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Medic Vision Limited (MVH) said it has successfully completed the acquisition of the digital marketing and communications company, cBox Pty Limited. The company said cBox offers cost effective digital marketing and communication solutions on a global scale via fax, email, mobile phone/sms and Interactive Voice Recognition. Medic Vision said it issued 45,600,000 shares at $0.045 each as consideration for the acquisition, with up to a further 18,000,000 shares to be issued as consideration, if and when, the holders of the Medic Vision convertible notes, convert the notes into shares. As part of the transaction, the CEO of cBox, Jason Edwards, has been appointed a Director of Medic Vision. The company said he would also head the cBox sales and marketing team reporting to the new cBox CEO, Vince Leone.

ROC Oil Company Limited (ROC) shares slumped by nearly 25% after the junior oil producer said remaining 2P Reserves at 31 December 2009 would be between 20% and 25% lower than previously estimated. This follows a review of the company’s Basker-Manta-Gummy (“BMG”) reservoir, which is expected to produce between 3 mmbbl and 5 mmbbl, against 18 mmbbl previously expected.

CEO Bruce Clement said the decline was a surprise and would prompt the company to re-evaluate its development plans for the project.

Further, the company said the downgrade of the BMG project's 2P Reserves would result in an impairment of ROC's carrying value of its interest in the BMG project.

At 1033 AEDT, ROC Oil shares were down 14c to 49.5c.

Coal of Africa Limited (CZA) said it has been granted both an unconditional New Order Mining Right (NOMR) for the Vele coking coal project and a conditional NOMR for the Holfontein coal project by the South African Department of Mineral Resources (“DMR”). The company said it currently holds an 80% interest in the Vele project and has an agreement in place to acquire the remaining 20%. Coal of Africa said the Holfontein NOMR is conditional on delivery of certain documents to the DMR.

China Yunnan Copper Australia Limited (CYU) said it has entered into a purchase agreement with Carpentaria Exploration Limited (CAP) for prospective uranium Exploration Lease EPM16393 in north west Queensland. The company said it would be the 100% owner of the property for a consideration of $20,000 upon completion of a 30 day due diligence period. CYU said due diligence would include completion of transfer documentation to the satisfaction of the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation of the Queensland Government. The company believes that the paleochannel uranium target can be tested by airborne electromagnetics. CYU expects this to occur during the 2010 calendar year.

Rocklands Richfield Limited (RCI) announced that it has terminated negotiations with Jindal Steel & Power Limited in relation to Jindal's takeover proposal. Rocklands said it resolved to terminate negotiations with Jindal after reaching the conclusion that the overall terms and conditions of the proposal were commercially unacceptable and not in the best interests of RCI or its shareholders.

Panoramic Resources Limited (PAN) said it expects to report a higher half-year profit compared to the previous corresponding period. The nickel sulphide producer forecast a NPAT of $20 million for the six months to 31 December 2009, compared to a loss of $8.6 million in the previous corresponding period. The company said the December 2009 half year consolidated financial results are still subject to January 2010 quotational pricing sales revenue adjustments, an internal tax review, and the completion in late February of the half-year audit review. Panoramic forecast net revenue of $132 million, which is an increase on the $113.3 million reported a year earlier.

Stuart Petroleum Limited (STU) said it returned to profitability in 2009 after the company wrote off the expense of an unsuccessful well, Bazzard 1, in the half year ended 31 December 2008. The oil and gas explorer said it expects to announce a NPAT of about $1.8 million for the six-months to 31 December 2009, when audited results for the period are released on or before 26 February 2010. The company said the first half result would not include the $4.6 million pre-tax profit to accrue from its October 2009 sale of its interest in a Timor Sea permit. Stuart said profit from this transaction would be reportable when Foreign Investment Review Board approval has been received. The company said production for the six months totalled 122,051 barrels of oil and the company expects to produce in excess of 250,000 barrels of oil for the full year, consistent with previous guidance. Looking ahead, Stuart said it is planning a 10-well Cooper Basin oil and gas drilling program for this year and 2011, designed to increase sales, replace annual oil production and lift reserves.

Bow Energy Limited (BOW) announced the completion of the sale of its interest in ATP 574P, located in Queensland’s Surat Basin, to Victoria Petroleum NL (VPE). The company said settlement also included Vicpet allotting 13 million shares to Bow and the transfer of Vicpet’s interests in ATP 608P and ATP 805P to Bow to increase Bow’s ownership to 94.6% and 100% respectively. Bow said the consideration for the sale also included $8 million cash, which Bow received last quarter.

AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Limited (AXA) released new business and fund flows for the year ended December 2009. At $81 billion, total funds under management, administration and advise grew by 7% in the second half, but were down 3% over the year.

Total funds under management, administration and advice in Australia were down 4% to $59.03bn.

AXA said total Australia wealth management gross inflows were down 32% to $8.19 billion and AXA wealth management gross inflows were down 22% to $7.61 billion.

Total wealth management net flows, including AllianceBernstein were down $8.76bn to negative $10.04bn, while AXA wealth management net flows were down 67% to $365.5 million.

The group said that 2009 was clearly a difficult year for wealth management although second half performance showed improvement over the first half.

For New Zealand total funds under management, administration and advice in New Zealand were up 2% to NZ$6.42bn.

In Hong Kong total funds under management, administration and advice in Hong Kong were up 20% to HK$80.49bn. Meanwhile, total funds under management and advice in its ipac Asia division were up 1% to $898.8 million.

AXA, which is currently the subject of takeover interest from NAB and AMP, will report its full year results on 17 February.

Last week, NAB said it had completed due diligence on AXA as it awaits the expiry of AMP’s exclusivity period with AXA on 6 February.

The group has already said it expects profit after tax and non-recurring items to be around $675 million for the year, from a loss of $278.7 million in 2008.

At the open AXA Asia Pacific Holdings shares were up 1c to $6.56.

Macmahon Holdings Limited (MAH) said it would undertake a two-year, $65 million contract for Metals X subsidiary Bluestone Mines Tasmania to carry out the mining activities at its Renison underground tin mine on the west coast of Tasmania. The company said it would undertake underground production and development works, as well as the overall management and maintenance of the mine owner’s mobile plant assets.  Macmahon said the award gives it greater geographical and commodity diversification. The company anticipates to commence work on site in mid March this year.

Rural Bank Limited, a joint venture between Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited (BEN) and Elders Limited (ELD) reported a net profit of $26.8 million for the six months to 31 December 2009, up from $22.4 million in the previous corresponding period. CEO Paul Hutchinson said that the improved result was principally driven by improved interest margins during the period and continued cost management discipline. The loans under management had reduced slightly to $3.615 billion as a relatively good season helped farmers to reduce their debt levels.

Navitas Limited (NVT) said it had executed a 10-year agreement with the University of Newcastle for the establishment of the Newcastle International College. The education services provider said the college would offer pre-university and pathway programs for students seeking to gain admission to the University’s academic programs. Navitas said the opening of Newcastle International College is scheduled for semester 1, 2011.

Insurance Australia Group Limited (IAG) announced that it expected to achieve a full year insurance margin in the range of 11.5%–13%, up from previous guidance of 9%–11%. The company said based on unaudited results it expects to report a half-year insurance profit of $488 million, representing an improved insurance margin of 13.4%.

The company will announce its half year results on 25 February.

In the previous corresponding period IAG posted a half-year insurance profit of $227 million, on an insurance margin of 6.2%.

The company said the improved performance reflected improvement in the group’s underlying operating performance, lower natural peril claim costs, lower reserve releases, a favourable movement in credit spreads and no net writedown of deferred acquisition costs during the period.

IAG said the improvement has been achieved despite a significantly lower running yield applicable to technical reserves, which reduced the 1H10 insurance margin by around 3% compared to 1H09.

The company expects to report underlying gross written premium growth of 5% for 1H10, excluding divested businesses and the impact of foreign exchange movements.

”Reported GWP is likely to reduce by approximately 1.5%,” IAG said.

”For the full year, the group continues to expect underlying GWP growth of 3–5%, while reported GWP is now expected to be flat due to the strength of the Australian dollar.”

Managing director and CEO, Michael Wilkins, said more than half of the expansion in the company’s insurance margin derived from operational improvements.

“Our largest business, Australia Direct, recorded solid GWP growth and a strong insurance margin while our intermediated business, CGU, also recorded a further, steady improvement in underlying profitability,” Mr Wilkins said.

“In New Zealand, our business has experienced a sharp turnaround in performance on the back of remedial action and benign weather, building on the improvement evident in 2H09.”

The company’s Equity Red Star business in the UK reported GWP growth, however its insurance margin was affected by a deterioration in bodily injury motor claims for the 2007 and prior underwriting years.

Mr Wilkins said IAG’s performance had also been aided by narrowing credit spreads and natural peril claim costs below its allowances.

Athe close of trade Tuesday, IAG shares were trading at $3.79.

RBS – Round Up – 030210

News Corporation (NWS) reported a second quarter net income of $254 million against a $6.4 billion loss a year ago. Newscorp said the return to profit was underpinned by revenue growth of 10% to US$8.7 billion.

Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch said he believed company was now entering a period of sustained growth.

“Our strong top-line revenue growth demonstrates that News Corporation is emerging from this recession with renewed vigor and strength,” Mr Murdoch said.

”We continue to reap the benefits from the restructuring and cost containment measures we instituted before the downturn began and I am pleased that our unrelenting focus has translated to growth across our businesses that will reward stockholders for years to come.”

Mr Murdoch also mentioned the film Avatar which was nominated for 9 oscars yesterday.

”We have a strong management team that knows how to nurture our core businesses, while taking prudent, creative risks like Avatar that lead the industry forward,” he said.

The global media giant said it had been stung by a $500 million pre-tax charge related to litigation brought against Integrated Marketing Services business.

Stripping away one-off charges in both the second quarter and the previous corresponding quarter Newscorp said earnings per share 25c per share, against 15c per share a year ago.

In the prior year second quarter, the Company recorded a non-cash impairment charge of approximately $8.4 billion in the midst of the global financial crisis, the company noted.

The company’s Filmed Entertainment division reported second quarter operating income of $324 million, nearly triple what was reported in the same period a year ago. The result was boosted by Avatar which remains number one in the box office after seven weeks release and has earned over $2 billion.

Fox News channel continued to grow, posting a 51% jump in operating income, helping the cable news division operating income to soar 35% to just over $604 million.

At the close Tuesday, Newscorp shares were trading at $16.87.

US stocks extended gains into a second day on the back of signs the housing market was recovering, while other corporate giants posted positive earnings results. Bargain hunting investors also poured money into shares that had been heavily sold in January.

The Dow Jones rose 111.32 points, or 1.09%, to 10,296.85, the S&P 500 added 14.13 points, or 1.30%, to 1,103.31 and the tech-heavy NASDAQ picked up 18.86 points, or 0.87%, to 2,190.06.

Homebuilders soared D.R. Horton reported a 56c per share profit against widespread expectations of a loss. The stock rallied 10.9% even though the gain was on the back of a large tax gain for the company rather than organic growth.

KB Homes surged 6.5%, while Pulte Homes surged 7.5%.

In other housing news, The National Association of Realtors' pending home sales index climbed 1% in December, in line with expectations, however countered a big fall in November.

Among the banks, Citigroup rose 2.1%, while Bank of America was 1.2% higher.

JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs put on 2.3% and 2.5% respectively.

Wells Fargo was the only major bank to lose ground, dipping 0.5%.

Ford rose 2.4% as it reported a 25% jump in sales in January from a year ago, gaining ground on rival Toyota which saw sales slump 16%. General Motors, which filed for bankruptcy in 2009 also saw sales rise.

Kraft put on 1.6% after taking control of Cadbury Tuesday.

In other corporate news, Barnes and Noble stock surged 7.8% after a key stakeholder said he would double his stake in the bookseller to 37%.

Engine maker Cummins climbed 8.8% after nearly doubling expectations with a US$1.36 per share profit in the fourth quarter.

Tech engineering firm Emerson Electric rallied 10.1% after also saying the future looks bright.

Whirlpool soared 8.1% and UPS put on a more modest 0.4% following better than expected earnings results.

COMEX gold for February delivery rose $13.10 to $1,117.40 an ounce.

NYMEX light crude oil for February delivery added $2.85 to $77.28 a barrel.

Exxon rose 1.2%, while ConocoPhillips climbed 2.2% and Chevron added 1.2%.

European Markets

European stocks staged a rally Tuesday as miners recovered ground from January’s big sell. Banks also added to the gains, while many news wire services pointed to Australia’s decision to hold out on raising interest rates as a reason for some market confidence.

The benchmark UK FTSE 100 added 35.90 points, or 0.68% to 5,283.31. The French CAC40 rose 50.12, or 1.33% to 3,812.13, while Germany’s DAX rallied 55.18, or 0.98% to 5,709.66.

In the UK Barclays and Lloyds put on 2.6% each, while Standard Chartered tacked on 0.5%. Royal Bank of Scotland jumped 3.7%.

French banks BNP Paribas and Societe Generale climbed 1.9% and 2.4% respectively. Swiss and German banks also joined in the gains.

Among oil stocks BP slumped 3.8% after fourth quarter earnings missed estimates and the company said recovery would be slow.

Meanwhile, Shell rose 1.1% and France’s Total put on 0.6%.

The miners rose, led by Rio Tinto, which added 3.4% following a broker upgrade to ‘buy’. Aussie peer BHP Billiton rose 2.7%.

Anglo American put on 3.2%.

Base metals made modest gains trading on the London Metal Exchange.

Among the pharmaceutical stocks GlaxoSmithKline rose 1.2%, while smaller rival Astrazeneca dipped 0.2%. The former reports it fourth quarter earnings figures this week.

Japanese Markets

Japan’s Nikkei rallied on the back of better than expected manufacturing data out of the US and a rise in commodity prices. A weakening yen sent exporters higher.

The Nikkei 225 gained 166.07, or 1.63% to 10,371.09.

Toyota climbed 4.5% after detailing plans to fix its recalled vehicles. It was the first session the automaker’s shares rose since January 21 when it announced the recall.

Nissan advanced 3.5%.

Isuzu Motors surged 6.2% on reports the light-duty truck maker delivered an operating profit in the December quarter.

Electronics companies and major exporters Canon and Sony added 2.7% and 3.1%.

Trading house Mitsubishi Corp benefited from a rise in metals and oil prices. Its shares gained 5.1%, while rival Mitsui & Co rallied 5.8% after increasing its profit forecast.

Nippon Mining and Nippon Oil rallied 6.2% on broker upgrades.

Oil explorer Inpex Corp rose 2.9%, while Mitsui Mining & Smelting gained 5.1% after more than doubling its net income forecast.

Dena spiked 19% after the shopping website operator reported an increase in nine-month sales.

Hong Kong Markets

The Hang Seng traded both sides of the gain line Tuesday before a late swing saw it edge higher at the close. Gamers were strong as Macau said gaming revenue in January was up 65% from the previous corresponding month.

The Hang Seng rose 28.43, or 0.14% to 20,272.18.

Bank of China lost 0.3%, ICBC shed 1.2% and HSBC added 0.8%.

In a reverse of yesterday, many Hong Kong bank listings lost ground, while those on the Chinese mainland climbed.

Gaming stock Melco International rose 2.9%, while Wynn Macau rose 2.2%. SJM Holdings soared 5%. All those companies are controlled by billionaires.

Clothing maker Li & Fung shed 1.1%, while shoemaker Yue Yuen was off 0.8%.

Third party mobile phone maker Foxconn jumped 1.5%.

Among oil stocks, offshore explorer Cnooc rose 1.1%, while China’s number one refiner, PetroChina added 0.9%. 

Realgold Mining soared 6.6%, while Jiangxi Copper was 1.7% dearer.

Shares surged Tuesday led by a mining sector that had been heavily sold in recent days. Broad-based gains mirrored those seen in the US, with energy stocks reacting positively to strong results from Exxon Mobil and a bullish outlook for coal stocks.

Meanwhile, investors reacted positively to the RBA’s surprise decision to leave interest rates unchanged, saying it would wait longer to see the effect of the three previous, consecutive rate rises.

The Australian dollar lost more than 1c to the greenback immediately following the announcement.

In economic news, according to the NAB's monthly business survey, business confidence dropped from 19 points in November to 8 points in December. The decline has been largely attributed to recent interest rate hikes.

At the end of the day, the All Ords was up 84.0 to 4,628.8, while the ASX/200 put on 81.3 to 4,605.4. About 2.4 billion shares worth around $5.2 billion had changed hands.

Strong US manufacturing data and a weaker greenback ended one-week falls in metals prices. The Materials and Resources sector climbed 3.8%.

BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto jumped 3.2% and 5.3% to $40.46 and $71.01 respectively.

A media report predicted the global financial crisis to have wiped more than $1.13 billion from BHP’s December half profit, while Rio and Amcor announced the completion of the sale and acquisition of the Alcan Packaging businesses, excluding the Medical Flexibles operations, for US$1,948 million.

Amcor shares were 14c, or 2.4% higher at $6.00.

Gains were consistently above 5% among the mid-caps. Fortescue surged 29c, or 6.6% to $4.69, maintaining morning gains.

Bluescope, Sims Metal and Onesteel rose 5.2%, 6.8% and 5.7% respectively, though all three stocks have a long way to recoup losses seen in the second half of January.

Macarthur Coal, one of the few coal miners in the resource sector, soared 13%.

The Energy sector advanced 3.2%. In the US, Exxon Mobil delivered strong earnings results, while bullish comments on the coal sector boosted stocks worldwide.

Woodside rose $1.61, or 3.9% to $43.20. Oil Search and WorleyParsons added 3.4% and 3.1% to $5.43 and $23.45.

Arrow Energy jumped 18c, or 5.1% to $3.73 as it announced a number of options it had identified in regards to funding the proposed Fisherman’s Landing LNG project.

Coal stocks recovered some of their recent losses, with Aquila and Whitehaven 6.8% and 4.4% dearer. Centennial Coal rose 19c, or 5.4% to $3.69.

Karoon Gas spent the day in a trading halt as the company prepares to make a further announcement on a key gas well. Shares in the company have slumped 35% to $7.20 since January 11.

The Banks and Financials sector was a little more lacklustre, up 1%, with the big four banks making little movement in either direction. CBA was the best of the big four having put on 57c, or 1.1% to $53.55.

NAB dipped 15c to $25.95 despite the company forecasting just yesterday that revenue would remain strong.

QBE added 50c, or 2.2% to $23.10 as Goldman Sachs upgraded its rating on the insurer to ‘buy’, citing medium term upside.

Investment bank Macquarie Group gained 60c to $50.40.

Westfield rallied 56c, or 4.5% to $12.90 as the nation’s largest listed Property Trust announced an estimated final distribution of 47c per share to be paid on Friday, 26 February 2010. The total distribution for the Westfield Group for the year of 94c per share is in line with the forecast range provided in February 2009.

Stockland put on 4.3% to $3.91 as the sector rose 3.8%.

Industrials added 1.6%. Brambles advanced 3.4% to $6.60, while Macquarie Airports and Auckland International Airport gained 3.5% and 6.5% to $2.94 and $1.555 respectively.

Hills spiked 12.7% to $2.17 after the company increased its full year guidance to be in the range of between $36 million and $42 million.

Leighton and Asciano were 0.6% and 0.3% in the black.

Toll was down 1.2% to $8.48 as the company announced the acquisition of a US freight forwarding company.

UGL strengthened 1.7% to $13.08 after being nominated as preferred construction partner for the planned upgrade of the Eastern Treatment Plant, which has an estimated share of $120 million for the company.

Consumer Discretionary edged 0.9% higher. Aristocrat jumped 0.9% to $4.45, adding to yesterday’s 11% surge.

Retailer David Jones put on 7c to $4.86 and Flight Centre gained 31c to $19.80.

Media company Newscorp rose 0.9% to $16.87, while Fairfax lost 1.1% and $1.725.

Telstra added 6c to $3.38, with the Telecommunications sector up 1.6%.

The Healthcare sector finished 0.4% above the gain line.

Ramsay Health Care edged 10c higher to $12 after featuring heavily in broker reports this morning. The company’s shares closed 3.7% higher yesterday.

Around the region, the Nikkei 225 gained 141.5 to 10,346.6, while the Straits Times Index retreated 3.2 to 2,733.0. Meanwhile, the NZSE50 fell 3.6 to 3,147.4. The Hang Seng rose 43.6 to 20,287.3.

Spot gold was trading at US$1,103.00 per ounce, and the Aussie was buying US$0.8817. 

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RBA leaves interest rates unchanged
In a decision that would have surprised many, the Reserve Bank of Australia decided to leave the cash rate unchanged at 3.75% after three consecutive monthly rises. While acknowledging the strong outlook for the Australian economy, the RBA decided to wait a little longer to judge the impact of recent rate rises before raising rates again.

Toll continues acquisition strategy
Toll Holdings continued its expansion policy yesterday, announcing it had acquired US-based Summit Logistics International for $80m. Toll said the freight forwarding and supply chain business had revenues of $300 million annually. 

At the end of the day, Toll shares were down 10c to $8.48.

Hills shares rise on upgraded guidance
Hills Industries shares soared more than 10% today after saying its post-tax profit for the six months to 31 December 2009 was a tick over $22 million, up 2% from the previous corresponding period. The company also lifted guidance for the full year saying it expected net operating profit, not including any unusual items, would be in the range of between $36 million and $42 million.

At the bell, Hills shares were up 24.5c to $2.17.

Arrow identifies funding options
Arrow Energy said it has identified and advanced a number of options for funding the proposed Fisherman’s Landing LNG project. The company said the options include corporate and project debt finance, export credit agency supported debt finance, partnering with infrastructure investors to develop and fund key infrastructure assets, JV interest sell downs, and a largely entitlement based equity raising.

At the close, Arrow Energy shares were up 18c to $3.73.

Flexigroup profit, one-offs rise
FlexiGroup said a positive tax ruling from its initial listing in 2006 meant $15 million would be added to the company’s bottom line when the it reports half-yearly results this month. The retail point-of-sale finance solution provider also said that it expected core FY10 post-tax profit would be in the range of $39 million to $49 million, up from $37 million to $39 million previously forecast.

At the finish, Flexigroup shares were up 12.5c to $1.55.

AMC completes acquistion of Alcan Packaging
Rio Tinto and Amcor announced the completion of the sale and acquisition of the Alcan Packaging businesses. Amcor said the US$1,948 million acquisition would provide it with leading global positions in the nominated strategic growth markets for flexible packaging and folding carton packaging for tobacco.

At the end of the session, Amcor shares were trading up 14c to $6.00, while Rio Tinto shares were trading up $3.60 at $71.01.

UGL awarded $120m contract
UGL has been nominated by Melbourne Water Corporation as preferred construction partner, in joint venture with Baulderstone, for the planned upgrade of the Eastern Treatment Plant in the south east suburb of Carrum. UGL said its share of the $380 million project is about $120 million.

At the bell, UGL shares were trading up 22c to $13.08.