Australian Market Report - Australia Shares End Down 2.3% As Greek Worries Continue Dominate
Wednesday, 16 May - The Australian share market was marked with jitters as investors were spooked by the prospect of Greece's second election.
The All Ordinaries fell 101.6 points (-2.35%) to 4,214.7 while the S&P/ASX 200 weakened 100.8 points (-2.36%) to 4,165.5.
Sonic Healthcare (SHL)
Sonic Healthcare (SHL) stated it was buying the pathology businesses of Healthscope for $100m. Sonic said in a statement that the businesses in New South Wales, Western Australia and Queensland states and the Australian Capital Territory had combined annualised revenue of about $105mi. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals. SHL rose 29 cents (2.31%) to $12.83.
Monadelphous (MND)
Monadelphous Group (MND) said that it has secured construction contracts worth a combined $150m from BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto for work in Western Australia's Pilbara region. The contract from BHP is for structural, mechanical and piping installation associated with the construction of an onshore gas plant for the Macedon project near Onslow. The work is scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2013, Monadelphous said in a statement. Monadelphous said it will design and build a gas-transmission pipeline and associated facilities to supply gas from the Goldfields gas pipeline to a new power station at West Angelas for Rio Tinto's iron ore expansion projects. That contract is scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2013, it said. MND fell 74 cents (3.47%) to $20.61.
Paladin (PDN)
Paladin Energy's (PDN) operation in Malawi is expected to resume production with the night shift returning to work, the company said. Paladin said that under the terms of an agreement with the local staff association, workers at the Kayelekera operation will drop demands for an immediate 66% salary increase to compensate for the 50% devaluation of the local currency and setting local salaries pegged to the US dollar. The company won't cut any jobs due to the illegal strike, and said it will review local salaries in six months. Most Malawian employees had walked off the job, forcing the company to halt production for about 22 hours. It previously said it was able to resume output, and expected to continue at about 65% of capacity until employees returned to work. The staff association is expected to recommend employees return to work immediately, and the company said it would provide transportation to employees on the night shift to resume work. Paladin overnight reported its financial third-quarter net loss had widened to $17.5m from $13.5m a year earlier, mainly due to the impairment of inventory expense. It said its loss for the nine months through March widened to $137.6m from $34.7m, reflecting a $133m impairment cost associated with the write down of the Kayelekera mine assets. The Kayelekera mine achieved record production of 725,000 pounds of U3O8 uranium in the March quarter, a 15% increase over the prior three-month period, it said, adding the recent devaluation of the kwacha would be positive for the Malawian economy and mine costs. PDN fell 12 cents (9.34%) to $1.17.
Economic News
Australian Personal Finance Up 1.1 % In March Vs February
The value of personal finance issued in Australia in March rose 1.1% after seasonal adjustment from February to $7.23bn, the Australian Bureau of Statistics stated. The rise in personal finance comprised a 1.2% increase in revolving credit and a 0.3% rise in fixed lending, the ABS said in a statement. Commercial finance rose 8.8% on month in seasonally adjusted terms to $31.78bn. A rise of 20.5% in revolving credit for commercial finance was accompanied by a gain of 5.2% in fixed-lending commitments.
The NZSX50 dropped 20.41 points (-0.58%) to 3,514.51 while the Nikkei shed 99.57 points (-1.12%) to 8,801.17 and the Hang Seng lost 635.75 points (-3.20%) to 19,258.56.
The Australian dollar was last quoted at 98.92 US cents.
Companies Holding Annual General Meeting (ASX 300):
Westfield Retail Trust
Overseas Market Report -
