Friday, January 19 11:34 AM SGT MARKET TALK-AU-EQ: PCCW Up On Talk Of Strategic Investor
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1427 [Dow Jones] Telstra's (TLS) Asia partner Pacific Century CyberWorks bouncing back; up 7.7% at HK$4.575, keeping up with broad market's gains as well as market speculation C&W PLC's pending block sale may be to a strategic investor who will swap half of C&W's 15.3% stake in PCCW with its assets. The stock has plunged this week amid concern about its debt and recent broker downgrades. (STT)
1417 [Dow Jones] Village Roadshow (VRL) radio division Austereo forecasts flat earnings 2001-02, reflecting increased competition. Austereo Financial Director Brian Bickmore says EBIT forecast at A$91.8 mln, just up on projected A$91.3 mln 2000-01. Village to list Austereo on the ASX March 5, with market capitalization A$900 mln to A$1 bln. Village shares up 3 cents at A$1.99, having eased back after jumping to A$2.06 earlier in the day. (AND,BAM)
1359 [Dow Jones] Nikkei ends morning near intraday high, up futures-driven 1.3% at 14053. Sentiment buoyed by week's talk of stock support steps, and any bad economic news increases perceptions some proposals may be realized, say players say; but supply conditions still favor downside, and lots of selling into rallies noted. Broader Topix lagging Nikkei gains, up just 0.5% at 1317. (LCT)
1352 [Dow Jones] Hazelton Airlines (HZA) shares down 14 cents, 11.2%, at A$1.10 following ACCC's ruling yesterday rejecting Qantas (QAN) and Air new Zealand (AIZ) unit Ansett Australia takeover bids on competition concerns and landing slots at Sydney Airport. Indicates little market expectation Impulse Airlines can now create a profitable merger proposal or Qantas or Ansett can come to happy arrangement with the ACCC. Hazelton shares ended Thursday down 25 cents, or 16.%, at A$1.25, having recently traded as high as A$1.60, equal with the Ansett bid price. Qantas had bid A$1.50. (LXV)
1350 [Dow Jones] Moody's affirms Baa3 issuer rating and Ba2 sub-debt rating for Village Roadshow (VRL) following announcement to float 45% of radio division Austereo. Moody's expects most the proceeds of about A$400 mln to repay on-balance sheet debts. Says rating reflects diversified source of earnings and cash flow, strong position of cinemas and radio, but partial sale of the radio to leave it more reliant more volatile sectors, with rating outlook still negative. Shares pushed as high A$2.06 today but have eased back, now up 1 cent at A$1.97. (BAM)
1302 [Dow Jones] Australian 4Q manufacturing output price index shows manufacturers still absorbing costs from previous AUD/USD weakness and high fuel prices and present reversal of these two factors "shouldn't dissuade the RBA from easing monetary policy in February", says HSBC senior economist Anthony Thompson. (CMR)
1300 [Dow Jones] Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Australia plans to set up AUD-denominated multi-issuer debt program in 1Q arranged internally, with deals off it expected to be self-led, says bank spokesman. Facility size not yet determined. (AWB)
1254 [Dow Jones] C&W Optus (CWO) source says no tension with London parent over local's asset sales program, contrary to reports in Australian newspaper which focused on C&W desire for quick sale rather than more delays in the process. Also says report in same paper about mooted February 7 deadline for submission of bids is incorrect, notes due diligence by Telecom NZ (TEL), Vodafone Pacific, and Singapore Telecommunications will take till mid-Feb at earliest. Shares last down 4 cents at A$3.79 as some cooling of interest and profit taking after week of rises on asset sale speculation. (IGP)
1240 [Dow Jones] Despite 5 consecutive sessions of gain and recovery above 14000 level, Commerzbank head of investment research Hakan Hedstrom calls rise "just a bear market rally" - says that although government stock support measures, especially liberalizing share buybacks, might underpin shares if implemented, supply situation still worrisone, with cross-held share unwinding expected to continue next month "I wonder whether there's really a fundamental change, so I still expect selling," he says. Nikkei now up 1.0% at 14016.54. (LCT)
1230 [Dow Jones] Yield spread on Lend Lease's (LLC) 2005 bond issue has widened around 12bps to 131 bps over comparable government bond and 13 bps to 80bps over swap in choppy trade after Moody's downgraded company's rating to BAA2 from A3, reports Salomon Smith Barney credit research chief Brad Scott. (AWB)
1228 [Dow Jones] More sellers emerge in News Corp (NCP) stock by early afternoon, down 35.5 cents or 2.0% to A$17.88 after spending most of morning down a moderate 13.5 cents. Profit taking natural after stock appreciated 31.5% in past three weeks and 14.7% in past six trading sessions. Immediate bullish pattern is intact provided shares hold above A$17.40, the lows reached during last profit taking phase on Wednesday. Late afternoon buying expected to lift the stock off days lows as traders focus on stronger opening to Nasdaq tonight, following Nasdaq futures gain of 61.0 points to 2755.0 in after hours trade. Any breaks under support will see shares depreciate to next support around A$16.40. (GXT)
1225 [Dow Jones] All Ords drifts off day's highs at midday, gaining 12.8 points to 3245.3 after earlier trading as high as 3254.7. Index drifts off primarily on back of weakness in News Corp (NCP) which is 2.2% down due to profit taking, follows 31.5% rise over past 3 weeks. Strength still evident in majority of blue chips which are benefiting from renewed confidence from 50 basis point Fed cut after weak US data released overnight. Telstra (TLS) up 1.2% following new pricing structure released yesterday; AMP (AMP) rebounds 1.2%, AGL (AGL) 1.5% and Computershare (CPU) 2.9%. Strongest gains in stocks which have experienced heavy profit taking in past two weeks, but still remain with positive fundamentals. All Ords support across 3231.5 which is expected to hold on any late afternoon weakness, with focus in near term still on 3290 target.(GXT)
1222 [Dow Jones] Lend Lease (LLC) down only 0.6% after Moody's cuts senior unsecured debt ratings to Baa2, outlook stable; company issues brief statement noting downgrade and that this concludes review following sale of financial services unit to NAB mid-2000 for A$4.6 billion. (IGP)
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