COMPANY RESULTS – AUSTRALIA

Whitehaven books record profit, doles out special dividend

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: Online : 16-Aug-19

Whitehaven Coal has reported a statutory net profit of $527.9 million for the 2019 fiscal year, while advising that its net profit after tax of $564.9 million was a record one for the company. Whitehaven’s underlying EBITDA of $1.04 billion was up $29.8 million on the previous corresponding period. Whitehaven declared a final dividend of $0.13 per share, along with a special dividend of $0.17 per share. Whitehaven achieved an average price of $US100/tonne for its thermal coal for the year, up $US2/tonne.

CORPORATES

Tabcorp says lotteries demerger calls total nonsense

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Original article by James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 15-Aug-19

Gambling company Tabcorp released its 2018-19 full year results, reporting an underlying net profit of $397.6 million, up 42.5 per cent. It was the first full-year results released by Tabcorp since its $11 billion merger with Tatts Group, with Tabcorp’s lotteries division reporting a 29 per cent increase in EBITDA to $509 million. However, its wagering and media division saw its EBITDA fall 7.9 per cent to $416 million. Commenting on calls for Tabcorp to demerge its lotteries business, CEO David Attenborough said there were no plans to do so.

CORPORATES
TABCORP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TAH, TATTS GROUP LIMITED, PERPETUAL LIMITED – ASX PPT

Immunoglobulins: CSL tells rivals to lift supply

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Original article by Yolanda Redrup
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 15-Aug-19

Blood product company CSL released its results for the year to 30 June on 14 August, reporting a net profit after tax of $US1.92 billion ($2.9 billion), up 11 per cent. CSL’s revenue was up by 7.9 per cent to $US8.5 billion, while the company advised that it expected its net profit to exceed $US2 billion in the 2019-20 financial year. CSL CEO Paul Perreault called on its competitors in the global immunoglobulin market to boost their output, or risk demand significantly outweighing supply.

CORPORATES
CSL LIMITED – ASX CSL

Toll back to logistics losses as Japanese parent loses face

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Original article by Jenny Wiggins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 14-Aug-19

Logistics company Toll Holdings made a net loss of $113.8 million for the 12 months to March, according to its latest annual report. This compares to a profit of $11.2 million for the previous corresponding period, with Toll attributing the loss in part to increased transport, fuel and restructuring costs. Toll’s woes appear to have continued since then, with its parent Japan Post advising in the week ending 9 August that its international logistics unit – which includes Toll, Toll Express and JP Toll Logistics – made a net loss of $24 million for the three months to June. This compares to a loss of $8 million for the previous corresponding period.

CORPORATES
TOLL HOLDINGS LIMITED, JAPAN POST COMPANY LIMITED

JB Hi-Fi bucks trend, lifts sales and profit

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 13-Aug-19

JB Hi-Fi released its results for the 12 months ending June on 12 August, with Australia’s largest consumer electronics retailer reporting a net profit of $249.8 million, up 7.1 per cent. Sales rose by 3.5 per cent to $7.09 billion, while JB Hi-Fi declared a final dividend of $0.51 per share, bringing its total dividends for the year to $1.42. CEO Richard Murray says he is "cautiously optimistic" about the coming year, while he is forecasting sales of around $7.25 billion for 2019-20.

CORPORATES
JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH

Iron ore floods Rio Tinto with cash

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 19 : 1-Aug-19

Macquarie Group forecasts that Rio Tinto will report after-tax earnings of $US5.7bn for the first half of 2019, and EBITDA of $US10.9bn. The investment bank adds that iron ore is likely to account for more than 80 per cent of Rio Tinto’s earnings for the half-year, following a strong rise in the price of the steel input. Macquarie analysts also expect Rio Tinto to announce an interim dividend of $US1.76 per share, which is in line with the consensus forecast of about $US1.78 per share. Some analysts suggest that a special dividend is also possible.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, ALUMINIUM CORPORATION OF CHINA LIMITED

Fortescue expands its base in China

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 23 : 26-Jul-19

Fortescue Metals Group has advised that its iron ore shipments totalled 167.7 million tonne in 2018-19, including a record 46.6 million tonnes in the final quarter. Fortescue received an average price of $US65 per tonne during the financial year, an increase of 50 per cent. The pure-play miner has forecast that it will ship between 170 million and 175 million tonnes of iron ore in 2019-20. Meanwhile, Fortescue has opened a new office in China that will allow it to sell smaller volumes of iron ore to customers.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, VALE SA

Little room for error as reporting season nears

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 25 : 24-Jul-19

The consensus forecast is for S&P/ASX 200 companies outside of the resources sector to post earnings per share growth of one per cent for 2018-19. Morgans Financial expects the August 2019 reporting season to generally exceed expectations, due primarily to the fact that earnings forecasts have been downgraded so much. Andrew Tang of Morgans favours stocks such as BHP, Rio Tinto, Telstra and A2 Milk. He says Suncorp, Spark Infrastructure, Computershare and REA Group are among the stocks whose 2018-19 earnings and future guidance may disappoint the market.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, MORGANS FINANCIAL LIMITED, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, THE A2 MILK COMPANY LIMITED – ASX A2M, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, SPARK INFRASTRUCTURE GROUP – ASX SKI, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX ALL ORDINARIES INDEX

BHP flags iron ore output surge

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 20 : 18-Jul-19

BHP has forecast that its Pilbara iron ore exports for 2019-20 will be within the range of 273 to 286 million tonnes, despite its scheduled maintenance work at Port Hedland. BHP’s Pilbara shipments totalled 71.1 million tonnes in the final quarter of 2018-19, and 270.5 million tonnes for the full year. BHP has also advised that its 2018-19 production costs were in line with previous forecasts of less than $US15 per tonne. Rio Tinto recently indicated that its iron ore production costs for 2019 will be between $US14 and $US15 per tonne.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

Steel mills to the rescue as Rio mines slow

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 17-Jul-19

Rio Tinto has advised that production at its flagship Pilbara iron ore mines totalled 155.7 million tonnes in the first half of 2019, which is eight per cent lower than previously. Pilbara iron ore shipments also fell by eight per cent, to 154.6 million tonnes. Export volumes were affected by factors such as cyclone activity and a fire at Cape Lambert port during the half-year. Rio Tinto received an average price of $US85.30 per tonne, excluding the cost of freight, an increase of 35 per cent compared with the same period in 2018.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, VALE SA, SHAW AND PARTNERS LIMITED