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Telstra Corporation Limited (TLS) CEO David Thodey, six months into the job following the resignation of Sol Trujillo, today announced a raft of changes aimed at growing the telco in key markets and improving customer service. Mr Thodey said it was a part of fresh strategy for Telstra, some of which had been announced in recent weeks.

“Today I am taking another step to organise Telstra around our core strategy: to compete in the fastest-growing markets in Australia and overseas, lead the industry by investing in new products and services, and deliver a better experience for our valued customers," Mr Thodey said.

Some of the key changes include the creation of new product units to help the company compete in the fixed line and mobile markets.

Another change announced includes the creation of a new “Customer Satisfaction, Simplification & Productivity” unit responsible for improving customer service.

Mr Thodey also said that Telstra would operate its New Zealand and Australian businesses as part of a single trans-Tasman market, while the company would also aim to increase its footprint in Asia, particularly China.

At 1016 AEDT, Telstra shares had risen 3c to $3.42.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) confirmed that it does have a financial exposure to Dubai World. The company said it does not expect to incur a material loss as a result of the recently announced debt moratorium.  

OZ Minerals Limited (OZL) and IMX Resources Limited (IXR) have signed an agreement with the intention of forming a joint venture that would see them explore for and develop copper-gold projects on IMX’s Mt Woods tenements in South Australia. As part of the deal the two companies said OZ Minerals would purchase 26.15 million IMX shares at 38.5c each, taking a 13% stake in the junior miner.

In the joint statement released today, it said on signing the JV Agreement, OZ Minerals would immediately earn a 51% interest in the proposed copper-gold JV and would retain this provided it spends a minimum of $4 million a year over the next five years.

With the tenements in close proximity to OZ Minerals’ Prominent Hill copper-gold mine, the company said it considers the surrounding area to be prospective for the discovery of similar types of deposits.

OZ Minerals managing director and CEO, Terry Burgess, said the proximity of the tenements to the existing Prominent Hill mine infrastructure greatly enhances the chance of an economic discovery.

IMX managing director, Duncan McBain, said the company sees the proposed copper-gold JV as a win-win situation that would result in a greatly increased level of exploration expenditure for copper-gold targets during the next five years.

“IMX intends to be a very active joint venture partner,” Mr McBain said.

“With IMX retaining the rights where iron ore is the dominant economic mineral, it means we are able to continue to expand our iron ore strategy in the Cairn Hill / Mt Woods area.”

Meanwhile, OZ Minerals announced that the contained copper metal in the Mineral Resource at Prominent Hill remains unchanged, while contained gold metal has been adjusted downwards due to the application of a higher economic cut-off grade to deeper resources with potential for underground mining.

At the close of trade Friday, OZ Minerals shares were trading at $1.18, while IMX shares were trading at 33c.

Metal Storm Limited (MST) said that it would consider appointing an administrator as the previously announced equity placement of US$35 million by Assure Fast Holdings Limited BVI again failed to materialise despite being the first tranche of US$1.9 million promised in early November. Despite this Metal Storm said that it believes the funds will be received ‘shortly’.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) confirmed that it does have a financial exposure to Dubai World. The company said it does not expect to incur a material loss as a result of the recently announced debt moratorium.  

Directors' Interest Notices
27 November 09

* Issue of Shares under Dividend and Share Investment Plan

Substantial Shareholder Changes 
27 November 09

All movements are percentage changes

US stocks weakened Friday after the Dubai government said it needed to defer US$60 billion in debt owed by Dubai World and Nakheel by at least six-months. Trade was thin with Wall Street only open for half a day following Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday.

The Dow Jones lost 154.48 points, or 1.48%, to 10,309.92, the S&P 500 shed 19.14 points, or 1.72%, to 1,091.49 and the NASDAQ fell 37.61 points, or 1.73%, to 2,138.44.

Financials closed lower. Bank of America and Morgan Stanley dropped 3% and 2.9%.

Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs were between 2.6% and 2.8% below the line.

Oracle fell 2.3% on a disappointing day for tech stocks. Microsoft, Apple and Hewlett-Packard lost between 1.8% and 2%.

Retailers also lost ground on what is known as Black Friday. The day marks the first shopping day of the holiday retail period.

Wal-Mart and Target dipped 0.6% and 0.3%, while Costco weakened 1.4%.

Energy stocks tracked the price of crude lower. Exxon Mobil shed 2.1%, while Chevron and ConocoPhillips slid 1.9% each.

Other stocks to lose ground included News Corp and Caterpillar, which dropped 3.9% and 2.7%.

NYMEX light crude oil for January delivery fell US$1.91 to US$76.05 a barrel.

COMEX gold for December delivery fell US$13 to US$1,175 an ounce.

European Markets

European shares recovered some of the previous sessions heavy losses. Financials led the rally, while miners tracked the price of copper higher.

The UK benchmark FTSE 100 gained 51.60 points, or 0.99% to 5,245.73. The French CAC40 added 42.22 points, or 1.15% to 3,721.45, while the German DAX rose 71.44 points, or 1.27% to 5,685.61.

Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas and Commerzbank gained 2.8%, 2.4% and 2.3% respectively.

Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays put on 5.2% and 2.3%.

Insurers Prudential and Aviva rose 3% and 2.2%.

Aussie miners Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton advanced 3.2% and 1.6%. Xstrata jumped 4.9%.

Energy stocks BG Group and BP led their peers higher with gains of 1.7% each.

Japanese Markets

Japan’s Nikkei closed at its lowest level in four months as Dubai debt issues continued to concern investors. Exporters struggled as the yen reached a 14-year high against the greenback.

The Nikkei 225 sank 301.72, or 3.22% to 9,081.52.

Financials weakened on concerns of exposure to Dubai. The country’s largest bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group shed 2.2%, while Mizuho Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial lost 3.9% and 3.7%.

Automakers Mazda, Nissan and Honda fell 4.9%, 4.5% and 3.8% respectively. 

Sony and Panasonic dropped 4.4% and 3.7%.

Kajima Corp slumped 14% on reports builders will lose billions of yen if debt payments in Dubai are delayed. Obayashi Corp sank 8.7%.

Hong Kong Markets

The Hang Seng slumped over 1,000 points Friday as the fall out from the Dubai debt delay reverberated around the world’s markets. The fall, the biggest since March, was led by the banks and construction stocks.

The Hang Seng slumped 1,075.91, or 4.84% to 21,134.50.

Around the banking stocks, Bank of China slumped 5.1%. China’s number one lender, ICBC, sank 6.8%.

Relatively speaking Bank of Communications retreated a modest 4.1%.

However, HSBC, which makes up around one-third of the market lost 7.6%. Standard Chartered’s Hong Kong listing slumped 8.6% after a rating downgrade.

Reports said these two companies had large exposures to the UAE debt troubles at $17 billion and $7.8 billion respectively.

China State Construction International lost 7% despite saying it had no exposure to Dubai.

Oil stocks were heavily sold with PetroChina falling 5%. CNOOC slumped 5.3%.

Heavyweight gold producer, Zijin Mining Group lost 9.8% after a key shareholder sold a 1% stake in the company.

Australia’s major index slumped to its lowest point in around three weeks after world equity markets felt the impact of the news that ‘Dubai World’, the Dubai government’s investment and development vehicle, said it would halt repayments for up to six months on its nearly US$60 billion in debt. Banks and miners were the heaviest hit with the market 2.9% overall.  

A number of European markets slumped over 3% overnight, while US markets will likely open lower later tonight after Wall Street was closed Thursday due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

At the bell, the All Ords fell 130.4 to 4,597.2, while the ASX/200 dropped 136.5 to 4,572.1. About 2.7 billion shares worth around $6.5 billion had changed hands. 

The Banks and Financials sector slumped 3.3%. The big four banks lost between 3.4% and 4%. NAB plunged the most, down $1.12 to $27.01.

ANZ lost 79c to $21.19 despite saying it had no exposure in Dubai.

Macquarie Group dropped $2.41, or 5% to $45.34, down from highs of $58 at the end of September.

The insurers were also heavily sold, while the Property Trusts sector lost 1.9% on the back of a 20c, or 1.7% fall to $11.88 from Westfield shares.
 
The Materials and Resources sector sank 3.3%.

Heavyweight BHP Billiton plunged $1.41, or 3.4% to $40.39. Rio Tinto was off around 4% in early trade though recovered slightly to be down $2.10, or 3% to $68.55. The two miners fell 4.8% and 4.2% respectively in London overnight.

Fortescue slumped 13c to $4.01, while OZ Minerals retreated 7.5c or 6% to $1.18.

Among the chemical companies Incitec Pivot was off 14c, or 4.7% to $2.81 and Orica was $1.17 cheaper at $24.15.

Energy stocks weakened 3% overall. Woodside and Origin lost 2.8% and 3.2% to $48.10 and $15.29 respectively.

Whitehaven was the worst performer among the coal stocks giving up 20c, or 4.5% to $4.25.

Heavyweight Industrial Leighton slumped $1.45, or 4% to $34.77. The engineering and construction firm has about $750 million in contracts in Dubai across five projects though is receiving payments on schedule at this stage.

Brambles was down 15c, or 2.2% to $6.56.

Toll and Qantas gave up 3.6% and 4.2% to close at $7.92 and $2.53 respectively. CSR’s share price continues to be battered, shedding 5c, or 2.9% to $1.70.

Macmahon added 0.5c to 57c as the company forecast full year profit to double on what was recorded in FY09.

The sector lost 3%.

The Consumer Discretionary sector was 2.5% off the pace with losses felt across the retailers, gamers and media stocks.

Harvey Norman fell 17c, or 3.9% to $4.22. Crown slid 10c, or 1.3% to $7.68 and Fairfax dropped 5.5c, or 3.4% to $1.58.

Wesfarmers lost 64c, or 2.2% to $28.81 to lead the Consumer Staples sector 1.6% lower.

Woolworths weakened 30c, or 1.1% to $27.89.

Metcash shed 7c to $4.56 as the grocery wholesaler unveiled plans to bid for hardware business Mitre 10.

A relatively modest 2c, or 0.6% decline from Telstra to be trading at $3.39 helped the Telecommunications sector be the strongest sector by the end of the day, also down 0.6% overall.

Around the region, the Nikkei 225 lost 238.2 to 9,145.1, while the Straits Times Index was closed. Across the Tasman, the NZSE50 fell 32.9 to 3,094.4. The Hang Seng dropped 765.3 to 21,445.1.

Spot gold was trading at US$1,185.05 per ounce, and the Aussie was buying US$0.9036. 

Primary Health Care Limited (PRY) expects to deliver a minimum EBITDA growth rate of 15% per annum in FY11 and FY12. The company said current changes in healthcare funding with the different responses of industry players, and in particular, the timing of the market workout to these responses made predictions of growth in FY10 less definite.

Primary reported an EBITDA of $348 million in FY09, up from $175m in the prior year.

Managing Director, Dr Edmund Bateman, said the continuing background for healthcare delivery is one of increasing patient demand and needs, to be met with limited resources and relative under-funding by government.

“Partly in response to this, Primary has consolidated general practitioners into its large scale medical centres, has consolidated its pathology laboratories and has increasingly automated those laboratories, and has significantly developed and integrated e-health systems,” Dr Bateman said.

”Primary is a leader in each of these areas of private healthcare in Australia, both in terms of scale, efficiency and geographic spread.”

At 1510 AEDT, Primary Health Care shares were down 13c to $5.88.

Centennial Coal Limited (CEY) said it is expecting a stronger second half than first half in FY10 given the back-weighting of exports as its Airly and Mandalong mines enter the market. Chairman, Kenneth Moss, said a positive movement in spot prices recently should also translate into new higher contract prices.

Mr Moss pointed to the fact that while export spot and contract thermal prices have fallen from their 2008 high, they remain at the second highest on record.

”Some analysts are forecasting US$80-85 per tonne as the new export “benchmark” price, but no producer has yet announced that they will be receiving this price for the bulk of their export sales,” Mr Moss said in regards to the unknown average thermal export coal price for the second-half.

”Assuming a US$80 per tonne benchmark settlement, and applying both current foreign exchange hedging and prevailing spot rates – for the unhedged component - Centennial would be expected to achieve an average export price of approximately $79 per tonne for the 2010 financial year.”

As at 1444 AEDT, Centennial shares were down 5c to $3.30.