COMPANY RESULTS – AUSTRALIA

Brambles heads to UK as Gorman exits

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Original article by Damon Kitney, Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 21 & 25 : 19-Aug-16

Australian-listed logistics group Brambles has posted a 2015-16 net profit of $US588m ($A725m), which is one per cent higher than previously. Its statutory profit was six per cent lower at $US557.4m due to writedowns and impairment charges totalling $US78.1m, but revenue rose by two per cent to $US5.54bn. Meanwhile, British executive Graham Chipchase will succeed CEO Tom Gorman in early 2017, and Brambles will relocate its head office to London.

CORPORATES
BRAMBLES LIMITED – ASX BXB, FORD MOTOR COMPANY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, REXAM HOLDINGS PTY LTD, BALL CORPORATION

Woolies’ Masters discounting dims Beacon’s stellar growth

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 19-Aug-16

Australian-listed Beacon Lighting Group has posted a 2015-16 statutory net profit of $A18.3m, which is eight 8 per cent higher than previously. However, Beacon recorded a 14.6 per cent decline in profits during the second half, which it attributes to large price discounts on lighting products by Masters Home Improvement. Beacon recorded overall sales growth of 7.7 per cent, while same-store sales grew by just 2.7 per cent.

CORPORATES
BEACON LIGHTING GROUP LIMITED – ASX BLX, MASTERS HOME IMPROVEMENT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, MORGANS FINANCIAL LIMITED

CSL shrugs off growth concerns, shares slide

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Original article by Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 & 22 : 18-Aug-16

CSL has posted a 2015-16 net profit of $US1.24bn ($A1.6bn), which is 10 per cent lower than previously. The blood products and vaccines group’s sales rose by eight per cent to $US6.13bn. Earnings per share fell by eight per cent to $US2.69, but increased by seven per cent on a constant currency basis. CSL has forecast underlying net profit and EBITDA growth of 11 per cent and 14 per cent respectively in 2016-17. Its shares closed five per cent lower at $A110.84 on 17 August 2016.

CORPORATES
CSL LIMITED – ASX CSL, SHIRE PHARMACEUTICALS GROUP PLC, NOVARTIS AG, CSL BEHRING, WILSONS ADVISORY AND STOCKBROKING LIMITED, SEQIRUS PTY LTD

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

Santos clears the decks with $2bn write-off

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

Oil and gas producer Santos is tipped to post a 2015-16 loss of at least $US1bn, after revealing an additional $US1.5bn ($A1.96bn) write-down of the Gladstone LNG project. Santos had previously announced asset write-downs totalling $US3.9bn across its business in February. The Gladstone project will be able to produce about 7.8 million tonnes of LNG each year when it reaches full capacity, but Santos has advised that output will be capped at the 7.2 million tonnes that LNG customers have agreed to purchase.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, GLADSTONE LNG PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, ENERGYQUEST PTY LTD, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, STANDARD AND POOR’S CORPORATION

MMG races to ramp up copper

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 23 : 15-Aug-16

MMG’s Las Bambas copper mine in Peru is on track to achieve full-year production of about 348,000 tonnes of copper concentrate, after output rose from 31,470 tonnes to 87,142 tonnes in the June 2016 quarter. Macquarie Group had forecast production of just 75,000 tonnes in the second quarter, and it anticipates output of 450,000 tonnes in 2017. Macquarie has upgraded its recommendation on MMG shares from "neutral" to "outperform", and its share price target has been raised from $A3.15 to $A5.80.

CORPORATES
MMG LIMITED – ASX MMG, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, GUOXIN INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT CORPORATION LIMITED, CITIC LIMITED, XSTRATA AG, GLENCORE PLC

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

Foxtel chief on mission to win over subscribers

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 24 : 12-Aug-16

Australian pay-TV provider Foxtel has reported that its subscriber base grew by 4.7 per cent in 2015-16 to 2.9 million, while its customer churn rate rose by 1.3 per cent to 12.2 per cent. Foxtel’s EBITDA was 2.2 per cent lower at $A880m, but revenue rose by 4.6 per cent to $A3.3bn. CEO Peter Tonagh says Foxtel’s marketing will emphasise that the company streams video on demand to any device rather than merely providing a linear TV service. He adds that it boasts more of the biggest box-office hits from 2015 than Netflix.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE

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

Elliott steadies the ship at ANZ

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Original article by Michael Bennet
The Australian – Page: 21 & 25 : 10-Aug-16

The ANZ Bank has posted a cash profit of $A5.2bn for the nine months to 30 June 2016, which is three per cent lower than previously. ANZ’s earnings for the June 2016 quarter were below expectations at around $A1.7bn, while bad debt charges rose to $A482m during the quarter. Meanwhile, CEO Shayne Elliott has defended the banks’ decision to pass on only part of the 25 basis point reduction in the cash rate to home loan customers and increase the interest rates on some term deposits.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG