Stocks to watch on the Australian stock exchange at noon on Tuesday:
AUT – AURORA OIL AND GAS – down 1.00 cent, or 0.25 per cent, at $4.04
Shares in Aurora Oil and Gas will stop trading in late May, provided shareholders approve a $1.8 billion takeover offer from Canada’s Baytex Energy.
BEN – BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK – down 24 cents, or 2.11 per cent, at $11.15
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has completed a $230 million share placement to institutional investors to help fund its $1.78 billion purchase of Rural Finance Corporation from the Victorian government.
CWP – CEDAR WOODS – down 1.00 cent, or 0.14 per cent, at $7.00
West Australian and Victorian property developer Cedar Woods is expanding into Queensland with a multi-million-dollar residential site in Brisbane.
DJS – DAVID JONES – steady, at $3.95
David Jones has lifted its third quarter sales 4.1 per cent, with strong growth in a number of key categories.
SEPARATELY: Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board has approved the $2.15 billion takeover of David Jones.
LEI – LEIGHTON HOLDINGS – up 32 cents, or 1.67 per cent, at $19.46
Contractors Leighton Holdings is predicting a potential increased profit in 2014 after reporting higher first quarter earnings and revenue.
LYC – LYNAS CORPORATION – down 0.75 cents, or 4.45 per cent, at 15.75 cents
Rare earths miner Lynas Corporation hopes to raise up to $40 million from investors to bolster its working capital reserves.
SEK – SEEK – up 33 cents, or 1.96 per cent, at $17.21
Employment classifieds business Seek will list its Chinese subsidiary Zhaopin on the New York Stock Exchange.
WES – WESFARMERS – up 8.00 cents, or 0.18 per cent, at $43.33
Wesfarmers says the prices it receives for its metallurgical coal will be about 16 per cent weaker in the June quarter.