Ports and transport group, Asciano, says it won’t pay a final distribution for the 2010 financial year.
In a short statement to the ASX yesterday, it said the non-payment was so the rail and ports operator can use the cash for capital expenditure and cover impairment charges.
"The Board of Asciano today announces that, given the Company’s better then expected growth prospects and consequent capital expenditure requirements, and in light of the impairment charge expected to be reported for the financial year ended 30 June 2010, it will not pay a final distribution in respect of the 2010 financial year," the statement read.
Securities in Asciano were up 7c, or 4.4%, at $1.66 in late trade, but faded at the end to by half that amount, or 2.2%, at $1.625.
The company told the ASX in early May that it expects a non-cash impairment charge in some of its businesses in the second half of the year to June 2010 of approximately $1.110 billion.
"An impairment charge of approximately $960 million relating to goodwill in the Ports businesses as follows:
- 760 million relating to goodwill in the Patrick Container Ports division largely attributable to changes in the long term assumptions of this business;
- $150 million relating to goodwill in the Patrick General Stevedoring division; and
- $50 million relating to the goodwill in Patrick Autocare.
"An impairment of other assets totalling approximately $150 million – including $120 million relating to tangible assets, and $30 million relating to intangible assets such as customer contracts and associated relationships inherited at the time of the Toll-Asciano demerger.
"The tangible asset write-down includes $60 million relating to a write-down in the carrying value of Rail Mounted Gantries at Port Botany," the company said in its May statement.
And shares in small iron ore producer, Atlas Iron, jumped sharply yesterday after it revealed a new discovery near its Wodgina mine in Western Australia.
The shares rose more than 10% to $2.16 at one stage, and finished around that level at $2.15.
That was a rise of 20c on the day in a mark up around 1.2%
There was no sign of the claimed investor unease with the proposed federal super tax.
The company said the discovery, dubbed ”Hercules”, was a new direct shipping grade iron ore prospect 110 kilometres south of Port Hedland.
Atlas said Hercules is three kilometres from Atlas’s mine infrastructure and has achieved grades as high as 59.5% iron at 52 metres from the surface.
”Clearly there is an opportunity to generate significant value and mine life from these types of discoveries,” Atlas managing director David Flanagan said.
”As the team continues to find new deposits, the Wodgina project is becoming the company-maker we always thought it could be,” he said in a statement.
"Atlas remains on track to achieve iron ore exports at a combined rate of 6 million tonnes per annum from its Pardoo and Wodgina operations by December 2010," the company said.
And shares in the Andrew Forrest-chaired Poseidon Nickel ended more than 14% higher yesterday after it told the ASX it had identified seven new targets at its Windarra project in Western Australia.
Poseidon shares ended up 3.5c, or 14.6%, at 23.5c
The statement was short on detailed information about the strikes, which will come later in the year after a drilling program is conducted.
"This breakthrough further establishes Poseidon’s Windarra project as one of the largest undeveloped nickel sulphide projects in Australia," Poseidon managing director, David Singleton, said in the statement to the ASX.
The project, 250km northwest of Kalgoorlie, has a JORC-compliant resource of 97,331 tonnes of nickel.
Poseidon also said it had received a $150,000 grant by the WA government and the state’s Department of Mines and Petroleum as part of the department’s Exploration Incentive Scheme co-funding program.
And Thai company, Banpu, continues to stalk Centennial Coal, snapping up another 5% to take its stake to just under 20% and the biggest shareholder.
Centennial shares ended up 18c or 4.04% at $4.64 after Banpu filed a new substantial shareholding notice with the ASX.
They were up as much as 27c, or 6%, at one stage after the notice was released.
Banpu Public Co Ltd, based in Bangkok, now has 19.89% of Centennial, up from 14.89%, held directly and through subsidiaries Banpu Minerals (Singapore) Pte Ltd and Banpu Minerals Co Ltd.
This is another deal that hasn’t been constrained by the debate over the tax, and is actually a foreign investor buying into Australian resources.
