ANZ quarterly profit up 37% to $1.3 billion, Billabong profit falls: Economy Roundup

ANZ has delivered a 37% profit increase in the June quarter to $1.3 billion, although the company says it is still cautious about the “uncertainty” about the global economic outlook.

The bank also recorded an unaudited underlying net profit result of $3.6 billion for the nine months to June, up by 26% from the previous corresponding period.

The result comes after Commonwealth Bank caused controversy last week after recording a yearly profit over $6 billion.

“Our core businesses in Australia, Asia Pacific and New Zealand continued to perform well in the third quarter against the backdrop of Australia’s solid economic performance, strong economic growth in Asia and the emerging recovery in New Zealand,” ANZ chief executive Mike Smith said in a statement on Friday.

“While economies around the world are growing at different speeds, the improving economic cycle is continuing to see ANZ’s provisions trend lower.”

Smith also noted global economic uncertainty means “economic growth is not going to rebound quickly”, and domestic growth will continue to be soft.

Consolidated Media Holdings has recorded an 8.2% fall in full-year profit due to sales of non-core assets.

Statutory net profit was reported as $392 million for the year ending June 30, down from $427 million in 2009. Company shares were just under 2% higher to $3.21 at 10.30 AEST.

“Today CMH reports another solid operating NPAT result in what has certainly been an active year for the company,” executive chairman John Alexander said in a statement.

“The equity accounted contribution this year from our subscription television investments improved 8.3% year-on-year to $84.0 million.”

Meanwhile, new figures from Super Ratings show super returns increased during July by 2%, for the median balanced option, but returns are down for the three months to July 31 by 1.71%.

For the year to July 31, returns increased by 2%, while the rolling five-year return was at 3.45%. The seven-year rolling return came to 6.47%, with the 10-year return at 4.72%.

But Super Ratings has also attacked the Coalition, saying it has delivered few answers on how it would handle superannuation if it wins power at tomorrow’s Federal Election.

The silence on how the Coalition would handle superannuation in the future has been just deafening, which is the equivalent of saying “we’re not convinced that superannuation is our preferred model for funding future pension liabilities”.

“If this is the case then maybe that is something they should have communicated when they were in office up until 2007, instead of now putting in doubt over a trillion dollars of hard earned savings which currently sit in the system.”

Australian sharemarket flat after Wall Street drop

The Australian sharemarket has opened slightly lower this morning, following a disappointing night on Wall Street where investors are wary after disappointing jobs data was released.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 46 points or 1.03% to 4433 at 12.20 AEST, while the Australian dollar was also down to US89c.

ANZ shares have gained 1.5% to $22.73, while Commonwealth Bank shares lost 1.1% to $49.81. Westpac fell 1.4% to $22.63 as AMP lost 2.8% to $4.95.

Elders has told the Australian Securities Exchange it is unaware of any reason why its share price should have jumped more than 15%, as it did yesterday to 71.5c.

“Elders has noted the strong price performance, and high volume, of the company’s securities traded on the ASX (Australian Securities Exchange) today and recently,” the company said in a statement on Thursday.

“Elders advises that it is not aware of any factor that would account for this trading pattern.”

Surfwear retailer Billabong has recorded a 4.5% drop in annual net profit to $145.99 million, with shares in the company plummeting nearly 10% to $8.04 at 10.30 AEST. However, it expects retail conditions in the US to pick up soon.

“In the absence of any further unforeseen, exceptional circumstances impacting the global board sports market, (Billabong expects) NPAT in constant currency terms… to grow (in 2010/11) in the range of 2-8% compared with the prior year as an improving outlook in the Americas and continued strength in Europe is offset by a challenging market in the key territory of Australia,” Billabong said in a statement.

“This earnings guidance, which reflects a reasonably flat expected (earnings before interest and tax) EBIT result, higher interest costs and a lower effective tax rate, is expressed as a range due to continued volatility in the global markets in which the Group operates, in particular the Australian consumer market.”

Meanwhile, Foster’s non-executive director Christine Nixon has stepped down from her position merely months after she joined the company board, the firm said in a statement to the ASX.

No further reasons have been given. The decision comes after Nixon stepped down from her role as chief of the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority.

Potash searches for alternate bids

Canadian Potash Corp is apparently searching for alternate bids following a $US38.6 billion offer from BHP Billiton, a source has told Reuters.

“Any time you get something like this you explore all your options,” the source said. “There are a lot of ways to get creative about this thing… The notion is that this is the Cadillac of the business.”

On Wall Street, stocks dropped to their lowest point in a month as disappointing jobs and factory renewed fears of a double-dip recession. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 144.33 points or 1.39% to 10,271.21.