Australia | Aug 26 2014
By Henry Jennings, Private Client Advisor, BBY Ltd
Quiet day locked in a range. Sounds like a Country and Western song but it is ASX200 reality. High of 5646 and a low of 5626 today with a close up 2.7 at 5637.6. Once again it was a tale of two markets. Financials up miners down. Iron ore dipping below $90 hurting the big kahunas of BHP Billiton Limited (A$37.22, -0.1%) and RIO Tinto Limited (A$64.11, -0.7%). Mid-sized miners also took a belting today with Western Areas Limited (A$4.68, -5.1%), Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (A$4.28, -1.4%), Independence Group NL (A$4.38, -3.5%), Syrah Resources Limited (A$5.05, -2.9%) and Sandfire Resources NL (A$6.29, -1.9%) like bunnies in the spotlight. However the big four continues to draw strength from their low funding hybrid model and insurers also pushed ahead with Insurance Australia Group Limited (A$6.51, +1.4%), Suncorp Group Limited (A$14.53, +1.0%) and QBE Insurance Group Limited (A$11.40, +0.5%) the stand outs. Even Macquarie Group Limited (A$58.19, +0.2%) had a good day which is rare. Property trusts though took their cue from underwhelming Scentre Group post their numbers and threw in the towel. Dexus Property Group (A$1.19, -3.3%), Mirvac Group (A$1.85, -0.8%), Cromwell Property Group (A$1.03, -1.9%) and Investa Office Fund (A$3.62, -1.1%) the worst affected.
In the industrials, Healthcare were led out of the wilderness by good numbers from Mesoblast Limited (A$4.52, +5.9%) and strength from CSL Limited (A$74.19, +1.1%), Ramsay Health Care Limited (A$50.88, +0.4%) and #JHC#. Virtus Health Limited (A$7.76, -3.1%) disappointed with its numbers today missing prospectus forecasts, Telcos though were positively running hot with M2 Telecommunications Group Limited (A$7.23, +5.9%) (results yesterday) and Nextdc Limited (A$1.785, +7.5%) leading the charge. Telstra Corporation Limited (A$5.74, +0.5%) also firmed slightly but other consumer stocks like Coca-Cola Amatil Limited (A$9.07, -1.2%),Treasury Wine Estates Limited (A$5.15, -0.6%) and Metcash Limited (A$2.85, -0.7%) were weaker.
Energy stocks were mixed with unloved Buru Energy Limited (A$1.00, +8.7%) showing a surprisingly good turn of pace following yesterday’s good run too. Woodside Petroleum Limited (A$44.14, +0.6%) also better but Senex Energy Limited (A$0.61, -9.0%) were hit following their results.
Gaming stocks came up 22 especially with Ainsworth Game Technology Limited (A$3.33, -9.8%) folding, Tatts Group Limited (A$3.36, unch) and TABCORP Holdings Limited (A$3.63, -0.3%) also followed suit and chucked their hands in too. Crown Resorts Limited (A$16.28, -0.1%) bucked the trend with an ace and a king. Utilities were a tad weaker too led by AGL Energy Limited (A$14.06, -1.1%), APA Group (A$7.70, -0.3%), Energy World Corporation Ltd (A$0.41, -11.8%) and Spark Infrastructure Group (A$1.95, -0.8%)
Threading the red carpet and looking pretty good today were Mesoblast Limited (A$4.52, +5.9%), Cover-More, M2 Telecommunications Group Limited (A$7.23, +5.9%), Mount Gibson Iron Limited (A$0.735, +4.3%), Steadfast and even Myer Holdings Limited (A$2.42, +2.5%) in the bigs and in the small screen category Nextdc Limited (A$1.785, +7.5%), GR Engineering Services Limited (A$0.80, +6.0%) and Buru Energy Limited (A$1.00, +8.7%) the standouts. Wardrobe malfunctions today on the carpet included Senex Energy, Ainsworth Game Technology Limited (A$3.33, -9.8%), Beach Energy Limited (A$1.62, -3.9%), Sirius Resources NL (A$3.74, -4.3%), Billabong and Transfield Services Limited (A$1.385, -3.1%) whilst small screen straight to DVD included Specialty Fashion Group Limited (A$0.93, -7.9%), Fleetwood Corporation Limited (A$2.22, -8.3%) and #NSR#. Volume was around $3.9bn again, Aussie dollar trading back up towards 93c as tulips around $543 and gold $1282.
Asian markets eased with Japan down 0.44% ,HK down 0.25% and Shanghai down 0.6%.
Stocks and Stories
Pacific Brands Limited (A$0.58, +1.8%) reported today with underlying net profit result slightly ahead of consensus forecasts at around $52 million. However after one-off costs of $312 million, PacBrands reported a bottom line loss of $224.5 million. They also announced that they would sell Hard Yakka and its workwear biz to Wesfarmers Limited (A$44.60, -0.2%) for $180m. Also rumours that Bonds could be on the chopping block too. Not actually sure what is then left.
Ainsworth Game Technology Limited (A$3.33, -9.8%) missed analysts expected net profit of $69 million forecasts as full-year net profit after tax rose 18 per cent to $61.6 million, boosted by the fifth consecutive year of double-digit revenue growth.
Scentre Group announced its portfolio remains more than 99.5% leased, with average specialty retail sales in Australia in excess of $10,000 per square metre demonstrating the high productivity of the portfolio. Net operating income in the Australian and New Zealand portfolio grew by 2.3% and is forecast to be 2.0% – 2.5% for 2014.
Mesoblast Limited (A$4.52, +5.9%) Full year loss of $81m. Revenue up 7%. Cash reserves of$196.4 million and a normalised cash burn for the year of $78.2 million. This was up from $61.9 million in the prior year.
Boart Longyear Limited (A$0.17, -12.8%) has warned of “material uncertainty” to its financial survival, without finalising a planned recapitalisation. Love IR jargon.
AWE Limited (A$1.715, -3.7%) disappointed with its output guidance for 2014-15 which should be between 4.6 million and 5.1 million barrels of oil equivalent, down from 5.6 million boe in 2013-14 after reporting a full-year profit before one-time gains roughly in line with forecasts.
Senex Energy Limited (A$0.61, -9.0%) posted a 38 per cent decline in full-year profit, due to a tax expense and the absence of the one-off gains that boosted the previous year’s result. The net profit of $37.9 million was on sales that rose 24 per cent to $170.9 million.
Cover-More Group beat prospectus with a year to June net profit of $25 million, well ahead of the $22 million forecast.
The bounce is in for Iron ore. Delivery in January on the Dalian Commodity Exchange is up 0.5 per cent at 647 yuan ($US105.15) a tonne. Benchmark 62-per cent grade iron ore for immediate delivery to China fell 1 per cent to $US89.20 a tonne on Monday.
Consumer confidence has edged back above its long-run average, rising 0.9 per cent to 113.5 in the week ending August 24, according to the ANZ-Roy Morgan weekly survey.
Tomorrow’s News Today
People are strange…thanks Jim(Morrison) but news that Amazon bought a web business that produces and hosts footage of people playing video games is beyond me. Apparently it is huge in Korea. Video Gamers are like rock stars, their little thumbs moving at lightning speed as millions watch on. Nearly a billion for Twitch! Really! Must be getting old.
Clive Palmer has apologised to the Chinese ambassador for his outburst on Q&A.
Snap elections in Ukraine. Hollande sacks his cabinet. Scottish questions after TV debate, (Salmon wins darling). Cunning solution from Super Mario just around the corner too! What could go wrong?
Did you know. Spain produces 50% of the world’s olive oil, with 73% of that coming from the province of Andalusia in the south and 16% from Catalonia in the north-east. In 2013 olive oil exports from Andalusia were worth €1.5bn (£1.1bn). Olive oil is on the rise with wholesale prices pushing up to $2.70 a kg. Blame the blight in Puglia and the drought in Spain.
Seems that the US is not the only one capable or willing to do airstrikes as UAE hits Libya with a little help from their Egyptian mates. There’s a new kid in town.
Manchester United have agreed a British record transfer fee of £59.7m to sign Real Madrid winger Angel Di Maria.
Agricultural Bank of China releases earnings for the first half of the year on Tuesday. An increase in non-performing loans has been a cause for concern as bad loans at Chinese banks totalled $80bn at the end of 2012. By the end of last year, that figure had climbed to nearly $100bn.
And in a sign of global activity picking up, the Baltic Dry index touched 1,061, its highest level since April 9 2014. It has rallied 47% from its recent low of 723 touched on July 22. The index has risen nearly over 40% since the start of August. BTW the Dry index measures the cost of shipping bulk stuff around the world.
Henry Jennings
Private Client Advisor
BBY Limited
Participant of the Australian Securities Exchange
Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Services Authority
Level 17, 60 Margaret St
Sydney NSW 2000
D +61 2 9226 0067
M +61 414 345 137
E hcj@bby.com.au
W www.bby.com.au
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