Futures contracts for the S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX: XJO)(ASX: XJO) index are pointing to a flat open on Wednesday morning. Australian Agricultural Company Limited (ASX: AAC) and Fonterra (ASX: FSF) are in the news.
Here’s the key headline data:
Australian Dollar ($A) (AUDUSD): 75.78 US cents
Dow Jones (DJI): down 0.7%
Oil (WTI): $US72.09 per barrel
Gold: $US1,291 per ounce
Overnight, London-listed shares of BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) finished 0.5% higher, according to Yahoo! Finance.
Australian Investing News
Making news in Australia, meat production company Australian Agricultural Company (AACo) publicly filed its full-year results with the ASX today showing revenue of $379.7 million from beef and cattle sales. That compares to $446.7 million a year earlier. AACo reported a loss of $102.6 million, down from a profit of $71.6 million.
“Fundamentally, AACo is a strong, branded business with an established presence in high potential, high-value markets, supported by a portfolio of world-class assets,” CEO Hugh Killen said. “However, recent financial performance has been weak due to a range of factors. We need to create a simpler, more productive and more profit focused AACo to deliver on the Company’s potential.”
Read more: Australian Agricultural Company Ltd (AAC) Profit Swings To Meaty $102m Loss
Farmers will be pleased that New Zealand dairy company Fonterra increased its farmgate milk price by 20 cents to $6.75 per kilogram of milk solids, thanks to strong global demand. The higher milk price, which is good for farmers will, however, put pressure on Fonterra’s full-year profit. It expects to report normalised full-year profit per share between 25 and 30 cents, with dividends between 15 and 20 cents per share.
“The business’ revised earnings forecast is disappointing for our shareholders and unitholders,” Fonterra Chairman John Wilson said. “However, the total forecast cash payout for farmers increases to $6.90-$6.95 per kgMS which is the third highest payout this decade.”
Global mining company Rio Tinto Limited provided an update in regards to speculation of a potential $3.5 billion purchase of its giant Indonesian gold and copper mine, Grasberg. Rio Tinto confirmed it is in discussions with Inalum and Freeport but no agreement has been reached.
Read more: Is Rio About To Sell Grasberg?
Sirtex Medical Limited (ASX: SRX) has confirmed that one of its potential buyers, Varian Medical Systems, will not submit a counterproposal following an offer by CDH Genetech. CDH is a China-based alternative asset manager. It offered Sirtex’s board an offer equivalent to $33.60, compared to Varian’s $28 per share offer.
Also making news today, Oliver’s Real Foods Ltd (ASX: OLI) emerged from a trading halt today after releasing a profit guidance downgrade citing slower-than-expected trading performance. Previously, the fresh food company had found itself in the social media limelight for allegedly supporting the sale of anti-vaccination material.
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