Lend Lease Woes Hit Market --------------------------------------------------------------------- The All Ordinaries index had a poor start to the week, after last week's strong performance, as shares in Lend Lease slumped. At midday the All Ords was down 15.4 points to 3346.4 while the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 dropped 17.2 points to 3395.4. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume was reasonable as 271 million shares were exchanged for $710 million and nearly one stock advanced for every one that declined. --------------------------------------------------------------------- The big story for the morning was global property group Lend Lease ($10.74, down 83 cents) which said today it was looking for a new chief executive officer after the departure of David Higgins and that it expects its growth in earnings for 2003 to be at the lower end of current analysts' forecasts. --------------------------------------------------------------------- The group, which cut its interim dividend in February despite a rise in profit, said that it continues to expect a 2002 financial year profit after tax in excess of $210 million but added the growth in earnings for the 2003 financial year is expected to be at the lower end of current analysts' forecasts --------------------------------------------------------------------- On a poor day for the major players on the local market, also dropping back was media conglomerate News Corporation ($13.65, down 17 cents) on reports that it could face losses of up to $US350 million (A$640 million) on its Italian pay-TV joint venture Stream. --------------------------------------------------------------------- The speculation comes after News Corp announced an A$8.2 billion abnormal charge, mainly relating to a writedown of its investment in the Gemstar TV guide. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Other major stocks to fall included ANZ Banking Group ($18.75, down 27 cents) and Foster's ($4.73, down six cents) while AMP Limited ($17.06, down 22 cents) gave up some of its recent gains after last week';s profit outlook statement. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Banks were among the better performers as National Australia Bank ($35.62, up 13 cents) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia ($32.48, up ten cents) cancelled out some of the ANZ's falls while Westpac ($15.96, down three cents) also opened lower. --------------------------------------------------------------------- The other story of interest was the press report that Coles Myer ($6.71, down one cent) and Woolworths ($12.90, down three cents) have been accused by the ACCC of forcing prospective pub operators into highly restrictive agreements over the establishment of bottle shops on a new hotel's premises. --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Financial Review said it had obtained High Court documents that CML and WOW threatened to tie up liquor licence applicants in legal disputes potentially delaying their licences for years unless they agreed not to sell packaged alcohol. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Only a few major stocks rose with WMC Limited ($9.79, up five cents) leading the gains on a report that Swiss resources group Xstrata may partner Alcoa in a joint takeover bid for the mining conglomerate ahead of its de-merger. --------------------------------------------------------------------- The offer price is set to be around $10.50 a share with Xstrata likely to be interested in WMC's nickel and copper assets, the report said. ---------------------------------------------------------------------
CML Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
