD – up two cents at 28.5 cents
Auzex Resources shareholders have approved the gold explorer’s merger with equal joint-venture partner GGG Resources to create Bullabulling Gold.
BKW – BRICKWORKS LTD – down five cents at $10.50
Australia’s largest brick and tile maker is banking on a new wave of first home buyers settling on the outskirts of Sydney and Perth.
BSL – BLUESCOPE STEEL LTD – up 0.5 cents at 39.5 cents
Struggling steelmaker Bluescope has restructured its operations by creating two new businesses, building products and global building solutions.
DJS – DAVID JONES LTD – down three cents at $2.40
Australians are willing to pay more to shop in department stores despite the better deals offered online, upmarket retailer David Jones says.
FXJ – FAIRFAX MEDIA LTD – steady at 76 cents
Fairfax Media is closing its printing plant in Invercargill and the presses of rival Allied Press in Dunedin will print Fairfax’s The Southland Times newspaper from May 20.
LEI – LEIGHTON HOLDINGS LTD – down 17 cents at $23.03
KPMG has resigned as auditor for troubled construction giant Leighton Holdings.
SIP – SIGMA PHARMACEUTICALS LTD – up 3.5 cents at 65 cents
Sigma Pharmaceuticals has returned to full year profitability due to gains in market share, and has paid a special dividend to shareholders as a result.
SOL – WASHINGTON H SOUL PATTINSON AND CO LTD – up eight cents at $13.70
Diversified investor Washington H Soul Pattinson’s first half profit fell by 65 per cent to $99.1 million because of a $195 million benefit in the previous corresponding period from an asset sale.
VAH – VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LTD – down 0.5 cents at 46 cents
QAN – QANTAS AIRWAYS LTD – down 1.5 cents at $1.765
The competition watchdog is set to approve an alliance between Virgin Australia and West Australian regional airline Skywest.
WPL – WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LTD – up two cents at $6.03
First gas has been fed into Woodside Petroleum’s $14.9 billion Pluto liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Western Australia.
