lower interest rates not working

Boral has I thnk been looking forward to a time when construction activity takes off in Oz with lower interest rates. Fridays drop in building approvals - down 5.6% seasonally adjusted is gobsmacking. I wonder how the next quarter will go, and whether we are starting a sudden tail off in approval. Looks like Boral needs to keep cutting. I was hoping the US could start to help - but it is only 11% of revenues from memory - so tiny.

I think the lower interest rates have to help at some stage - but you need to factor in that demand from large scale projects might be cut back, and the net benefit of residential construction may not outweigh that. Maybe the AUD will fall at some stage, and this will make more of a contribution to future economic growth than building construction.

Boral is in a tough situation. I don't think the market has great expectations of the full year result, or next years with approvals so low (obviously there is a lag in actually ordering and utilising materials after the approval).