egolinews.com

OM Holdings Limited (OMH) reported its second highest quarterly tonnage of manganese on record having produced 184,242 tonnes grading 38.7% Mn in the December quarter at its Bootu Creek mine. The company also announced a record half yearly production of 389,614 tonnes during 2H 2009, representing a 51% increase from 1H 2009 and a 20% increase from the previous half yearly record of 2H 2008.

OMH said it achieved a record shipping of 747,000 tonnes of product during the year, 41% above 2008 shipping performance, and it included 206,114 tonnes during the fourth quarter.

The company said unit cash operating costs for the December quarter were $4.29 per dry metric tonne unit, which were above expectations and impacted by lower production in the month of November.

However, OMH forecast C1 unit cash operating costs for the 2010 year to be sustainable below the $3.50/dmtu level.

The company said its 2010 annual production target is one million tonnes, comprising 750,000 tonnes of 38% grade and 250,000 tonnes of 35% grade products.

OMH said recent reports are forecasting that Chinese crude steel production may reach 620 million tonnes in 2010. As such, the company said demand for manganese ore would remain strong.

The company said its annual Marketing and Trade Conference held in China during January 2010 revealed a very positive demand outlook for 2010 and customer product demand in excess of OMH’s production capacity, signalling a strong 2010 outlook.

Meanwhile, OMH announced that its subsidiary OM (Manganese) Limited (“OMM”) has signed $600,000 Farmin Agreement with Archer Exploration Limited (AXE) o further explore the Jamieson Tank manganese prospect on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula.

Under the terms of the agreement, OMH said OMM has the right to earn a 60% interest in all ferrous minerals (manganese and iron ore) at Jamieson Tank by funding exploration expenditure to the value of $600,000 over a four-year period.

This agreement is conditional upon the completion of due diligence by OMM within 90 days.

As at 1047 AEDT, OM Holdings shares were down 1c to $1.80.

ROC Oil Company Limited (ROC) production fell 19% to 7,634 barrels of oil per day in the December quarter from the prior quarter. Despite this the Asian-focused oil company said sales revenue was steady at US$51.1 million for the quarter and just over $200 million for the calendar year 2009.

ROC Oil said production during the quarter was affected by the dry docking of the Crystal Ocean FPSO from the Basker-Manta-Gummy ("BMG") Project, weather restrictions and well maintenance work at Zhao Dong.

Despite the decline, ROC Oil said it had a sound cash position, including US$67.1 million in cash and gross debt of US$49.2 million, and would use this position to increase its exploration activities in the current year.

It was a stronger production result over the year, the company noted. Average daily production for the 12 months was a tick over 10,000 barrels per day.

Exploration activities were in progress onshore Angola at Quarter-end, with the drilling of the Castanha-1 exploration well and testing of the Coco discovery.

The company has applied for an exploration license at Taranaki Basin off New Zealand.

The area contains the Kaheru prospect, which is on trend with the Rimu oil and gas field and Kauri gas and condensate field, the company noted.

At 1030 AEDT, Roc Oil shares were down 0.5c to 66.5c.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) said funds under administration ("FUA") were up 1.5% in the December quarter to $193 billion. Meanwhile, funds under management ("FUM") rose 1% to $149 billion.

Investors will look to the result to get a sense of Wealth Management’s contribution to the group’s half-year results.

The 1.5% growth in FUA over the December quarter is a significant slowdown from the 8.3% growth reported for the three months to September. Over the half, growth in FUA was 9.9%.

CBA noted that Net flows in FUA were negative $0.3 billion in the December Quarter, following net flows of $2.3 billion in the September quarter.

CBA said this is impacted by outflows form wholesale short term cash mandates.

“Retail net flows continue to be positive with FirstChoice net flows up 5% to $935 million in the quarter,” CBA added.

Looking to FUM, the 1% increase in the December quarter was preceded b a 6.8% increase in the previous quarter for half year FUM growth of 7.8%.

CBA said insurance Inforce premiums at 31 December 2009 were down 5.9% over the quarter to $1.5b billion, driven by loss of the $130 million Australian Super group scheme.

The bank added that retail life and general insurance attracted solid new business volumes driving growth in Inforce premiums of 2.3% percent and 3.7% respectively for the quarter.

CBA will release its half-year results on 10 February. The bank has already pre-announced its result, saying it expected a cash NPAT of  $2.9 billion for the six months to 31 December 2009.

At 1015 AEDT, Commonwealth Bank of Australia shares were up 15c to $54.78.

Alesco Corporation Limited (ALS) said its net profit slumped 23% to $9.7 million for the six months to 31 December as the company continues to feel the effects of the decline in housing activity following the GFC. For the full-year, Alesco said it was expecting earnings-per-share to be in the range of 34c to 36c.

The company cautioned the outlook was still volatile with January trading to date being ‘softer’ than anticipated.

”Alesco’s second half FY10 financial performance will also continue to be influenced by the timing and pace of the recovery in the new housing and renovations markets and the impact of government stimulus into the broader construction markets,” CEO Justin Ryan said.

Looking to the results for the first half of the year, EBITDA from continuing businesses for the six months to 31 December was $30.2 million, down 29% from the prior corresponding period.

“Group trading for the first half of FY10 improved compared with the trading results for the continuing businesses in the second half of FY09. Despite this improvement, the results for the half were well down on the prior corresponding period,” Mr Ryan commented.

“Despite the external market challenges, operational improvements are continuing to position Alesco’s businesses to benefit from the recovery in housing and renovation activity in Australia and New Zealand,” Mr Ryan said.

“EBITA margins fell due to lower volumes and pricing pressures, although this was partially offset by our reduced manufacturing cost base and the workforce reduction program completed in early calendar 2009.”

The company slashed 11% off its payroll following cost-saving measures being implemented at the height of the GFC.

Revenue came in at $410 million, down from $478 million in the previous corresponding period, however recovering marginally from the $377 million posted in the first half of the 2009 calendar year.

Alesco also noted its stronger balance sheet, with gearing nearly halved to $138.9 million.

The board announced it was reinstating the interim dividend at 7c per share.

At the open Monday, Alesco shares were down 3c to $4.22.

CBH Resources Limited (CBH) announced that the necessary approvals have been received to allow commencement of operations at the Rasp Mine in Broken Hill. The company said the approvals allow for the mining and crushing of 120,000 tonnes of ore per annum from the mine for two years and for the ore to be transported to CBH’s Endeavor Mine near Cobar for processing.

CBH anticipates underground mining operations to commence by mid 2010.

The company said mining operation would focus on recovering ore from the high-grade Main Lode Pillar areas.

”The expected head grade of these operations will be 8.8% Zinc, 8.8% Lead & 209 g/t Silver, with 8,000t of lead concentrate and 12,000t of zinc concentrate to be produced during the first year of operations,” CBH said.

Managing director and CEO, Stephen Dennis, said the company would be seeking approvals and working on plans for Stage 2 of the mine during the year, which would see production of up to 750,000 tonnes per year for approximately 15 years.

At the open of trade, CBH shares were 0.5c to 15c.

Whitehaven Coal Limited (WHC) sold 1.183 million tonnes of coal for the December quarter, up 33% from the previous corresponding period. Meanwhile, run-of-mine coal production for the quarter surged 41% to 970,000 tonnes.

The company said its four main open-cut mines Tarrawonga, Werris Creek, Rocglen and Sunnyside performed well, under-pinning the strong result.

Whitehaven said it was continuing with expanding its open-cut mines and coal handling plant to achieve their potential capacity of around 5.5 million tonnes per year.

The miner said it had cash on hand at the end of December was $233 million, including $79 million received from a Korean consortium comprising Daewoo International Corporation and Korea Resources Corporation as part of the sale of a 7.5% interest in the Narrabri JV and contribution of capital expenditure.

Whitehaven currently has export sales tonnages and prices fixed for the majority of planned production through until June 30, 2010.

Meanwhile, the company also noted its breakthrough into the S&P ASX/200 for the first time following strong buying of the stock. 

At the close Wednesday, Whitehaven Coal shares were trading at $4.78.

Newcrest Mining Limited (NCM) reported a 17% increase in gold production to 442,333 ounces compared to the previous quarter and reaffirmed FY10 gold production guidance at 1.81 – 1.91 million ounces. The company said the main contributors to the rise were record quarterly production at Telfer, higher production at Cadia Valley and ramp up at Hidden Valley.

Newcrest gross cash costs fell 31% in the December quarter to $310/oz, while net cash costs fell 29% to $310/oz.

The company said the lower cost profile was due to lower site operating costs, increased production and higher by-product credits.

Meanwhile, copper production rose 12% to 23,860 tonnes compared to the previous quarter.

Looking ahead, Newcrest said Hidden Valley would be fully commissioned for mining and process throughput by the end of January, however the process plant profile for full recovery of both gold and silver would not be finalised until the end of February.

”The original design capacity for the Hidden Valley mine and processing plant of 250koz of gold will be achieved during the fourth quarter of FY10,” the company said.

“Newcrest’s share of annual production for FY10 will be lower at approximately 75 – 85koz of gold.”

Newcrest increased its copper guidance range to 85 – 90kt for the year and maintained cost guidance for each site but added that indications are that costs would be at the lower end of the guidance range.

At the close of trade Wednesday, Newscrest shares were trading at $32.30.

RBS – Round Up – 280110

US stocks traded both sides of the gain line Wednesday, with bargain hunting investors feeding off stronger than expected results, against pessimism about the broader, political, view of the economy as President Obama prepares for his first State of the Union address tonight.

Out of Washington, the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady in a continued effort to kick-start the sputtering economy.

Meanwhile, sales of new homes fell 7.6% to a nine-month low 342,000 units in November. Analysts were expecting 370,000.

The Dow Jones rose 41.87 points, or 0.41%, to 10,236.16, the S&P 500 gained 5.33 points, or 0.5%, to 1,097.50 and the NASDAQ added 17.68 points, or 0.80%, to 2,221.41.

It was, however, Apple which dominated the headlines across the US today with the release of its heavily anticipated iPad device – a combination of the iPhone and a laptop.

Its shares added 1%. Rival Microsoft tacked on 0.6%, though many of the other well-known tech stocks were little changed.

Yahoo! opened 3% higher however closed 0.1% lower. The search engine swung to an 11c per share profit in the December quarter against a loss a year ago as online advertising revenue picked up.

Bargain hunters swooped on the bank stocks following several days of heavy selling.

Bank of America rallied 2.8%, while Citigroup added 1.6%. Wells Fargo surged 4.5%.

Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan were trading 0.4% and 2.3% respectively.

In a wrap of corporate earnings reports, United Airlines, investment group Blackrock and Valero easily beat estimates expectations on earnings. Though their share price didn’t necessarily reflect the results, up 0.3%, up 0.8% and down 1.8% reflectively.

Shares of Caterpillar slumped 7% after the heavy-machinery maker issued a earnings forecast of $2.50 per share, around 8% below expectations.

ConocoPhillips posted a profit of $1.16 per share, 4c ahead of expectations. However, its shares fell 1.1%.

NYMEX crude oil for February delivery fell US$1.04 to US$73.67 a barrel.

COMEX gold for February delivery fell US$13.80 to US$1,085.70 an ounce.

European Markets

All major European indices lost ground Wednesday. Shares slid on a combination of factors including the previously mooted banking restrictions in the US and weak economic results from the banks.

The benchmark UK FTSE 100 shed 59.38, or 1.13% to 5,217.47. Germany’s DAX lost 25.73, or 0.45% to 5,643.20, while the French CAC40 shed 47.24, or 1.24% to 3,759.80.

The banks across Europe were led lower following Spanish lender BBVA posting worse than expected quarterly results. Its shares lost 6.4%.

The Greek banks lost more, with the National Bank of Greece down 5.6%. Piraeus Bank lost 6.9%. Investors are fleeing Greek investments as the government there struggles with the highest debt of any country in the EU.

Barclays slumped 3.3%, while the heavyweight HSBC retreated 1.6%. Royal Bank of Scotland Group retreated 5.2%.

On the continent, French banks Societe Generale and BNP Paribas lost 1.5% and 1.8% respectively. Deutsche Bank gave up 1.3%.

Other financial stocks were also affected. Alliance & Leicester shed 7.7%.

Automakers Volkswagen and Daimler Chrysler slumped 2.4% and 2.8% respectively.

Tullow Oil shares retreated 4.6% after selling extra shares at a more than 5% discount yesterday. French oil company Total was down 1.3%.

Miners globally continued their retreat. Aussie peers Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton lost 1.7% and 0.4% respectively as investors continue to fret over the impact Chinese lending restrictions will have.

Vedanta and Xstrata shed 1.6% and 3.1% respectively.

Even defensive stocks were not immune, with pharmaceutical giant Astrazeneca down 1.9%.

Japanese Markets

Japan’s Nikkei fell on concerns ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy announcement in the US and President Barack Obama's State of the Union address. Exporters were once again weaker due to a strengthening yen.

Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry reported that overseas shipments from Japan increased in December for the first time in 15 months.

The Nikkei 225 lost 73.20, or 0.71% to 10,252.08.

Toyota dropped 4.3%% after the automaker suspended sales of eight models involved in a recall for potentially faulty parts.

Yamaha and Honda fell 2.3% and 1.6%, while electronics companies Sony and Panasonic slid 2% and 1.7%.

The yen strengthened against both the euro and the greenback.

Canon shed 2.8% after subsidiary Canon Marketing Japan forecast full-year earnings that were lower than analyst expectations. Canon Marketing shares slumped 5.3%.

Kao Corp rallied 5% after the homecare products maker said its nine-month profit surpassed its full-year forecast.

Banks Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Mizuho Financial Group advanced 0.2% and 0.6%.

Hong Kong Markets

The Hang Seng stretched its losses to a sixth straight session Wednesday. The longest losing streak in 12 months comes on the back of tighter lending restrictions on the mainland aimed at curbing inflation and worse than expected earnings.

The Hang Seng lost 76.26, or 0.38% to 20,033.07.

In a whip around of the banks, Bank of China eased 0.3%. Heavyweight lender ICBC gained 0.2%.

HSBC, which makes up one-sixth of the Hang Seng by size, was virtually unchanged.

Property stocks continued to be pummelled, with Hang Lung Properties down 4.3%.

Resource stocks were also heavily sold again, with Jiangxi Copper Co. and Aluminum Corp. of China losing 1.7% and 3.4% as commodity prices fell on the expectation of reduced demand.

It was a bad day to list for the world’s largest Aluminium producer, Russia’s United Co., which sank 11% on its first day.

Meanwhile Foxconn, the third party phone maker which posted heavy losses yesterday, gained back 1.2%.

Directors' Interest Notices
27 January 10