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Woodside Petroleum Limited (WPL) reported an 18% quarter-on-quarter jump in revenue to $1.26 billion in the fourth quarter on the back of higher prices for crude oil, despite sales volumes only increasing 1% and the company reporting a 2% decline in production over the three months. Overall, despite record production of LNG off the North West Shelf, the company’s 80.9 million barrels of oil equivalent (Mmboe) annualised production was shy of the record 81.3 Mmboe in 2008.

The result was also under the guidance of between 81Mmboe and 86 Mmboe previously offered.

Looking at the sales figures, the $1.26 billion in sales revenue for the fourth quarter was a 23% fall from the previous corresponding period.

”The lower revenue when comparing Q4 2009 and Q4 2008 was a result of reduced sales volumes and an adverse movement in the AUD:USD exchange rate outweighing increased commodity prices,” the company said.

In production terms, the fourth quarter yielded 20.2 Mmboe, down from 23.1 Mmboe in the previous corresponding quarter. The result was mostly attributable to a natural decline in oil production across its oil fields.

The decline in oil production across its fields has also prompted the company to forecast production to be in the range of 70 Mmboe and 75 Mmboe for 2010.

The company also said the 2009 financial result would be impacted an impairment charges on its Lybian assets and foreign currency gains.

”The two impacts are likely to increase the 2009 after tax profit by approximately $530 million,” the company said.

At 1043 AEDT, Woodside shares were down 70c, or 1.5% to $45.20.

Macquarie Infrastructure Group (MIG) said its portfolio valuation as at 31 December 2009 is $5.08 billion compared with $5.09 billion at 30 June 2009. The group made the announcement ahead of the completion of its Restructure Proposal. MIG said the valuation excludes cash and non-investment balances. The group said the strengthening of the Australian dollar against Macquarie Atlas Roads (“MQA”) portfolio currencies resulted in a decrease in the value of the proposed MQA portfolio of approximately 10%, with the remaining marginal decline reflecting other factors.

PIPE Networks Limited (PWK) posted a consolidated profit after tax of $16.6 million for the half-year ended 31 December 2009, up 201% on the previous half-year result of $5.5 million. The company said revenue from continuing operations for the half-year grew 130% to $55.4 million, up from $24.1 million for the same period in 2008. PIPE said significant revenue was realised from Indefeasible Rights of Use contracts with customers in relation to PIPE Pacific Cable 1, the company's submarine cable system from Sydney to Guam, which was commissioned in October 2009. The company said demand for domestic products was strong with consecutive quarters of record recurring revenue growth during the half year. PIPE said EBITDA for the half-year was $35.1 million, up from $9.3 million at HY08, while cash flows increased from $19 million a year ago to $38.5 million for the half year.

Australian Agricultural Company Limited (AAC) expects to post a loss in the range of $53 million to $60 million for the year ended 31 December 2009. The beef cattle producer said the financial results have been negatively affected by extreme climatic factors combined with a range of external market factors.

AACo said several factors impacted production including 2009 being the first full year in which the company absorbs the impact of the 2008 drought and floods, extreme weather events causing cattle losses, decreased herd fertility, higher calving mortality and an increase in logistics and feed costs, the incurring of high restocking costs and reduced weight gain in the cattle herd due to the adverse weather events.

In terms of the market, the company said the strength of the local currency against the US dollar negatively impacted revenues and the market price of cattle also remained at subdued levels.

AACo said the full year 2009 guidance includes a positive movement in the company’s interest rate swap position, which would create a non-cash uplift of about $14 million, compared to a loss of $25 million on interest rate swaps in 2008.

The company expects to announce results for the 2009 financial year in mid February 2010.

As at 1024 AEDT, AACo shares were down 7.5c to $1.325.

Atlas Iron Limited (AGO) announced, last night, an increase to the Direct Shipping Ore (“DSO”) resource of 97% on the figures released in July last year to 186.6 million tonnes at 56.6% Fe. The company said this paves the way for the planned increases in production and sales revenue over the next three years.  Atlas said the revised DSO resource estimate represents an increase of 230% from this time last year. The company said the resource base sets up the company to achieve its key goals of growing exports to an annual rate of 6 million tonnes this year, rising to 12 million tonnes in 2012. Atlas Iron also announced it had made two long-term off-take agreements with medium-sized Chinese steel mills covering a total of 1.1 million tonnes per annum of Atlas DSO product. The company said the two agreements represent about 30% of the increased production that would occur as a result of the start of operations at its Wodgina DSO Project. The agreements extend until 31 March, 2013.

OceanaGold Corporation (OGC), whose share price has risen around 1000% from early 2009 lows, reported a 14% jump in gold sales last year to just over 300,000 ounces, a record for the miner. Meanwhile, for 2010 the company flagged production to come in at between 270,000 – 290,000 ounces at cash costs of US$455-US$495/oz. Last quarter the exploration expenditure totaled $1.9 million, mainly focused on the continuing brownfields exploration program in New Zealand.

PanAust Limited (PNA) reported a record quarterly production of 16,854 tonnes copper, 19,283 ounces gold and 157,711oz silver at its Phu Kham operation in Laos. The company said copper production for 2009 was over 54,000t at an average cash cost of US97c/lb copper, while gold and silver production for the year stood at 56,759oz and 440,306oz respectively. PanAust forecast production for 2010 is expected to range between 60,000t and 63,000t copper at an average cash cost of between US95c/lb and US$1.05/lb after precious metal credits from over 43,000oz gold and 300,000oz silver. The company said as at 31 December 2009, it had US$88 million in cash, project debt of US$63 million and a mobile equipment lease facility of US$39 million. PanAust said EBITDA for the December quarter was a record US$67.9 million and US$124.7 million for 2009. The company said EBITDA for the 2010 is expected to be between US$165 million and US$225 million.

Sydney Airport reported a 6.1% jump in EBITDA to $689.3 million for the year ended 31 December 2009, a result welcomed by the airport’s 49% stakeholder MAp Group (MAP). The airport also said the last quarter 11.8% jump in EBITDA to nearly $200 million pointed to a strong 2010.

Sydney Airport’s Chief Executive Officer, Russell Balding, said the performance of the airport improved significantly in the final quarter.

“During the final quarter passenger growth was encouraging with a 7.3 per cent increase over pcp,” Mr Balding said.

In the December quarter just under 100,000 people passed through the airport every day.

”This resilient performance emphasises the fundamental strength of Sydney Airport’s position as Australia’s national gateway," Mr Balding added.

MAp CEO, Kerrie Mather, said Sydney Airport had delivered an outstanding performance for both the full year and the final quarter.

”The performance remains strong even when adjusting for a number of positive non-recurring items in the final quarter,” Ms Mather said.

“2009 was an exceptionally challenging year and Sydney Airport took early and pre-emptive action on costs at the end of 2008 and early in 2009.”

Looking more closely at the numbers, the airport said revenue climbed 5% to $853 million.

Aeronautical revenue added 8.2%, while retail revenue edged marginally higher, the airport said.

Total capital expenditure for the year was A$298.7 million, a decrease of 24.2%. The majority of the money continued to be spent on the ongoing T1 redevelopment, runway safety works and Qantas seamless transfer facility.

At the close of business Thursday, MAP shares were $3.00.

Macmahon Holdings Limited (MAH) announced it has been awarded two overseas quarrying contracts for the French cement producer, Lafarge, with a combined value of US$140 million. The company said they include a six and a half year contract in Nigeria and a five-year contract extension at the Kanthan limestone quarry in Malaysia.

Macmahon CEO, Nick Bowen, said the company sees the overseas market as an avenue to grow and diversify its business, and add further strength to its order book.

“Macmahon has worked with Lafarge for over five years, operating contracts in Malaysia and Indonesia and we have developed a highly successfully working relationship with this company,” Mr Bowen said.

The company said the largest of these project awards is Ewekoro in Nigeria, which is valued at US$105 million, and would see Macmahon undertake overburden removal and limestone quarrying at the existing cement plant, which is also the company ‘s first contract in Africa.

Macmahon anticipates work on the new contract to commence next month, with capital expenditure for the project totalling around US$18 million over the life of the contract.

The company said Kanthan was the first contract Macmahon won with Lafarge in 2004.

At the close of trade Thursday, Macmahon shares were trading at 62c.

Lihir Gold Limited (LGL) reported a 27% jump in gold production in 2009 to 1.12 million ounces. Despite the increase - the company produced more than a million ounces for the first time -production still came within the previous guidance offered by Lihir.

The strong yearly result was helped by 278,000 ounces in the fourth quarter alone, 19% more than the September quarter.

The Papua New Guinea based company, the second largest gold miner listed on the ASX, produced the overwhelming majority of its gold from its Lihir Island project, off the coast of PNG.

The company is also staking its future on the island, with the Lihir Island Million Ounce Plant upgrade proceeding on schedule and within budget, the company said.

Meanwhile, the company is continuing its feasibility study on its 90% owned Bonikro operation, located in the central-southern portion of the West African nation of Côte d'Ivoire. The final assessment is due by the end of 2010. 

The Bonikro mine produced 34,420 ounces of gold last quarter, up 7% from the September quarter, though still only 12% of the company’s total gold production. This is ahead of Mt Rawdon in Queensland at 8%, though well behind the flagship Lihir Island mine which produces 78% of the company’s total gold.

Just last week, Lihir’s CEO Arthur Hood stepped down, with reports speculating the move was a result of the disappointing results from the purchase of the Ballarat Gold mine, which is now back up for sale.

At the close of business yesterday, Lihir Gold shares were trading at $3.13 each.

Wall Street tumbled Thursday on concerns regarding the Obama administration’s proposal to increase regulations on financial firms. The changes include limiting the size and the amount of risk they can take on. 

In economic news, new unemployment claims rose from 446,000 the previous week to 482,000 last week. Forecasts were for a decline to 440,000.

Continuing claims dropped from 4,617,000 to 4,599,000 in the same period.

Meanwhile, a regional reading on manufacturing fell from 22.5 in December to 15.2 in January. Forecasts for the Philadelphia Fed Index were for a reading of 18.

An index of leading economic indicators rose a better than expected 1.1% in December. Forecasts were for a rise of 0.7%.

The Dow Jones lost 213.27 points, or 2.01%, to 10,389.88, the S&P's 500 fell 21.56 points, or 1.89%, to 1,116.48 and the NASDAQ dipped 25.55 points, or 1.12%, to 2,265.70.

JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs dropped 6.6%, 6.2% and 4.1% as they appear among those most heavily impacted by the reforms.

Goldman Sachs reported fourth quarter earnings per share that considerably beat estimates. Revenue for the full-year was double what it was a year earlier.

Citigroup and Morgan Stanley fell 5.5% and 4.2%.

Microsoft, Apple and Yahoo! shed between 1.1% and 1.9% ahead of the release of their results Friday.

Google advanced 0.4% prior to releasing quarterly results after the close. The search engine beat analysts’ estimates having posted a net income of US$2 billion, well up on the US$382 million reported a year earlier. 

Starbucks put on 1.7% after quarterly sales and earnings beat estimates.  

Dow components Alcoa and Caterpillar sank 6.4% and 4.9%.

NYMEX light crude oil for February delivery dropped US$1.66 to US$76.08 a barrel on evidence of weakening demand.

Chevron and Exxon Mobil lost 2.4% and 2%.

COMEX gold for February delivery fell US$9.40 to US$1,103.20 an ounce as the greenback jumped to a five-month high against the euro.

European Markets

European stocks fell on speculation the Obama administration was set to increase regulation on the larger financial institutions. Miners weakened on lower metals prices and reports of a potential rise in taxes.

The UK benchmark FTSE 100 dropped 85.70, or 1.58% to 5,335.10 while the German DAX slumped 104.56, or 1.79% to 5,746.97. The French CAC40 lost 66.79, or 1.70% to 3,862.16.

Among the miners Anglo American sank 6.2%, while Antofagasta and Xstrata shed 2.9% and 3.8%.

Aussie peers Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton fell 5% and 3.1%.  

Energy shares faired slightly better, with majors BP, BG Group and Total down between 1.2% and 1.5%. 

Financials weakened on the possibility of further regulation to the US system. Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds and Barclays slumped 7.1%, 5.7% and 5.9% respectively.

Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank slid 3.8% and 2.5%, while in France Societe Generale and BNP Paribas lost 4.7% and 2.6%.

Pharmaceutical stocks bucked the trend, with AstraZeneca gaining 1% on a broker upgrade from Morgan Stanley. 

Japanese Markets

Japan’s Nikkei defied global equity market weakness to close 1.2% higher. Exporters rose as the yen weakened against the greenback to its lowest level in a week.

The Nikkei 225 rallied 130.89, or 1.22% to 10,868.41.

Sony climbed 4.1% after South Korea’s LG Display beat earnings estimates. Panasonic added 3.4%.

Computer-memory chipmaker Elpida Memory and Advantest Corp rose 4.6% and 3.6%. 

Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group Holdings gained 2.5% on reports the nation’s insurers will expand into neighbouring China.

Rival Tokio Marine advanced 2.6%.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group jumped 4.5% as it looks to sell shares in an effort to raise capital. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Mizuho Financial added 2.1% and 2.2%.

Hong Kong Market

The Hang Seng tumbled to three-month lows Thursday as restrictions on Chinese lenders rattled investors. Lending focused stocks, such as property, were also in the red while asset-price inflation warnings also weighed.

The Hang Seng has fallen by 4.6% this year, despite China’s growth in the last quarter coming in at 10.7%.

The Hang Seng fell 423.50, or 1.99% to 20,862.67.

Bank of China dropped 2%, while ICBC sank 2.9% after reports the Chinese Central bank order it to raise its reserve ratio.

HSBC, which makes up around one-sixth of the Hang Seng index, fell 0.9%.

Henderson Land Development and Country Garden Holdings Co lost 4.1% and 2.7%.

Aluminium Corp of China slumped 3.9%. Copper producing peer Jiangxi Copper retreated 3.3%.

The airlines capped losses on the market with China Southern Airlines said it would swing to a profit for 2009, against a loss the year before. Its stock added 2.5%.

Air China, the country’s largest airline, put on 5.6%. 

Substantial Shareholder Changes 
21 January 10

Symbol	Shareholder	+/-	Prior	Now
ANN	Pertpetual Limited		14.32	13.01
MOF	Macquarie Group Limited		15.38	16.45
SGP	Vanguard Investments Aust.		5.10	6.12

All movements are percentage changes

The Australian market shed 0.8% on concerns surrounding Chinese lending restrictions and falling commodity prices. Commodity stocks took the most points off the indices, while financials were among the better performers. 

In economic news the resilience of the Australian economy was reinforced with new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showing new car sales, seasonally adjusted, climbed 3.3% to 89,741 cars in December. This figure is more than 17% higher than the previous December.

Meanwhile, China’s GDP grew by 10.7% in the December quarter from a year ago according to the National Bureau of Statistics of China. It was the fastest pace of acceleration since the fourth quarter of 2007 and the rise took the full-year expansion to 8.7%, ahead of the government forecast of 8.3% growth.

At the close, the All Ords was down 45.5 to 4,849.6, while the ASX/200 lost 41.0 to 4,827.2. About 2.4 billion shares worth around $5.5 billion had changed hands.

Losses remained widespread among the miners throughout the day, led by BHP Billiton, which lost 74c to $42.67. Rio Tinto slumped $2.49 to $75.55. Despite the sell-off on the two heavyweights, losses were more muted than their London listings which sank 3.6% and 4.3% respectively.

The Materials and Resources sector fell 2.2%. 

Fortescue slid 15c to $4.99 despite the nation’s third largest iron ore producer exceeding December quarter production guidance.

OZ Minerals bucked the trend, adding 0.5c to $1.155 as it said annual production of gold and copper from its Prominent Hill mine exceeded expectations.

Macarthur Coal was among a raft of coal miners that were heavily sold. Its shares tumbled 40c, or 3.6% to $10.59.

Newcrest and Lihir paced the decline in the price of gold in New York, shedding 3.6% and 4.3% respectively.

Alumina added to the past two weeks of heavy falls, dropping 8c to $1.725.

The Energy sector was down 2%. Woodside Petroleum gave up 60c, or 1.3% to $45.90 and Oil Search fell 3.6% to $5.60.

Santos, which announced a 21% slump in sales last year, was down 15c, or 1.1% to $13.48.

Whitehaven Coal continued its recent slide, down 22c, or 4.3% to $4.91.

Uranium specialist Extract Resources and Aquila Resources were down 4.5% and 7.9% respectively.
 
The Banks and Financials sector weakened 0.1%. CBA and ANZ were flat, while NAB dipped 2.6c to $27.19.

Westpac showed some strength, adding 13c to $25.61.

AMP jumped 16c, or 2.5% to $6.59. AXA Asia Pacific was flat despite its directors suggesting its post-tax profit, at around $675 million, would beat expectations.

Suncorp-Metway rallied 12c to $9.22.

Macquarie climbed another 61c, or 1.2% to $53.30 after the second day of bullish comments from brokers.
 
Mirvac slumped 5.5c, or 3.5% to $1.495 as the Property Trust sector retreated 0.7% overall.

Wesfarmers led the Consumer Staples sector down 0.8% with a 1.4% fall to $30.23.

Graincorp slumped 17c, or 2.8% to $5.97 after the grain handler announced the resignation of its CEO.

Among the Consumer Discretionary sector, which fell 0.6%, media stocks were soft. Fairfax gave up 4c, or 2.1% to $1.83, while Ten Network retreated 5c, or 3% to $1.64.

Retailers were softer with David Jones and Billabong losing 0.8% and 1.7% respectively.

Qantas added 2.1% to close at $2.97 as the Industrials sector weakened 0.4%. The airline’s shares rallied on speculation it will gain global market share on the back of Japan Airline filing for bankruptcy.

Macquarie Infrastructure Group rose 1% to $1.51 after reporting an increase in revenue in the December quarter.

Leighton and Brambles adding 51c and 15c to $39.23 and $6.92 respectively.

Transpacific Industries shed 1.5c to $1.37 after predicting a drop in first half earnings.

Asciano, Toll and Macquarie Airports were between 3% and 3.2% in the red.

Telstra defied the gloom on the stockmarket, surging 5c, or 21.5% to $3.40. The Telecommunications sector put on 1.2% to be the only sector above the gain line.
 
Around the region, the Nikkei 225 rose 129.1 to 10,866.6, while the Straits Times Index shed 18.1 to 2,875.0. Meanwhile, the NZSE50 dipped 2.0 to 3,225.3.  

Spot gold was trading at US$1,113.87 per ounce, and the Aussie was buying US$0.9136.

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Fortescue ships 5% less iron ore qoq
On the same day China announced fourth quarter GDP had moved back into double digit growth, Fortescue Metals Group Limited (FMG) showed it was a beneficiary of the strong Chinese appetite for resources. Australia’s third largest iron ore producer shipped 9.1 million tonnes of iron ore in the December quarter, exceeding previous guidance.

At the finish, Fortescue shares were trading down 15c to $4.99.

Neptune forecasts first half loss
Neptune Marine Services anticipates that normalised NPAT for 1H FY10 to be in the range of breakeven to a loss of $1 million. The company said a drop in earnings during the first half of FY10 compared to the previous corresponding period was largely due to a sharper than anticipated decline across both the US and South East Asian markets.

At the close, Neptune shares were down 8c to 51c.

AXA says profit will exceed expectations
AXA Asia Pacific said it was expecting full-year post-tax profit to 31 December 2009 to come in at around $675m, beating analysts’ current forecasts for the insurer. The final figure includes $57 million in non-recurring items, including the profit on the sale of its 50% stake in AXA Asia Pacific’s Indian interests and the resolution of a 17-year-old tax dispute.

By the close, AXA shares were unchanged at $6.60.

OZ Minerals production exceeds expectations OZ Minerals this morning reported copper production of 96,310 tonnes for the year to 31 December, ahead of the previously expected 90,000 tonnes, while gold production of 75,500 ounces was also ahead of expectations of between 60,000 and 70,000. Meanwhile the company said it had in excess of $1 billion in the bank following its sell-off of assets last year as it sought to avoid bankruptcy.

At the finish, OZ Minerals shares were up 0.5c to $1.155.

Santos full year revenue drops 21%
Santos said CY09 production of 54.4 million barrels of oil equivalent was within the company’s guidance range of 53 to 56 mmboe and in line with the previous corresponding period. However, the company said sales revenue of $2,181 million for the same period was 21% lower than 2008 primarily due to lower international oil prices.

At the end of the day, Santos shares were down 15c to $13.48.

MIG sees modest revenue growth
Macquarie Infrastructure Group reported a jump in revenue growth for the December quarter across its toll-road portfolio. The announcement was made ahead of the tomorrow’s shareholder meeting to vote on the previously proposed splitting of the company and demerging from Macquarie Group.

By the finish, Macquarie Infrastructure shares were up 1.5c at $1.51.

Transpacific predicts 1H earnings drop
Transpacific Industries Group forecast first half FY10 operating EBITDA result between $197m and $200m and operating EBIT between $115m and $118m. The provider of integrated total waste management solutions said this result is above the 2H FY09 operating EBITDA of $191.9m, but below the 1H FY09 operating EBITDA of $255.7m.

At the final whistle, Transpacific Industries shares were down 1.5c to $1.37.

Origin JV begins commissioning of 2nd stage
The joint venture between Origin Energy and ConocoPhillips, known as Australia Pacific LNG, announced it had commenced commissioning of the second, high-pressure stage of its Talinga coal seam gas development in Queensland. The JV started-up the low pressure stage one in November last year.

By the finish, Origin shares were down 7c to $16.67.

Graincorp CEO resigns
GrainCorp became the second high-profile company, after Lihir Gold, to lose its CEO in less than a week after announcing the immediate resignation Mark Irwin, who was also the company’s managing director. The company said Mr Irwin would walk out the door with $750,000 in cash and share rights.

At the finish, Graincorp shares were down 17c to $5.97.