BUSINESS LOSSES – AUSTRALIA

Orocobre tips ongoing demand for lithium

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 22 : 20-Sep-16

Australian-listed Orocobre has posted a 2015-16 loss of $US21.9m ($A29m). However, CEO Richard Seville is upbeat about the outlook for lithium, and he believes that producers will struggle to meet growing global demand. Orocobre produced 6,903 tonnes of lithium in 2015-16, and the group forecasts output of at least 15,000 tonnes in 2016-17. It has also advised that its Salar de Olaroz project in Argentina should reach nameplate capacity in the current financial year.

CORPORATES
OROCOBRE LIMITED – ASX ORE, GALAXY RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX GXY, PILBARA MINERALS LIMITED – ASX PLS, NEOMETALS LIMITED – ASX NMT

Woolies chief sees green shoots

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 19 & 23 : 26-Aug-16

Australian-listed retailer Woolworths has posted a 2015-16 net loss of $A1.23bn, while revenue was down 1.2 per cent at $A58.08bn. The result was marred by write-downs and impairment charges exceeding $A4bn. CEO Brad Banducci says further reducing grocery prices will continue to be a priority in 2016-17. He adds that there was 0.3 per cent growth in like-for-like store sales during the first eight weeks of the financial year. Shareholders will receive a final dividend of $A0.33 per share.

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, MASTERS HOME IMPROVEMENT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BIG W DISCOUNT STORES, ENDEAVOUR DRINKS GROUP, DAN MURPHY’S, AUSTRALIAN LEISURE AND HOSPITALITY GROUP LIMITED

Cashed-up South32 on the hunt

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 19 & 26 : 26-Aug-16

Australian-listed South32 has exceeded market forecasts by posting 2015-16 underlying EBITA of $US356m. However, impairment charges resulted in the BHP Billiton spin-off posting a net loss of $US1.6bn (A$2.1bn). South32 boasted net cash of $US312m at the end of the financial year, and CEO Graham Kerr says it will consider a capital return to shareholders if there are no suitable acquisitions. He adds that South32 has pre-emptive rights over Anglo American’s stake in their manganese joint venture.

CORPORATES
SOUTH32 LIMITED – ASX S32, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, ANGLO AMERICAN PLC, SHAW AND PARTNERS LIMITED

ERA confident of covering Ranger rehabilitation costs

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Original article by Barry FitzGerald
The Australian – Page: 23 : 25-Aug-16

Energy Resources of Australia has posted a 2016 interim net loss of $A196.5m, down from $A255.3m previously. Revenue fell from $A174.4m to $A154.4m, and ERA boasted total cash resources of $A454m at the end of the half-year. Rehabilitation work at the Ranger uranium mine is expected to cost $A507m, but ERA is optimistic that it will not have to access a $A100m credit facility from Rio Tinto to complete the site remediation work.

CORPORATES
ENERGY RESOURCES OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX ERA, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Origin Energy demerger chat emerges again

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 & 22 : 19-Aug-16

Australian-listed Origin Energy has posted a 2015-16 net loss of $A589m, compared with a loss of $A658m previously. The result was marred by after-tax impairment charges of $A515m, and the diversified energy group’s underlying profit was 41 per cent lower at $A354m. Meanwhile, Origin reduced its net debt by $A4bn to $A9.1bn due to a capital raising in 2015 and asset sales. CEO Grant King says a demerger of its LNG and energy retailing businesses remains a possibility.

CORPORATES
ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, AUSTRALIA PACIFIC LNG LIMITED, ALLAN GRAY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, STANDARD AND POOR’S CORPORATION

Santos faces first loss in 20 years

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 24 : 17-Aug-16

Oil and gas producer Santos is poised to post a 2016 interim loss of nearly $US1bn, although opinion is divided regarding its underlying result. Macquarie Group anticipates an underlying profit of $US40m, but Citigroup and UBS have forecast a loss of $US80m and $US20m respectively. Santos’s total impairment charges over the last three years now exceed $US8bn, including the recent $US1.5bn pre-tax write-down of its stake in the Gladstone LNG project.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Worst is over for BHP after $8.2bn loss

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 21 & 24 : 17-Aug-16

BHP Billiton CEO Andrew Mackenzie is upbeat about the resources group’s outlook in 2016-17, after it posted a loss of $US6.39bn ($A8.27bn) for 2015-16. The result was marred by factors such as impairment charges associated with its US shale assets, lower commodity prices and the tailings dam disaster at the Samarco iron ore joint venture. BHP’s underlying profit fell from $US6.4bn to $US1.215bn, while the full-year dividend payout has fallen from $US1.24 per share to just $A0.30.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, SAMARCO MINERACAO SA, ABERDEEN ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED

BHP faces record $8.9bn loss

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 23 : 15-Aug-16

BHP Billiton is tipped to post a 2015-16 loss of $US6.8bn ($A8.9bn), with underlying earnings of less than $US1.1bn. The full-year result will be marred by factors such as the impact of lower commodity prices, a massive write-down associated with its US petroleum assets and the impact of the Samarco iron ore tailings dam disaster in Brazil. However, analysts polled by Bloomberg are upbeat about BHP’s outlook, forecasting earnings of about $US2.35bn in 2016-17.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, SAMARCO MINERACAO SA, VALE SA, BLOOMBERG LP, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Fairfax ‘reviews’ its papers

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Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian – Page: 23 : 11-Aug-16

Fairfax Media has posted a 2015-16 net loss of $A893.5m, following a profit of $A83.2m in 2014-15. The latest result was marred by a $A1bn writedown in the value of its newspapers. The listed media group’s underlying net profit was 7.6 per cent lower at $A132.5m, and revenue fell by 0.6 per cent to $A1.83bn. CEO Greg Hywood says the company will consider all options for its publishing businesses, adding that the Australian Community Media regional newspapers business is under review.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA PTY LTD, DOMAIN.COM.AU, PLATINUM EQUITY HOLDINGS, SENSIS PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, GRESHAM PARTNERS LIMITED, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

Australia overdue a big minerals find: Rio Tinto

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Original article by James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 2-Aug-16

Rio Tinto’s head of exploration, Stephen McIntosh, is among the speakers at the annual Diggers & Dealers Forum on 2 August 2016. He will outline Rio’s plans to team up with smaller resources groups to find the next big minerals deposit in Australia, noting that the nation’s last major Tier 1 discovery was more than two decades ago. He will also stress the need for regulatory reform to reduce the compliance burden for exploration projects. Meanwhile, BC Iron has posted a 2015-16 net loss of $A80m and revenue of $A151.3m.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, DIGGERS AND DEALERS FORUM, BC IRON LIMITED – ASX BCI, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG