A roundup of some of the key stock movements on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) in the trading week to Friday, January 17, 2014:
AIO – ASCIANO – up 10 cents, or 1.78 per cent, at $5.724
WHC – WHITEHAVEN COAL – up 2.5 cents, or 1.35 per cent, at $1.88
Freight rail operator Asciano has entered into a 12-year haulage agreement with Whitehaven Coal that will reduce costs.
CPA – COMMONWEALTH PROPERTY OFFICE FUND – up one cent, or 0.81 per cent, at $1.24
GPT – GPT GROUP – up six cents, or 1.67 per cent, at $3.65
Property group GPT Group will not increase its offer for the Commonwealth Property Office Fund (CPA) nor extend the offer period.
FGE – FORGE GROUP – down 19.5 cents, or 15.6 per cent, at $1.055
Shares in Forge Group have plunged again after it announced a $28 million profit write-down of its Western Australian power station.
FMG – FORTESCUE METALS GROUP – up 48 cents, or 9.23 per cent, to $5.68
Fortescue Metals Group has paid back $US1.6 billion ($A1.79 billion) of debt early lowering its total pile to below $US10 billion.
LEI – LEIGHTON HOLDINGS – down 53 cents, or 3.24 per cent, at $15.85
Leighton subsidiary Thiess has won a $135 million contract from Western Desert Resources to lead the mining operations at the Roper Bar iron ore mine in the Northern Territory.
OZL – OZ MINERALS – up 52 cents, or 16.51 per cent, to $3.67
Oz Minerals shares have jumped 17 per cent after the gold and copper miner said it had realised its production guidance and expects a boost in production and lower costs in 2014.
PDN – PALADIN ENERGY – up 11.5 cents, or 25.84 per cent, to 56 cents
MELBOURNE – Paladin Energy says it is confident of securing the sale of a stake in its flagship Namibian mine as a fall in uranium prices weighed on its December quarter activities report.
RIO – RIO TINTO – up $2.67, or 4.19 per cent, at $66.32
Rio Tinto has achieved record iron ore production and shipments in 2013.
RRL – REGIS RESOURCES – down 14 cents, or 4.84 per cent, at $2.75
Shares in gold miner Regis Resources have fallen more than three per cent after the company missed its quarterly production targets and flagged lower recovery rates at its Garden Well operation.
SLK – SEALINK TRAVEL GROUP – up 12 cents, or 7.84 per cent, at $1.65
Ferry operator SeaLink Travel Group, which owns Captain Cook Cruises, has acquired another vessel to boost its operations in Sydney Harbour.
STX – STRIKE ENERGY – flat at 10.5 cents
ORA – ORORA – up 11 cents, or 8.66 per cent, to $1.38
Oil and gas explorer and developer Strike Energy has entered into an option agreement with packaging supplier Orora to supply 30 petajoules of gas to Orora over 10 years.
SUL – SUPER RETAIL GROUP – down $2.16, or 16.68 per cent, at $10.79
Shares in Super Retail Group have dived almost 16 per cent following a weaker than expected sales result.
TCL – TRANSURBAN GROUP – up one cent, or 0.15 per cent, at $6.80
Strong traffic growth on Transurban’s Sydney roads has helped boost the tollway operator’s half year revenue.
TLS – TELSTRA – down two cents, or 0.38 per cent, at $5.24
Telstra will sell a 70 per cent stake in its directories business Sensis to a US based private equity firm for just over $450 million.
WCB – WARRNAMBOOL CHEESE AND BUTTER – up 19 cents, or 2.06 per cent, at $9.40
BGA – BEGA CHEESE – up 13 cents, or 2.84 per cent, at $4.71
Bega Cheese will sell its 18.8 per stake in Warrnambool Cheese and Butter to Canadian dairy giant Saputo, putting Saputo in prime position to win the takeover battle for WCB.
WPL – WOODSIDE PETROLEUM – up $1.22, or 3.22 per cent, at $39.12
Energy giant Woodside Petroleum collected less revenue in 2013 despite achieving record oil and gas production.