CORPORATE PROFITS – AUSTRALIA

Woodside on M&A chase

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 21-Aug-14

Woodside Petroleum has posted a 2014 interim underlying net profit of $US1.136bn, which is 33 per cent higher than previously. Revenue was 24 per cent higher at $US3.55bn. CEO Peter Coleman says the group plans to spend up to $A5bn on large acquisitions, which could potentially include Apache’s 13 per cent stake in the Wheatstone LNG project. Andrew Williams of RBC Capital Markets believes that Woodside may also consider Apache’s Kitimat LNG project in Canada

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL,APACHE ENERGY LIMITED,RBC CAPITAL MARKETS,BERNSTEIN RESEARCH,CHEVRON CORPORATION

Perked-up SEEK aims to complete JobStreet bid in weeks

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Original article by Madeleine Heffernan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 21-Aug-14

Australian-listed SEEK has posted a 2013-14 underlying net profit of $A179.7m. The online job advertisement website operator had revenue of $A756.4m for the financial year, while shareholders will receive a dividend of $A0.16 per share for the second half. Meanwhile, the group has advised that it expects to pay $A636m for JobStreet, with the deal likely to be finalised in September 2014

CORPORATES
SEEK LIMITED – ASX SEK,JOBSTREET CORPORATION BERHAD,SINGAPORE. COMPETITION COMMISSION,CITIGROUP PTY LTD,LINKEDIN LIMITED,MORGANS FINANCIAL LIMITED,CARSALES.COM LIMITED – ASX CRZ,REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA

Qantas frequent flyer float plan back on ice

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Original article by Michael Smith,Jamie Freed
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 10 : 21-Aug-14

The frequent flyer program of Qantas boasted underlying EBITA of $A146m for the first half of 2013-14, and now more than 10 million members. The carrier is believed to be poised to abandon plans to sell 30-40 per cent of the Qantas Loyalty business via an IPO, and a number of analysts had concerns about such a strategy. Qantas will release its full-year results on 28 August 2014, and is tipped to post a pre-tax underlying loss of $A750m

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN,QANTAS FREQUENT FLYER LIMITED,SHAW STOCKBROKING LIMITED,BT INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX BTT,COLONIAL FIRST STATE GROUP LIMITED,BALANCED EQUITY MANAGEMENT PTY LTD,WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW,MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG,CITIGROUP PTY LTD

IAG focuses on the bottom line

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Original article by Michael Bennet
The Australian – Page: 21 : 20-Aug-14

Insurance Australia Group (IAG) has announced a 2013-14 full-year net profit increase of 59% to $A1.23bn, as gross written premiums also lifted 3% to reach $A9.8bn. The 12-month distribution has been boosted 8.3% to $A0.39, and on 19 August 2014 the stock closed $A0.03 higher at $A6.20. CEO Mike Wilkins said the Australian-listed company would focus on improved margins rather than to defend market share, as smaller rivals such as Youi, Budget and Progressive as well as supermarket chains and major banks expand their business

CORPORATES
INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG, QBE INSURANCE GROUP LIMITED – ASX QBE, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, ALLIANZ AUSTRALIA LIMITED, YOUI PTY LTD, BUDGET DIRECT INSURANCE AGENCY PTY LTD, PROGRESSIVE DIRECT INSURANCE COMPANY, NRMA INSURANCE LIMITED, SGIO INSURANCE LIMITED, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Forecasts dip as economy slackens

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Original article by Bianca Hartge-Hazelman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 20-Aug-14

The Australian sharemarket has gained 3.5 per cent so far in 2014, although it has risen by 27 per cent in the last two years. Tony Brennan of Citigroup forecasts that the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index will end the year at 5,750 points. However, he warns that the market has lowered earnings expectations for 2014-15 by 0.5 per cent so far, and this could be scaled back further

CORPORATES
CITIGROUP PTY LTD, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, ARNHEM INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, COMPUTERSHARE LIMITED – ASX CPU, JAMES HARDIE INDUSTRIES PLC – ASX JHX, BLOOMBERG LP, LEUTHOLD GROUP LLC, BARCLAYS BANK PLC, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, DOWNER EDI LIMITED – ASX DOW, LEIGHTON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX LEI

A leaner BHP is taking shape

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Original article by Barry FitzGerald, Sarah-Jane Tasker
The Australian – Page: 17 : 18-Aug-14

BHP Billiton CEO Andrew Mackenzie is rolling out his "four pillars" strategy of concentrating on the core iron ore, coal, copper and petroleum divisions. A potential hiving-off of other assets into a separately-listed entity will be discussed at the 2013-14 results presentation on 19 August 2014, at which BHP is also tipped to unveil a profit rise of 27% to $US13.8bn ($A14.8bn). The 12-month distribution is forecast to be lifted to above $US1.20 from $US1.16 previously. However a stock repurchasing scheme worth up to $US5bn is now less likely, due to the spin-off move

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, PENGANA CAPITAL LIMITED

Fairfax eyes more cuts in the race to stem revenue bleed

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 17 : 15-Aug-14

Fairfax Media has announced a 2013-14 full-year net profit of $A224.4m post-tax, after a 2012-13 loss of $A15.5m. Excluding abnormal gains from the divestment of the Stayz and InvestSmart businesses, the operating earnings were up 1.8% to reach $A306.4m. Revenue in the newspapers division was down 9.2% to $A803.2m, and that of the radio assets 6% to $A103.8m. However at the Domain property wed site unit it grew 15.5% to $A146.6m. CEO Greg Hywood signalled further cost reductions, and investors pushed Fairfax shares $A0.06 higher to a close of $A0.94 on 14 August 2014

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, DOMAIN.COM.AU, STAYZ PTY LTD, INVESTSMART FINANCIAL SERVICES PTY LTD, HANCOCK PROSPECTING PTY LTD, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

Telstra ready to splash cash

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Original article by Mitchell Bingemann
The Australian – Page: 17 : 15-Aug-14

Telstra has announced a 2013-14 full-year net profit of $A4.28bn, on a revenue rise of 3.4% to $A25.1bn. The best result in close to 10 years comes as the Australian-listed telco invests in new acquisitions to boost its footprint in the media content sector, after offloading the CSL mobile telephony asset in Hong Kong. The final distribution is up $A0.005 to $A0.15, for a 12-month payout of $A0.295. CEO David Thodey also announced a stock repurchasing scheme worth $A1bn, and on 14 August 2014 the shares closed at a price of $A5.56 last witnessed in 2002

CORPORATES
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, OOYALA INCORPORATED, HONG KONG CSL LIMITED, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, ALPHINITY INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, SENSIS PTY LTD, PLATINUM EQUITY HOLDINGS, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

Money on Echo as it shows a good hand

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Original article by Jessica Gardner
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 & 24 : 14-Aug-14

The stock of gaming group Echo Entertainment on 13 August 2014 closed 3.1% higher at $A3.30. It had posted a 2013-14 full-year net profit increase of 27.3% to $A106.3m, or 24.6% to $A158.2m excluding abnormal gains from "high rollers". Revenue from its New South Wales and Queensland casino operations also grew 3.9% to reach $A1.8bn. A distribution of $A0.04 has been declared. CEO Matt Bekier noted that strong earnings growth for Echo should now be seen as a given

CORPORATES
ECHO ENTERTAINMENT GROUP LIMITED – ASX EGP, CROWN RESORTS LIMITED – ASX CWN, THE STAR, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

It’s not a bubble, says CBA

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Original article by Jonathan Shapiro, James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 10 : 14-Aug-14

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has posted a record cash profit of $A8.68bn for the 2013-14 financial year. The banking major wrote about $A12bn worth of new home loans during the year, and its mortgage book is now worth nearly $A400bn. It has benefited from low interest rates, which in turn has prompted a sharp rise in house prices, but CBA has downplayed concerns about a housing bubble. CBA shares closed 0.9 per cent lower at $A80.96 on 13 August 2014, although the stock has gained 8.6 per cent in the last year

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, BANK FOR INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENTS. BASEL COMMITTEE ON BANKING SUPERVISION, ALPHINITY INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT PTY LTD