| JBH | JB Hi-Fi announces the launch of JB HI-FI “HOME” concept stores. These stores will range all of the products that customers love from JB Hi-Fi plus “HOME”, signifying a full range of whitegoods, cooking and small appliances. Initially, these home entertainment and appliance super stores will be located at the Company’s existing larger homemaker centre sites where it sees “HOME” as a logical extension to its current entertainment categories. JB Hi-Fi CEO, Terry Smart, said “We have a strong and successful JB Hi-Fi store model with a significant amount of growth ahead of us as we continue our store rollout program. We believe however that the strength of the JB Hi-Fi brand can be further leveraged to enable us to capture some of the circa $4 billion home appliances market. Today we have existing supplier relationships, buyers, merchandising capability and most importantly passionate and skilled appliance sales staff, all gained through the eight years of operating the Clive Anthonys stores.” “We will always be very protective of the JB Hi-Fi brand and what it means to our customers. As such, we will ensure that the “HOME” stores will continue to carry a full range of JB Hi-Fi’s existing categories but with the addition of home appliances. Focus will be placed on ensuring the shopping experience within the “HOME” stores remains engaging and supports the powerful entertainment offer we have today.” Mr Smart added, “The JB Hi-Fi brand is known for its customer engagement, value, range and service; this will now extend into these new categories.” | Company report |
| SXY | Senex Energy is pleased to advise that successful exploration on the western flank of the Cooper Basin has confirmed the presence of an oil field at Spitfire. The Spitfire-2 exploration well has confirmed the discovery of a new oil field updip of Spitfire-1. Analysis of wireline logs confirms that the well intersected 6.5 metres of net oil pay in the mid-Birkhead Formation. Spitfire-2 has been cased and suspended as a future oil producer. The Spitfire-2 deviated oil exploration well targeted the mid-Birkhead Formation. It is located 530 metres north west of the Spitfire-1 oil exploration well in PEL 104 and approximately two kilometres west of the Growler oil field in PRL 15 (Senex 60% and Operator; Beach Energy Limited 40% in both permits). It was designed as a follow-up well to the Spitfire-1 exploration well, which delivered good oil shows but was plugged and abandoned as uncommercial in February 2012. | Company report |
| LEI | Thiess has been awarded two new contracts for approximately A$220 million with BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) for construction works on the Caval Ridge Mine Project in the Bowen Basin in Central Queensland. The Thiess contracts are for the construction of a coal handling and preparation plant (CHPP) for approximately $125 million and a rail loop and holding roads for approximately $95 million. “We’re already delivering major site preparation and drainage works at Caval Ridge. The addition of the CHPP and rail facilities further showcases our offering to clients,” Managing Director Bruce Munro said. | Company report |
| WOR | WorleyParsons has been awarded a three year contract by LukOil Mid-East Limited to provide project management services for West Qurna-2 oil field development project in Iraq. WorleyParsons will provide project management, technical and construction supervision personnel to support the West Qurna-2 engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) activities. WorleyParsons will also develop a Project Management System to effectively manage and control the project during its execution from design engineering through to commissioning. The contract covers a number of facilities for the West Qurna-2 project including central processing facilities, gas treatment facilities, well pads, produced water treatment and all related offsites and utilities. The contract will be executed from WorleyParsons’ offices in the United Arab Emirates and Iraq, and will involve working in different locations around the world with front end engineering design, and EPC contractors. The expected revenue to WorleyParsons from the contract is USD 82m. | Company report |
| ORL | OrotonGroup’s financial results in 2012 were again very solid with growth in group revenue of 12.3% to $184.7 million. Our growth in like for like sales was also healthy at +9% overall, up from +7% in the previous year. This strong positive result reflects the health of our brands and business and the strong loyalty of our customers. Our business model today is broad in scope with distribution across online, full price retail, wholesale and factory outlet channels. We sell from oroton.com and deliver worldwide and we have 93 stores in 4 countries. We achieved a Net Profit After Tax result of $24.9 M, up 0.5% on last year and increased group EBITDA by 5.4% to achieve a result of $46.2 M. Our EBITDA margin in FY12 was consistent with the prior year at 25% of sales. This margin has been maintained now for several years. Our Earnings Per Share (or EPS) was 61.0 cents and the Board declared a total annual dividend of 50.0 cents per share. I am pleased to state that the Group Return on Capital Employed has remained above 80% over the past 5 years and our EPS has grown by a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 10% since the onset of the GFC in 2008. Despite our recent announcement that our Ralph Lauren license will expire on 30 June 2013 our strategy remains constant. | Company report |
| BRU | Following completion of the first phase of the preliminary evaluation program, a bit trip was undertaken to clean out the hole and to condition the mud to reduce fluid losses to the formation. The current operation is completing wireline pressure sampling. Once this is completed, the the forward plan is to run in the hole and drill ahead to a planned total depth of 3,500 metres to test the underlying Nullara section in which good oil shows were encountered during the drilling of Ungani 1. Mr Eric Streitberg, Buru’s Executive Director, commented on the results of the Ungani North 1 well and the preliminary evaluation program: “These results are very encouraging for both the Ungani North structure itself, and perhaps more importantly, for the regional prospectivity of the Ungani trend. The Ungani North structure is large, and is interpreted from results to date to have an oil charged reservoir section, and we have also encountered a thicker sealing shale section and a much thicker dolomitised reservoir section than at Ungani. These factors are again very encouraging for the regional prospectivity, and the many other prospects we see on the Ungani trend.” | Company report |
| BRU | Head of strategy and business development at gas explorer Buru Energy, Tom Streitberg, said the company’s planned $500-$600 million gas pipeline would transform all the explorers in the Canning Basin | AFR |
| GXY | An industrial accident at a chemical plant owned by Perth-based miner Galaxy Resources Limited (GXY) has left one worker dead and another 10 in hospital | AFR |
| QAN | Retail veteran Gerry Harvey has revealed he is only a “passive investor” in Australian airline Qantas as talk increases around a private consortium pushing for change at the national carrier. | The Australian |
| CSL | CSL has upgraded its profit forecast to 20% on the back of increased royalties from its Gardasil cervical cancer vaccine | Age |
| RIC | Ridley Corporation is pleased to announce the signing of agreements for the sale of Cheetham Salt Limited (Cheetham) for $150 million, payable fully in cash on completion (the Transaction). Cheetham’s Dry Creek salt field in Adelaide, South Australia and all the assets associated with the non-operating Bowen, Lara and Moolap former salt field sites, do not form part of the Transaction and will be retained by Ridley following the Transaction. “This sale transforms Ridley into a focused animal nutrients, ingredients and feed producer and provides flexibility to pursue further value accretive growth opportunities which will strengthen Ridley’s position in the sector and enable further participation in industry consolidation.” | Company report |
| SPL | SPL has reported that its two Phase-3 clinical trials of VivaGel as a treatment for bacterial vaginosis (BV) has failed to meet its primary endpoint – clinical cure 3 weeks after completing treatment. As a result, SPL will not be filing a New Drug Application with the FDA for this indication as was originally planned. The negative primary endpoint result appears to be primarily the result of a high and unusual response from patients in the placebo arms of the trials. As a result, the trial does provide a lot of data supporting the efficacy of the product in BV and, in particular, support it potential role in preventing recurrent infections that are prevalent in patients who suffer from BV. Data from a Phase-2 clinical trial for this indication are expected in Q1 2013. While we remain optimistic that the prevention trial could provide a positive result, we have downgraded our price target to $1.50 | Canaccord |
| ALL | Aristocrat said its net profit more than doubled as it won a greater share of the slot machine market. Net profit for the nine months to Sept. 30 totaled 45.5 million Australian dollars (US$47.6 million), up from A$19.9 million in the same period a year earlier. Aristocrat only included nine months of trading in its annual figures because it has switched its reporting date to Sept. 30 from the end of December. The company said its pro forma operating profit, covering the 12 months to Sept. 30, of A$91.7 million was ahead of earlier guidance of up to A$90 million. “We’ve created positive momentum by taking share from our competitors and growing sustainable value in difficult conditions in key markets around the world,” said Chief Executive Jamie Odell. The company said it would pay a final dividend of 2 Australian cents a share. | iress |
| SEK | Record full year result vs pcp. Revenue 29%, EBITDA 43%, NPAT (Post NCI) 35% and DPS of 21%. Result achieved despite far from buoyant conditions in all our markets.Strong cash flows and balance sheet. Completion of debt refinancing in Sep-2012 (from $340m to $450m facility) SEEK Australia & New Zealand – Pleasing result reflects market leadership & resilience of business model. Result achieved despite subdued labour market conditions. Successful launch of several new products & services SEEK International – Strong “look-through1” growth vs pcp. Revenue 35% and EBITDA of 40%. Moved to majority ownership in OCC and Brasil Online. SEEK Education – Strong “look-through1” growth vs pcp. Revenue 15% and EBITDA of 80%. Particularly pleasing underlying result achieved by THINK in H2 FY12 | |
| EU | The Troika has finally agreed to a deal to cut Greece’s debt burden and enable the country to receive the next tranche of its bailout. Measures include allowing Greece’s debt-GDP ratio to fall to 124% by 2020 rather than 120%, buybacks of the country’s loans, and the deferral of some interest payments. | Seeking Alpha |
| World | The OECD has cut its prediction for global growth to 2.9% this year from a previous forecast of 3.4%. In its twice-yearly report, the organization also said growth in 2013 will increase to 3.4% rather than 4.2%. The OECD cut its estimates for the U.S. as well – predictably warning about the fiscal cliff – and said the eurozone will shrink in 2012 and 2013 before recovering in 2014 | Seeking Alpha |
| EU | The EU is reportedly set to postpone the introduction of Basel III bank capital rules by about six months from the original date of Jan 1. The delay could be even longer if the EU fails to resolve differences over how to implement the regulation. At the same time, the bloc is pushing the U.S. to say when it will introduce Basel III after the latter indefinitely postponed the rules | Seeking Alpha |
| China | Profits at Chinese industrial companies jumped 20.5% on year in October to 500B yuan ($80.4B), with growth accelerating from a 7.8% rise in September and providing further evidence that the economy is rebounding. “The profit number, together with other economic indicators, shows there is no need for the government to launch new easing policies,” | Seeking Alpha |
| NWS | Kim Williams, chief executive of News Corporation’s Australian arm News Limited, yesterday said that the separation of the media conglomerate next year will heighten the focus on the viability of local masthead newspapers such as the Herald Sun and The Australian. | AFR |
| BSL | Australian Customs has been asked by BlueScope Steel to penalise coated-steel Chinese exporters, which the Australian steel maker claims are being unfairly subsidised by the Asian nation | AFR |
| QAN | Alan Joyce, chief executive of Qantas Airways, earlier this week wrote to Federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese and Federal Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson saying that the airline would no longer “partner with Tourism Australia on new initiatives and will not renew existing contracts beyond their expiration”. The move by Joyce to pull the plug on a $44m Tourism Australia contract on the basis that he believes its chairman is plotting to take control of the airline – and despose him – is tantamount to open warfare. Meanwhile one the three unions involved in last year’s industrial relations clash is believed to be rallying its own members and trying to drum up broader union and staff interest in buying a strategic equity stake in the company | Macquarie |
| US | November Consumer confidence beat expectations all round, rising to 73.7, which lines up with the Thanksgiving retail figures released earlier this week | Citi |
| ALS | Alesco has determined an additional fully franked special dividend of 27cps will be paid, given that DuluxGroup has reached a relevant interest in the company approaching 90%. The extra dividend is subject to DuluxGroup declaring its takeover offer unconditional | AFR |
| BLY | Boart Longyear has gone back to its shareholders with possible plans to offload its underperforming environmental drilling services business | AFR |
| FXJ | Carnegie and a group of prominent Melbourne Club types, including former Fairfax chairman Ron Walker and investment banker John Wylie, have discussed a move on Fairfax’s register | AFR |
| SWM | Despite Seven West Media’s shares having traded up 50% in the past three weeks, there are some in the market who believe it would make sense for Seven chairman Kerry Stokes to engineer a deal with his other listed vehicle, Seven Group Holdings, which owns 33% of Seven West Media | AFR |
| TEN | The Gillard government is close to announcing an extension of the commercial television license fee rebate in a move that will come as a relief to the embattled Ten Network | AFR |
| WPL | WA Premier Colin Barnett has applied further pressure on the Browse JV partners to process gas from the $40bn project onshore, warning Woodside Petroleum that it will be firmly held to the terms of its operating license | AFR |
| ANZ | ANZ will focus on selling its insurance, superannuation and investment products direct to consumers as part of a strategy to life the performance of its wealth management business | AFR |
| WHC | Industry sources said coal entrepreneur Nathan Tinkler risked losing control of his primary asset, a 19.4% stake in Whitehaven Coal, if he failed to meet a “liquidity event” required under the terms of his loans with groups such as Farallon Capital | AFR |
| TWE | Treasury Wine Estates chief David Dearie says the company has no plans to hive off its flagship Penfolds brand into a separate listed vehicle, as he seeks to boost quality and returns across the company’s entire brand portfolio | The Australian |
| AUB | Listed insurance broking giant Austbrokers Holdings confirmed it is aiming for a boost in net profit of as much as 10% and plans to sustain its appetite for acquisitions in the new year | AFR |
| NUF | Nufarm will avoid a lengthy trial next year after settling a shareholder class action for $46.6m | SMH |
| EU | European regulators gave the green light to $48 billion in euro-zone funding for Spain’s stricken banking sector | WSJ |
| BHP | BHP Billiton cautioned that global economic turmoil is expected to continue and no near-term rise is expected in prices for iron ore and metallurgical coal, two of the mining company’s biggest revenue-generating commodities. “Given the fundamental shifts taking place, the low levels of growth in many developed countries and the volatility in just about every facet of life, from stock markets to politics to the weather, the business world is as tough as ever. Our industry is particularly challenging,” Chairman Jacques Nasser told shareholders at the company’s annual meeting in Sydney. He and Chief Executive Marius Kloppers said it had become even more critical that the company focus on controlling costs.”Over the past decade we have experienced unsustainably high prices in some commodities such as iron ore and metallurgical coal, as growth in demand from China and other developing nations outweighed the pace of new low-cost supply additions, Mr. Kloppers said, adding those prices are expected to “mean revert,” returning to more sustainable levels. He forecast China’s gross domestic product growth would range between 7% and 8% in the coming years, lower than the double-digit growth seen over the past decade but coming off a much larger base that will underpin strong commodities demand. “China’s unique and substantial industrialization and urbanization continue to give us confidence in the long-term outlook,” he said. | iress |
| CSV | CSG has undergone a significant transformation in the last ten months as the Board seeks to restore value to shareholders and lay the foundations for the future of the business. Significant changes have been made at both an executive level and at an operational level and we believe the business is now well placed to effect the changes that have been outlined in previous communication to shareholders. The sale of the Technology Solutions Division was completed on 2 July 2012 for a total consideration of $227.5 million. This allowed us to pay a 20 cents per share, fully franked dividend on 18 September, and commence the on-market buyback of up to 10 per cent of shares on issue. We have bought approximately 2 million shares since the buyback began in early November. We also announced that we were planning for an up to $40 million capital return to shareholders subject to a range of conditions, including a review by the Australian Taxation Office. We expect to announce further information in respect of the capital return in February 2013 once we have received the formal ruling from the ATO. We can now report that we have an agreed credit approved term sheet for a $25 million debt facility. | Company report |
| MSB | During the financial year ended 30 June 2012, Mesoblast spent nearly $20m on its clinical programs, $13m on preclinical and manufacturing research, $19.4m on its growing team of talented and committed professionals, and $12.9m on infrastructure, overheads and intellectual property maintenance. In this current financial year, Mesoblast expects commencement of a Phase 3 trial for congestive heart failure involving an early interim analysis to evaluate evidence of efficacy. The Company expects to be reporting a series of clinical results, including the spinal fusion and intervertebral disc repair Phase 2 trials, as well as the type 2 diabetes Phase 2 program. The acute myocardial infarction Phase 2 trial and bone marrow transplant Phase 3 trial will be ongoing. Additionally, the Company will expand its intravenous suite of products, and expects to commence Phase 2 programs in patients with early as well as advanced rheumatoid arthritis, diabetic kidney disease, and certain lung diseases. As always, Mesoblast will seek to extend its commercial activities and identify additional strategic partners to facilitate its objectives. | |
| RQL | Although 2012 growth was not at the same rate as in 2011, we saw: Revenues increase from $52m to $82m EBITDA increase from $18m to $22.3m; and Net profit increase from $12.1m to $13.4m Operating cash flow was solid at $17 million and the year-end balance sheet was very healthy with low gearing and no bank debt. Importantly, the business is becoming a national force, with activity recorded in every Australian state over the past year. We have quickly become the largest specialist water management business servicing the natural resources sector in Australia. We are also well underway in establishing operations in Indonesia, which we see as a large potential market to develop in coming years. We have performed work in other Asian countries and have had enquiries from Africa. REL is largely aligned to production activities, not the front-end exploration, development and construction activities that many mining services companies are exposed to and which has fuelled the recent sell downs in the mining services sector. Being aligned to the production phase of mining, most of our work comes from mature operating mines sites where we have maintained an ongoing presence for many years and have recurring revenues. | |
| TRY | Gold Production up 67% to 119,621oz @ US$472/oz net of silver credits Record gold equivalent production up 79% to 137,457oz @ US$625/oz gold equivalent (Au_Eq) Record revenue up 104% to A$208.6M Record PAT up 115% to A$31.4M. 30 September 2012 net cash of A$47.9M compared to net debt of $5.4M at 30 June 2011. Declared 13th Fully Franked Cash Dividend of 10cps (up 67%) Record exploration spend up 87% to $16.5M. 2012 has seen the stabilisation of production at Casposo with production levels reaching the planned 1,100 tonnes per day and consistently producing above 1,000tpd. Andorinhas in Brazil has also continued to deliver budgeted ounces of gold to enhance Troy’s profitability. The Company faces a number of challenges. These include achieving assumed underground development rates to access high grade underground ore at Casposo on a timely basis and high cost inflation rates in Argentina, We continue to focus on the further potential at Casposo including the addition of new milling capacity to the site’s flow sheet and ongoing site exploration | |
| US | the Commerce Department reported that new-home sales fell by 0.3% in October to 368,000, seasonally adjusted, from September’s sales of 369,000, which was revised lower. Last month’s sales number was nearly 20,000 units lower than expected. | Morningstar |
| China | China would adopt tight fiscal policy and loose monetary policy in 2013 as the new government may curtail investments and be more tolerant of slower economic growth. | China Securities Journal |
| ORL | OrotonGroup provided its chairman’s address to the company’s AGM. The chairman reported that the company’s financial results in 2012 were solid with growth in group revenue of 12.3% to $184.7m. Growth in like-for-like sales was also healthy at +9% overall, up from +7% in the previous year. The company achieved a NPAT result of $24.9m, up 0.5% on last year and increased group EBITDA by 5.4% to achieve a result of $46.2m. The EBITDA margin in FY12 was consistent with the prior year at 25% of sales. This margin has been maintained now for several years. The chairman reported that the Group Return on Capital Employed has remained above 80% over the past five years and the company’s EPS has grown by a compounded annual growth rate of more than 10% since the onset of the GFC in 2008 | Morningstar |
| JBH | JB Hi-Fi announced the launch of JB HI-FI “HOME” concept stores. These stores will range all of the products from JB Hi-Fi plus “HOME”, signifying a full range of whitegoods, cooking and small appliances. Initially, these home entertainment and appliance super stores will be located at the company’s existing larger homemaker centre sites where it sees “HOME” as a logical extension to its current entertainment categories. Whilst confident on the success that can be achieved with these new concept stores, the company will initially conduct a low risk and measured trial in Qld with the initial conversion of four homemaker centre stores. Two more stores will follow in the New Year. | Morningstar |
| ALL | Aristocrat Leisure announced its financial results for the nine months ended 30 September 2012, reporting that the group’s performance for the reporting period was ahead of the prior corresponding period (pcp) and ahead of guidance. The group reported profit after tax and non-controlling interest of $45.5m, which represents a 128.6% increase (121.6% in constant currency) compared to $19.9m in the pcp. This was predominantly delivered through improved operational performance with EBIT growth of 75.7% (71.2% in constant currency). Group revenue increased 29.7% (29.3% in constant currency) with all key regions delivering growth. The momentum in the Australian business continued, clearly demonstrating the effective execution of the group’s product-led strategy. Japan delivered two successful game releases in the current reporting period and the Asia Pacific business grew significantly, supported by a product portfolio tailored to the markets in the region. | Morningstar |
| COK | Record production (233,000mt in the Sept quarter) and low costs (~A$105/mt including Royalties). Release of the BFS for the Baralaba expansion. Secured 4.2 million mt of additional port capacity for Collingwood. Cockatoo is well placed to advance this project at the right time in the future. Delivery of the PFS for the Bylong project. Hume PFS close to completion | Company report |
| BSE | 100% owner of the advanced Kwale mineral sands project in Kenya. US$120 million spent on development. A$110 million in cash. US$118 million in undrawn debt facilities ($52m drawn). Estimated project NPV10 (Oct 2012 post-tax real) of US$485 million at current TZMI price forecasts and assumptions | Company report |
| CDU | CuDeco Ltd is pleased to announce that we have entered into an agreement with Sinosteel Equipment and Engineering Co. Ltd for accepting a placement of 7.6m ordinary fully paid shares @ $4.50 per share for $34.2m. The placement is in lieu of cash payments for equipment being supplied by Sinosteel. The equipment includes the entire 22Megawatt Power Station manufactured by U.S. Cummins Power, to provide the high voltage power station for the Rocklands Copper Project. The supply agreement includes the complete installation, commissioning on site, including 12 months on site support. The balance of the placement is for contribution for erection and construction of the mineral process plant. The Directors elected that this share in lieu of cash option, was a better option than the recent placement that was withdrawn at $4.30 per share. The agreement with Sinosteel is binding, but subject to FIRB approvals which is expected to be approved by the end of 2012. | Company report |
| LNC | Linc Energy’s division, Linc Energy Resources, Inc., will publish its financial results on a Quarterly basis moving forward. For the three months ended 30 September 2012, daily sales averaged 3,878 gross BOEPD (99% oil). The average sales price was for the Quarter was $98.32 per BOE. Quarterly adjusted EBITDAX was $14.7 million. | Company report |
| MMX | in late 2011 the Board took the significant decision to sell the Company’s interests in the Jack Hills mine and the Oakajee port and rail infrastructure joint ventures to Mitsubishi Development Pty Ltd for $325 million. The transaction was completed in February 2012 enabling the Company to repay outstanding debt, leaving the Company with approximately $223 million of net available funds after the Company had met all of its obligations. Greg Martin and his team achieved a remarkable outcome for shareholders under very difficult circumstances. Managing the joint venture arrangements, dealing with the Government and Government Authorities, profiling Murchison with international mining companies and positioning the Company to draw out the offer from Mitsubishi was a masterful juggling act. The passage of time and events, both in iron ore markets and global markets more generally, since our decision to sell the Company’s interests in these projects to Mitsubishi in late 2011 only serves to further validate the Board’s decision to exit these projects when we did. We are very proud of these achievements. Following completion of the Mitsubishi transaction, the Board spent considerable time evaluating the merits of new investment opportunities in the natural resources sector. A great number of opportunities were reviewed by the Board but we came to the conclusion that none of them represented a compelling opportunity with the potential to enhance shareholder value within an acceptable time horizon. Consequently, the Board made the decision that the Company should seek to realise the remainder of its non-cash assets and seek approval of shareholders to wind the Company up. As part of that strategy, the Board sought to return the maximum amount of cash possible to shareholders as efficiently as possible and in the shortest timeframe without, of course, jeopardising our duties to ensure Murchison remained a solvent entity. The Company sought and obtained a ruling from the Australian Tax Office that the distribution of the proceeds from the Mitsubishi transaction to shareholders would be treated as a capital return rather than a dividend. In addition, the Company took steps to realise value for the Company’s remaining assets including the Rocklea iron ore project, and to seek to resolve a number of outstanding commercial disputes. We are now close to completing this task. Approximately $207 million has already been returned to shareholders and we recently announced that we planned to make a second and final distribution in February/March 2013 in the range of 3.5 – 4.0 cents per ordinary share ($15.84 million – $18.09 million) taking the total proposed return to shareholders to an amount of 49.5 – 50.0 cents per ordinary share ($223 million – $225 million in total). The lesser amount includes a contingency of $2.25 million, against which to date there have been no identified costs. The balance of projected costs between September 2012 and February 2013 of $5.39 million includes significant legal costs to settle the matters with O’Sullivan Partners and Premar, compliance and statutory reporting costs, the cost of shareholder meetings, employee entitlements, liquidation costs and insurance costs. Although contingencies remain in the cost projections, the budget has been cut back with only the required minimum of three directors, a deal whereby office space is free and the underlying operating costs have been reduced to approximately $200,000 per month. | Company report |
| RMS | Ramelius successfully commenced open pit gold mining in September 2011 at Mt Magnet in Western Australia, refurbished that mine’s 1.7 mtpa Checkers mill and commenced milling ore in February this year with our first full quarter of gold production achieved in the June 2012 quarter. Our Wattle Dam Gold Mine in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia produced 42,538 ounces at a creditable 8.13 g/t Au. In the 2011/12 financial year, Ramelius recorded our sixth successive full year profit, this year recording a pre-tax profit of $4.4 million after non-cash Wattle Dam impairment costs of $17 million from revenues of $84 million. Net profit after tax was $2.3 million. Wattle Dam mining has already ceased and milling will be complete by the end of the March 2013 quarter, closing a very successful six year production chapter in this mine’s history with Ramelius. Wattle Dam’s outstanding success has provided the basis for your company to acquire the larger Mt Magnet operation – which should prove successful as the second stage building block to an even bigger and more successful gold company. We are continuing to plan for future production growth at Mt Magnet via the Western Queen South pit cut-back and through exploration success at Water Tank Hill and the Mars and Saturn pits. | Company report |
| SEA | The first component of Sundance’s organic growth strategy is early stage leasing in large-scale, US onshore resource plays. The Company has successfully executed this strategy in the Woodford gas play in the Arkoma Basin, the Bakken/Three Forks in the Williston Basin, and the Niobrara in the Denver-Julesburg Basin. The Company is currently leasing in the Mississippian/Woodford in the Greater Anadarko Basin. The second key component of Sundance’s strategy is to drive growth through the drill bit in its high working interest, Company operated projects. Development of our reserves carries attractive economics and serves to increase production, cash flow and proved reserves that enhance market value and provide cash flow for investment in continued growth. By focusing on high working interest, Company operated projects, we have the opportunity to accelerate our growth trajectory while controlling the pace and methods of development. Thirdly, we are actively seeking to grow the Company via mergers and acquisitions. These transactions have the opportunity to accelerate our growth and the assets often carry a lower risk profile than early stage leasing. | Company report |
| WDR | WDR have made significant progress in development of our iron ore project at Roper Bar in the Northern Territory, including raising over $100 million in new capital, which was the subject of our special general meeting on 10 August 2012. In addition we have reached agreement with the Native Title Holders; signed an agreement with Mt Isa Mines Ltd to ship ore from its loading facility at Bing Bong; we have been granted major project status by the NT Government; and we have made good progress in further proving up our resources. In addition as you know, on 18 September 2012 we received a conditional offer from Meijin Energy Group of China for the purchase of all of the issued shares and options in the company at a price of $1.08 per share, valuing Western Desert at $435m. As you also know, this takeover offer was surprisingly withdrawn without explanation on 30 October 2012. However we understand that this withdrawal was for reasons not related to our business or it’s potential. Returning to our Roper Bar progress, in his presentation to the Special Meeting of Shareholders on 10 August 2012, our Managing Director, Norm Gardner, provided the following details in relation to the Roper Bar project. A production target of 3 million tonnes per annum from mid-2013. Capital expenditure of $160.5m for Stage 1. Target cash cost of $60 per tonne. Road haulage 165 kilometres to the Bing Bong port loading facilities. JORC Resources of 32.1 million tonnes of high grade DSO. Global Resource of 28.3 million tonnes measured, 115.9m tonnes indicated and 257.8m tonnes inferred being a total of 402m tonnes at an average FE of 40%. | Company report |
| Aust | ABS data for the Sep 2012 quarter shows continued growth in “actual” capital expenditure – almost exclusively in industries related to the resources sectors | Shaw |
| RRL | Ramp-up problems: As reported in the Sep’12 quarter, RRL has continued to face minor issues during ramp-up largely due to the feed originating from the upper levels of the open pit which comprises exclusively of oxide ore and high moisture content. This has led to material handling issues through the primary crusher and warranted RRL installing a grizzly screen together with the installation of a primary jaw crusher and ore stacker (presently underway). We believe that these problems are resolvable over 2H’13 as RRL has already seen an increase in throughput rates from 3.8Mtpa to 5.2Mtpa at Garden Well, albeit over only the last four days. Grade Reconciliation: Milled ore grade since commencement of operations has been 1.7g/t gold (compared to an expected grade of the areas mined of 2.0g/t gold). Grade reconciliation to the reserve is not yet confirmed given the large volume of ore currently on the run of mine (ROM) stockpile. An update on the reconciliation would be something to watch closely over the coming two quarters as RRL moves to steady state production at Garden Well. Guidance: RRL issued a renewed guidance for the Garden Well project of 180-195koz in FY’13, a 15% downgrade to our numbers (~225koz), and a 10% downgrade to our estimates for group production for FY’13 to ~304koz (our previous estimates: ~330koz). Dividend & Debt: RRL announced a fully franked final dividend of $0.20 for FY’13 and a long term intention of paying out 60% of net profit after tax. This was largely in line with our expectations as we expected a similar long term dividend payout ratio with a maiden final dividend. Further, RRL announced the repayment of its $30m project finance debt. This was also in line with our expectations and valuation model. | Shaw |
| RIO | Rio Tinto said it aimed to cut more than US$2 billion in exploration and capital spending this year and next, and was targeting a further US$5 billion in savings from reductions in operating and support costs by the end of 2014. Chief Executive Tom Albanese told reporters ahead of an investor briefing in Sydney that cost control was going to be a focus for the industry in the coming years, although he added he was “guardedly optimistic” on China’s prospects and expects economic growth to be above 8% next year. | Company report |
| BHP | BHP is pleased to say that the company achieved a very robust set of financial results despite significant volatility and uncertainty in the external environment during the 2012 financial year. We delivered Attributable profit of US$15.4 billion, underlying EBITDA of US$33.7 billion and underlying EBIT of US$27.2 billion. This was all achieved during a time of falling commodity prices and rising costs, as well as temporary, one-off impacts that significantly affected three of our largest and highest margin businesses: Escondida in Chile, our Petroleum operations in the Gulf of Mexico, and Queensland Coal. Our result was not only robust in an absolute sense, but also relative to our peers. We were especially pleased to report very strong net operating cash flow of US$24.4 billion, which represented only a modest reduction of one per cent in the June 2012 half year when compared with the first half. This demonstrates how we are continuing to generate strong results that enable us to keep investing in the business throughout the cycle. These financial results can only be achieved through disciplined management and excellent operational performance. Our overall strong performance is testament to the reliability of our operations, our highly skilled operators and the successful ramp-up of expanded capacity. We achieved annual production records at 10 of our operations, including a twelfth consecutive production record at Western Australia Iron Ore. I make specific mention of Iron Ore purely because it demonstrates the value of our strategy of investing throughout the cycle: we chose to invest US$4.8 billion in our Iron Ore business at the depth of the global financial crisis and we are now seeing the benefits of that decision. | Company report |
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