Shares lower on global jitters, Microsoft profit soars: Economy Roundup

The Australian sharemarket has opened lower today after a small slide on Wall Street, where stocks fell due to concerns of the stability of the Greek economy.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 72 points or 1.56% to 4600.4 at 12.05 AEST, while the Australian dollar also lost some ground to US89c.

Commonwealth Bank shares have dropped 2.1% to $53.95, while Westpac also lost 1.5% to $24.22. NAB shares lost 1.2% to $26.38 as ANZ declined 1.4% to $21.83.

Charter Hall Group has said in a statement it is currently in talks with Macquarie Group about the possible acquisition of some of the company’s real estate funds management platforms.

Charter Hall told the ASX the potential acquisitions is still not complete, and subject to several conditions. Additionally, it also said there is no guarantee a deal would be made.

Wine and beer giant Foster’s has now appointed former Diageo Asia Pacific president John Pollaers as its manager for Carlton and United breweries business.

“I am excited to welcome someone of John’s calibre to the executive leadership team,” chief executives Ian Johnston said in a statement.

“John is well known and respected in the Australian market and has a proven track record in successfully leading and growing businesses across multiple countries, channels and brands,” he said.

BHP approves $2 billion for iron ore growth

Mining giant BHP Billiton has now approved $2.15 billion of capital expenditure in order to speed up the growth of its iron ore business in Western Australia.

The company will contribute the majority of the funding, and said it hopes to lift production capacity to about 240 million tonnes per year by 2013.

“This investment is the continuation of our long-term strategy of adding capacity in our high quality iron ore business to support our confidence in the longer term demand for iron ore globally,” iron ore president Ian Ashby said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“By the time RGP6 is completed, we will have more than tripled installed capacity at our Western Australia Iron Ore operations since we first invested in our accelerated growth program in 2002.”

Bright Food Group to abandon CSR bid

As reported in the Australian Financial Review, China’s Bright Food Group will not make a revised bid for CSR’s sugar division.

“We’ve done everything possible to get CSR to the table,” a source told the publication. “Unless they engage, the proposal cannot be fulfilled.”

CSR has repeated its desire to demerge its building products division from its sugar and renewable energy unit over the last few weeks.

Programmed Maintenance Services shares have dropped by over 12% to $3.19 after the company downgraded its full-year earnings guidance.

The company has now said it expects earnings before interest, tax and amortisation for the 12 months ending March 31 to be between $57-60 million, compared to its previous forecast of $63 million.

Uranium miner Energy Resources of Australia has recorded a 23% rise in annual profit due to higher demand for its products.

The company, in which Rio Tinto holds a majority stake, also said the outlook for its market remained steady and that sustained government interest should keep the company running smoothly.

Profit for the 2009 calendar year was $272.6 million, up from $221.8 million in 2008. Some of this increase is also due to price rises.

“The 2009 annual production was achieved due to consistently strong performance in the processing plant through the year,” the company said in a statement.

“While production, sales and average realised sales price in 2010 are expected to remain broadly similar to recent years, production and sales will be significantly weighted towards the second half as an effect of mine sequencing, lower grades and scheduled maintenance in the processing plant in the first half,” it said.

Microsoft announces solid second quarter results

Overseas, software giant Microsoft announced a 60% rise in quarterly profit bolstered by the launch of its Windows 7 operating system.

The company’s revenue grew by 14% to $US19.02 billion, including $US1.61 billion of deferred revenue. Net profit was $US6.7 billion, compared to $US4.2 billion in the same period a year previously.

The results came after both Google and Apple released similar results beating market expectations, raising confidence in the technology and software sectors.

In Washington, the White House has announced it has formally notified the United Nations it has embraced the Copenhagen Accord for reducing its emissions, and will aim for a 17% reduction in carbon emissions by 2020.

A spokesperson announced a final reduction target will be announced when Congress passes legislation requiring pollution cuts.

On Wall Street, stocks fell due to fears regarding Greece’s economic stability, as well as poorer-than-expected results from Motorola. A formal announcement of Ben Bernanke’s confirmation as Fed Chairman for a second term also rocked the market.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 115.70 points or 1.13% to 10,120.46.