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Wesfarmers Limited (WES) said that sales at Coles climbed 4.9% in the third quarter to $6.9 billion, when compared to the previous corresponding period. Despite the stronger result, Wesfarmers offered a cautious outlook for the remainder of the year saying the positive effect of the government’s stimulus package was wearing off.

Across its other businesses, Wesfarmers said its home improvement division, led by its flagship Bunnings brand saw sales jump 7.9% to $1.544 billion.

Meanwhile Officeworks said total sales were up 7.1% to $390 million.

Target and Kmart were more subdued however, with former reporting virtually no change in sales, coming in around $725 million, while Kmart sales edged 4% higher to $824 million for the quarter.

Commenting on the result for Coles, group managing director, Ian McLeod said the sales results for the third quarter were pleasing especially considering the effect of price deflation.

“Coles is continuing to invest in improved supply chain efficiency, and better service and store standards for customers,” Mr McLeod said.

Meanwhile managing director of Wesfarmers retail divisions,Richard Goyder,  also said increasing interest rates would impact the company.

“Progress on strategies across the retail businesses remains on track. Solid volume growth, particularly in the Group’s turnaround businesses, continues to show that  customers are responding well to improvements in retail offerings,” Mr Goyder added.

At 1045 AEST, Wesfarmers shares were trading down 79c to $30.33.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) this afternoon said that it would oppose Goodman Fielder Limited's (GFF) sale of its edible fats and oils business to Cargill Australia. The $240 million sale to Cargill was first proposed in December 2009 following a May 2009 that it was looking for a buyer following its decision to streamline the business and focus on consumer brands.

"The ACCC investigation found that the proposed acquisition of the Goodman Fielder assets by Cargill would lead to a significant concentration of refining assets in

Australia and remove one of only a small number of competing refiners that offer a wide range of fats and oils products," ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel said today.

Goodman Fielder shares lost 4c, or 2.7% to $1.44 immediately following the announcement.

AWB Limited (AWB) and Gavilon LLC announced they have signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”) regarding the sale of AWB Geneva and the formation of a 50:50 joint venture of the AWB Australian Commodity Management business. AWB said the signing of the MoU paves the way for the transaction to be completed by June 2010.

AWB, managing director, Gordon Davis said the consideration for the transaction would be formulated on the basis of book value plus a premium and is expected to release significant capital for AWB.

“By partnering with a significant global commodities company in Gavilon, the proposed transaction will improve the value proposition to Australian producers and our domestic and international customers as well as enhance the competitive position of AWB’s Commodities Management activity,” Mr Davis said.

Mr Davis added that the transaction aligned with AWB’s strategy to create a simpler lower risk Australian based regional agribusiness with significant scale, scope and more sustainable earnings.

Gavilon’s president and CEO, Greg Heckman, said the proposed purchase of AWB Geneva along with the joint venture in Australia, provides an opportunity for Gavilon to expand its global footprint with a well-established Australian agribusiness.

As at 1408 AEDT, AWB shares were up 6.5c to 96c.

Elders Limited (ELD) said it has commissioned Ernst & Young to conduct an independent review of its Forestry assets in light of sector and company specific developments. The company said the review would not examine strategy and operations, where Elders Forestry is well placed.

The company said the review would involve Ernst & Young overseeing separate reviews of the various forestry assets held by Elders and delivering a final report.

Elders anticipates receiving a final report by no later than end-April 2010.

Managing director, Malcolm Jackman, said there are a number of events and developments that could impact assets valuations across the industry including Elders Forestry.

The company said developments identified with potential to impact Elders Forestry assets include the current and unprecedented levels of plantation and forest land for sale, uncertainty over the future of Forest Enterprises Australia, and reviews of plantation growth rates and yield estimates for specific regions.

Elders said Forestry assets to be included in the review include: plantation land; accrued income and income anticipated under SGARA accounting from Elders’ own plantation trees; the Company’s shareholdings; grower loans of $27 million and goodwill.

“Elders will assess land values for 100% of its 47,000 hectares of freehold plantation land under the review,” the company said.

“This compares to the review of one-third of freehold land that would normally occur under the rotational valuation review methodology.”

As at 1105 AEDT, Elders shares were down 4c to $1.315.

Elders Limited (ELD) said it has commissioned Ernst & Young to conduct an independent review of its Forestry assets in light of sector and company specific developments. The company said the review would not examine strategy and operations, where Elders Forestry is well placed.

The company said the review would involve Ernst & Young overseeing separate reviews of the various forestry assets held by Elders and delivering a final report.

Elders anticipates receiving a final report by no later than end-April 2010.

Managing director, Malcolm Jackman, said there are a number of events and developments that could impact assets valuations across the industry including Elders Forestry.

The company said developments identified with potential to impact Elders Forestry assets include the current and unprecedented levels of plantation and forest land for sale, uncertainty over the future of Forest Enterprises Australia, and reviews of plantation growth rates and yield estimates for specific regions.

Elders said Forestry assets to be included in the review include: plantation land; accrued income and income anticipated under SGARA accounting from Elders’ own plantation trees; the Company’s shareholdings; grower loans of $27 million and goodwill.

“Elders will assess land values for 100% of its 47,000 hectares of freehold plantation land under the review,” the company said.

“This compares to the review of one-third of freehold land that would normally occur under the rotational valuation review methodology.”

As at 1105 AEDT, Elders shares were down 4c to $1.315.

Metcash Limited (MTS) has decided to axe its Campbells Cash & Carry (“CCC”) business as it struggles to compete with branded convenience stores such as 7 Eleven. Metcash said the company would set aside $15.4 million in restructure provisions.

“For this reason, normalised earnings guidance is maintained at 7-10% EPS growth over the 2009 year.

Under the plan, CCC will see shut down 8 warehouses and merge the remainder with the CWD division.

Metcash’s Campbells Wholesale business will still retain three profitable operating divisions including Campbells Wholesale (“CWD”), CStore Distribution (“CSD”) and Foodlink.

Commenting on the closure, CEO of Metcash, Andrew Reitzer, said that “although this is a painful action to have to take, especially having regard for the excellent staff we will be losing, it is a necessary action to ensure the ongoing health and vitality of the overall Campbells Wholesale business”.

At 1025 AEDT, Metcash shares were down 4c to $4.11.

AWB Limited (AWB) downgraded its forecast profit before tax and significant items for the full year ending 30 September 2010 from previous guidance of $115 million to $140 million to a range of $85 million to $110 million. The agribusiness attributed the decrease to the expected reduction in annualised profit before tax of $7 million to $10 million due to the sale of the Landmark Financial Services loan and deposit books.

AWB said with the exception of its Australian grain marketing business, all key operating businesses were trading broadly in line with expectations.

The company forecast a profit before tax and significant items within the range of $25 million and $35 million for the half year ending 31 March 2010.

Managing director, Gordon Davis, said that increases in global wheat stocks, lower transactional margins and reduced price volatility within the Australian and international grain markets have impacted the profitability of the grain marketing business.

“We expect that the domestic grain marketing result will be weighted towards the second half of the financial year but for the full year it is still likely to be significantly lower than the prior comparative period,” Mr Davis said.

“The company anticipates the domestic pooling and logistic businesses should provide a stronger result than the prior year comparative despite an increase in grain warehoused or stored on farm.

”In addition, the Logistics businesses, in particular Rail and Melbourne Port Terminal, have benefited from an increase in volumes resulting from the improved crop size on the east coast of Australia compared to the prior year.”

Mr Davis said AWB Geneva is performing well and that Landmark is now experiencing a significant increase in the level of activity, after a subdued first quarter, due to improved seasonal conditions.

Mr Davis said that the performance of the Australian grain marketing business was below expectations at this stage, however added that all other businesses were performing well.

AWB said it is in a better position with the effective closure of five out of six legal actions against the company and with a more conservative balance sheet structure.

At the close of trade Tuesday, AWB shares were trading at $1.055.

Wesfarmers Limited (WES) said it is to raise about EUR500 million following the successful pricing of an inaugural issue of bonds under its Euro Medium Term Note programme. The company said the issue consists of notes with a tenor of five years and four months at a margin of 135 bps over the EURO five year mid swap rate, maturing in July 2015.

Wesfarmers said the proceeds are intended to be applied to the repayment of existing shorter term borrowings, which may result in bringing forward interest rate hedge close out costs of approximately $30 to $40 million into FY10.

The company said the notes would rank equally with its existing senior debt facilities and are expected to be rated BBB+ by Standard & Poor's and Baa1 by Moody's.

Wesfarmers said the notes are denominated in Euro and the proceeds have been fully swapped to Australian Dollars at an all up swapped margin of approximately 228 bps over the three-month bank bill rate.

The company said the notes would be listed on the Singapore Exchange and would not be offered for sale in Australia.

Wesfarmers’ finance director, Terry Bowen, said the company was very pleased with the result of the issue, which was heavily over-subscribed.

“This further diversifies the group’s funding sources and reflects continued strong support for Wesfarmers from debt investors,” Mr Bowen said.

The company expects completion of the issue of the notes on 10 March 2010.

As at 1026 AEDT, Wesfarmers shares were down 7c to $32.50.

AWB Limited (AWB) said it has completed the sale of Landmark Financial Services’ $2.3 billion loan book and $300 million debenture book to Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ). The agribusiness said it would incur a significant item in the half year ending 31 March 2010, which is expected to be in line with previous guidance at a $62 million pre-tax loss on the sale together with restructuring costs, subject to finalisation of completion of accounts.

AWB managing director, Gordon Davis, said the completion of this transaction simplifies the business and enables AWB to significantly reduce its level of debt.

“We look forward to expanding our successful relationship with ANZ as we continue to deliver outstanding service to Australia’s rural and agricultural community,” Mr Davis said.

The company said that under the relationship Landmark would earn a fee on all loan referrals of Landmark customers as well as a trail fee on existing loans and all future loans referred via the relationship.

As at 1450 AEDT, AWB shares were up 1.5c to $1.035, while ANZ shares were up 40c to $23.54.

Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (HVN) this morning said its profit for the half-year to 31 December had soared 59% to $158 million, although remained well down on the $230 million profit in 2007. Profit for the half-year to 31 December had climbed 46.8% to $237.77 million, the company said.

In yet another measure, net profit from its underlying business operations was $171 million, up 38.4% from the previous corresponding business.

Meanwhile, total revenue in the half was $1.31 billion.

Chairman Gerry Harvey said he was pleased with our extremely solid result and we are determinedly optimistic about the remainder of the 2010 financial year.

”The franchising operations segment continued to be the main driver of performance as seen by our franchising operations margin increasing to 6.7% from 5.8% in the HY Dec 2008,” Mr Harvey added.

Mr Harvey also highlighted the recent announcement that it had teamed up with IKEA to build a 72,000 square metre home maker centre at Springvale in Melbourne, expected to open in the first quarter of 2012.

This would to the conglomerates 265 current stores, covering brands such as Domayne and Joyce Mayne.

As the board declared a dividend of 7c per share, up from 5c per share in the previous period, Gerry Harvey said the company was well placed for the future.

At 1125 AEDT, Harvey Norman shares were trading up 9c to $3.86.