Monday February 16, 06:25 AM
Australia shares fall 1.2 pct on earnings gloom
By Mette Fraende
SYDNEY, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Australian stocks ended down 1.2
percent on Monday, with sentiment hurt by ongoing financial
sector worries and weak earnings reports from companies including
pallet supplier Brambles.
Shares in Brambles tumbled 11.7 percent to A$5.65 after the
company reported a 28 percent drop in first-half profit and
flagged job cuts as the global slowdown took its toll.
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank dropped 5.7 percent to
A$8.94 after reporting a 42.4 percent rise in first-half cash
earnings to A$122.2 million ($80 million), but a sharp rise in
bad debts.
Transpacific Industries Group fell 35.7 percent to
A$1.80 after it said it expects A$46 million in mark-to-market
losses before tax in its first-half results.
'That just adds a renewed level of uncertainty leading into
the latter part of February, as we go into a fairly constant flow
of results,' said Jamie Spiteri, senior dealer at Shaw
Stockbroking.
'It will be some ordinary results with some very sceptical
guidance going forward.'
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 42.2 points to
3,516.9, based on the latest available data.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index fell 2.6 percent
to 2,680.2.
Falls in the banking stocks on concerns over the health of
the U.S. and European banking sectors, were led by No. 3 lender,
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (Munich: 882695 - news) , down 5.7 percent to
A$29.62 as the bank went ex dividend.
Regional lender Bank of Queensland Ltd fell 3
percent to A$7.00.
Global miner Rio Tinto Ltd (Munich: 855018 - news) fell 0.4 percent to
A$50.80 after media reports of shareholder dissatisfaction with
its deal to sell asset stakes and convertible bonds to Chinese
aluminium group Chinalco.
BHP Billiton Ltd fell 1.7 percent to A$32.14.
Ports operator Asciano Ltd fell 14.3 percent to
A$0.66 after a number of recent broker downgrades. Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS - news)
slashed its price target on Asciano to A$0.50 from A$5.45, citing
the group's hefty debt burden.
Gainers included oil producers, benefitting from U.S. crude
oil futures edging up towards $38 a barrel.
Santos Ltd rose 3.3 percent to A$15.25, though
Woodside Petroleum Ltd (Berlin: WOPA.BE - news) closed down 0.5 percent at
A$32.75 after rising as high as A$33.30 earlier.
Coal-to-groceries conglomerate Wesfarmers (Berlin: WF3.BE - news) rose 0.5
percent to A$16.23 after it reported a 46 percent rise in
first-half profit, helped by its resources business.
(Reporting by Mette Fraende)
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