The S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX: XJO)(^AXJO) is expected to open higher today, the USA’s S&P 500 Index (.INX) went down 0.13% on Wednesday.
Australian Dollar ($A) (AUDUSD): 71.87US cents
Dow Jones (DJI): down 0.28%
Oil (WTI): $US56.98 per barrel
Gold: $US1,320 per ounce
ASX Sharemarket News
In ASX sharemarket news, mining giant Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) reported its result yesterday afternoon for the 2018 full year.
Net cash generated from operating activities fell by 15% to US$11.8 billion. ‘Underlying’ EBITDA declined by 2% to US$18.1 billion (click here to learn what EBITDA means). ‘Underlying’ earnings grew 2% to 8.8 billion and net earnings increased by 56% to $13.6 billion.
The company also announced a special dividend and buy-back.
Rio Tinto CEO J-S Jacques said: “These strong results reflect the efforts of the team to implement our value-over-volume strategy as we continued to strengthen the portfolio and invest in future growth.”
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Dairy giant Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund (ASX: FSF) has increased its FY19 forecast of farmgate milk prices and reduced its earnings guidance.
The milk price range has been increased to $6.30 to $6.60 per kgMS (milk solid) and the FY19 forecast earnings per share (EPS) has been revised to 15 to 25 cents per share. Forecast milk collections has been revised to 1.53 million kgMS.
The company said there will be no interim dividend and a full strategic review is underway.
Fonterra Chairman John Monaghan
said: “Since our last milk price update in December, global demand has strengthened. This is driven predominately by stronger demand from Asia, including Greater China. The EU’s intervention stocks of Skim Milk Powder (SMP) have also now cleared for the season and, as a result, we expect demand for SMP to be strong.”
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Private hospital business Ramsay Health Care Limited (ASX: RHC) is one of the final blue chip businesses to reveal its result this reporting season.
Ramsay’s revenue grew by 14.9% to $5.1 billion, excluding Capio it was up 6.1%. Group EBITDA increased by 9.8% to $728.6 million. Core net profit increased by 1%, excluding Capio it went up 1.8%
Ramsay decided to increase the interim dividend by 4.3% to 60 cents per share.
Ramsay Managing Director Craig McNally said: “We now have market leading positions in Australia, France and Scandinavia, which enables us to achieve improved economies of scale, best practice, cost leadership, speed to market, and innovation.”
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