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US markets were higher early on, then fell away as the day progressed. The Dow closed down 89 points or 1.2%% at 7181, the S&P500 was down 12 points or 1.5% at 752 and the Nasdaq was down 33 points or 2.3% at 1391.
Gold fell sharply down $23 to $942/oz and oil climbed $2.72 or 6% to $45.22/bbl at settlement.
Neptune Marine Services (NMS) reported first half 2009 revenues of $95 million versus $31.7 million in H1 2008. Income from continuing operations, excluding non-cash charges, was $15.6 million, representing diluted earnings per share of 5.1 cents versus 1.0 cent for the same period last year. Operating cashfows for the period were $6.4 million versus $4.2 million for the first half of 2008.
Neptune’s Managing Director and CEO, Christian Lange, said the result was particularly encouraging in light of the current global economic climate. “As previously outlined, Neptune has not experienced a material impact to date, as the majority of our revenue is derived from continued investment in brownfield infrastructure and producing assets,” he explained. “Additionally, it is worth noting that revenues for the first six months include only three months contribution from the Neptune Trident Offshore Vessel.”
Leading Australian integrated energy company Arrow Energy (AOE) announced a $241.3 million net profit after tax for the half year ended 31 December 2008. The company’s strong performance was underpinned by its transaction with Royal Dutch Shell which saw the oil giant pay A$319 million during December 2008 as part payment for a 30% share of Arrow’s interests in all of its Australian upstream tenements.
Excluding non-operating items which includes the Shell deal, total revenue was $48.2 million, up 71% on the comparative prior half year. Arrow’s cash on hand at year end was $297 million which has subsequently increased to over $550 million since the completion of the Shell transaction earlier this month.
Arrow Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Mr Nick Davies, said “Challenging economic conditions over the past six months made the company’s first half performance particularly impressive.”
http://www.arrowenergy.com.au/page/Investor_Relations/ASX_Announcements/
Diversified telecommunications services provider M2 Telecommunications Group Limited (MTU) released its financial results for the half year ended 31 December 2008, delivering strong growth in earnings, earnings per share (EPS), dividends per share (DPS) and consolidated revenues. Revenue was $87.2 million, an increase of 114%, while NPAT was $3.19 million, an increase of 63%.
The M2 group has delivered record half year earnings and earnings per share, on a considerably enlarged revenue base. Based upon this strong performance for the period, the Directors have declared the Company’s 9th consecutive dividend, totaling 2.5c per share (fully franked).
M2’s Managing Director and CEO, Vaughan Bowen, said of the interim performance; “We are very pleased to have delivered a strong result for the first half. Growth has been particularly solid in our M2 Wholesale division, with our M2 Telecom retail arm also growing organically during the period.”
US markets were down heavily early on, then rallied strongly to fall away again. The Dow closed down 80 points or 1.0%% at 7270, the S&P500 was down 8 points or 1.1% at 764 and the Nasdaq was down 16 points or 1.1% at 1425.
Gold fell further down $3 to $966/oz and oil climbed $2.54 to $42.50/bbl at settlement.
Hastie Group Limited, the leading international building services and refrigeration systems group, today announced a 119 per cent increase in profit after tax to $32 million for the half year to 31 December 2008. Revenue increased by 82 per cent to $923 million and earnings per share grew by 58 per cent to 19.4 cents. These results include contributions from Rotary which was acquired in April 2008.
The directors have declared a fully franked interim dividend of 7.0 cents per share, payable on 17 April 2009 to shareholders on the register at 6 March 2009.
“This strong result reflects the resilience of Hastie’s operations during these challenging times,” said Mr. David Harris, Group Managing Director and CEO. “The group’s continuing contract wins and 20 per cent organic growth demonstrate the robust nature of its strategy and business model, which provides diversification across sectors and regions.”
http://www.hastiegroup.com.au/
Circadian Technologies Limited (CIR) and Healthscope Limited (HSP) announced that they have signed an agreement to commercialise a novel diagnostic technology for so-called “Cancers of Unknown Primaries” – a challenging form of cancer in which the site of origin of a tumour cannot be identified using standard techniques.
The diagnostic method was developed in collaboration between Circadian and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, a leading specialty cancer hospital and research institute in Australia. Under the terms of the agreement, Healthscope, through its subsidiary, Clinical Laboratories Pty Ltd, will further develop, clinically validate and market the test throughout Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore. Circadian will retain rights to market the test in the remainder of the world.
Healthscope will pay Circadian an upfront fee, development milestones and a royalty on sales of the test. Circadian, through its wholly owned subsidiary
Cancer Therapeutics Limited, owns exclusive worldwide rights to the test through a licensing arrangement with the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
The Cancers of Unknown Primaries (CUP) diagnostic methodology identifies a patient’s tumour type by comparing its pattern of gene expression to a database of known tumours. By correctly identifying a patient’s tumour type, clinicians can develop a more effective treatment strategy for the cancer.
http://www.healthscope.com.au/info/general/Content/get/228/itemId/
Flight Centre Limited (FLT) announced that during the six months to December 31, 2008, the company’s established businesses (excluding United States acquisition Liberty) achieved a $77.7million pretax trading profit. This compares to a record $90.9million pretax profit in superior trading conditions during the previous corresponding period and a $53m trading result two years ago.
The acquisition of Liberty however significantly reduced the profit. Losses from Liberty as well as non recurring restructuring expenses and losses from the investment portfolio significantly affected the profit for this period. These combined losses amounted to $43.5million, giving FLT an actual pre-tax result of $34.2million, in line with recent guidance. Overall, the company’s after tax profit result was $26.1million.
Sluggish sales globally during the second quarter impacted on FLT’s results, following a reasonable first quarter of profit and total transaction value growth.
FLT’s directors today declared a $0.09 per share fully franked interim dividend payable on March 27 2009 to shareholders registered on March 6 2009. This represents a 34% return of after-tax profit to shareholders, outside of FLT’s current policy of returning 50- 60%, subject to the business’s needs. While the company does not currently intend to alter its policy permanently, FLT’s board believes the reduced pay-out is prudent in the current climate.
US markets bounced back from the lows reached yesterday. The Dow closed up by 236 points or 3.3%% at 7350, the S&P500 was up by 29 points or 4% at 773 and the Nasdaq was up 54 points or 3.9% at 1441.
Gold fell sharply down $25 to $969/oz and oil climbed $1.52 to $39.96/bbl at settlement.
Sonic Healthcare (SHL) today reported a record interim net profit of A$137 million for the half year to 31 December 2008, an increase of 21% over the comparative period. The result was achieved on revenues of A$1,439 million, 28% higher than the corresponding period in the prior year.
Sonic’s CEO and Managing Director, Dr Colin Goldschmidt, said: “Sonic Healthcare has delivered another strong result for the half year and has shown the resilience of its business against global economic conditions and the current credit crisis. A particularly pleasing aspect of this result is the strong organic revenue growth of our laboratory operations. We have clearly taken market share in a number of our key markets, including Australia. The efforts of our management teams to identify and capture synergies are also bearing fruit, with strong margin expansion especially in Germany and the USA.”
Sonic’s Board has declared an interim dividend of 22 cents per share (franked to 60%), a 10% increase over the previous year’s interim dividend.
