BlueScope Steel says a fire at its Western Port plant near Melbourne will cost it up to $25 million.
The fire occurred at the Western Port pickle line facility in the early hours of May 13.
"The principal damage from the fire at the Western Port Pickle Line facility is limited to the four pickle tanks and to the roof of the building," the company told the ASX yesterday.
"Other equipment in the Pickle Line building was largely untouched by the fire.
"The roof of the building has now been made safe and debris has been removed. The repair work has begun, and investigations into the cause of the fire continue.
"Four replacement pickle tanks, recently decommissioned from BlueScope’s Packaging Products facility at Port Kembla, will be transported to Western Port for installation on the Pickle Line.
"These tanks were installed at Port Kembla in 2006 and have a life expectancy of at least 15 years.
"BlueScope expects the plant to return to operation within six weeks, and that a capital cost of between $20 million to $25 million will be incurred.
"An impairment charge of approximately $7 million to $10 million will be taken on assets destroyed or damaged by the fire.
"A one-off pre-tax cash earnings impact of between $7 million to $11 million is expected, principally relating to foregone sales and additional transport costs associated with alternative production sourcing.
BSL shares rose 4c yesterday to $2.12
And, in New Zealand shares in struggling whitegoods group, Fisher & Paykel were suspended yesterday pending an announcement detailing the financial restructure of the company and capital raising.
The company told the Australian and NZ exchanges that its capital management initiatives were not yet finished and it was unable to announce details.
The shares remain suspended until May 27
"As previously announced to the market, FPA has been working with its banking syndicate with a view to refinancing the total bank debt of the Appliances Group by 29 May 2009.
"At the same time, FPA has been reviewing the Group’s capital structure and examining alternative sources of capital," the company said in its statement yesterday.
"These initiatives have been the subject of press speculation over the weekend.
"The trading halt is requested because these capital management initiatives, in their totality, remain incomplete and FPA is not currently in a position to announce these initiatives.
"FPA expects the trading halt to remain in place for two business days from the commencement of trading on Monday 25 May 2009 until the recommencement of trading on Wednesday 27 May 2009."
The company warned in February that it did not to expect a full-year profit after sales in Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the US plunged. The company is raising capital after a plant closure in the US and a slump in the New Zealand dollar which increased debts.
Its finance arm has been guaranteed under the NZ government’s guarantee to finance groups.
The company may be seeking as much as NZ$200 million from a rights offer, the Dominion Post reported last Saturday.
Fisher & Paykel has a NZ$80 million short-term loan expiring on May 29 and has said it will pay that loan from the proceeds of the broader refinancing. The loan was extended several months ago to allow the financing to be undertaken.
The company also has until May 29 to report results for the year ended March 31.
FPA said in February that it was looking at taking in a cornerstone investor. The Dominion Post said in its report that Haier Group Corp., China’s largest maker of refrigerators, may be interested.
And Hills Industries has abandoned its policy of paying out 100% of after tax profits as dividends after revealing further details of its 40% profit warning for the 2009 financial year yesterday.
The company paid an 8c interim in April and yesterday said the size of the final payout would be determined once the results for the June year were known.
Hills shares traded down a cent at $1.63 yesterday.
"The Company’s Chairman, Ms Jennifer Hill-Ling, said in yesterday’s statement: “In our revised Operating Profit guidance released on May 5 2009, we referred to some significant items that had not yet been quantified. We are now in a position to provide further details to the market.”
”As a result of changes to our business structure, including the closure of some operations and an overall reduction in headcount as a result of the restructuring, there will be costs, including goodwill impairment, in the range of $10 million to $12 million after tax of which the after tax cash costs will be not more than $4 million,” Ms Hill-Ling said.
"This restructure places our businesses in a strong position to meet future demand and customer requirements.
“The provision of this additional information does not alter the Board’s earlier advice to the market that the 2008-2009 operating profit attributable to Hills Industries shareholders is expected to be approximately 40% below the previous financial year.
“The restructuring costs outlined today are in addition to the mark to market adjustment arising from interest rate and foreign exchange hedges held by the Group.
"At the half year this was a total of $5.8 million after tax. The amount of this non-cash item cannot be further quantified until the precise exchange and interest rates are known as at 30 June 2
