Rio Tinto Limited (RIO):
Rio Tinto’s latest production report has further underscored its reliance on its world-beating Pilbara iron ore operations, with the West Australian mines safely navigating their way through the wet season while much of the company’s broader portfolio was touched by industrial action and weaker output. The mining giant yesterday released a solid set of numbers for the March quarter, with Pilbara iron ore shipments up 5 per cent from a year earlier to 80.3 million tonnes thanks to a milder cyclone season and the ramp-up of Rio’s new Silvergrass mine. The company also reported further improvement in its Pilbara rail network, which has long been the bottleneck of the iron ore operations. About 65 per cent of all trains during the quarter were operated autonomously by Rio Tinto’s ambitious AutoHaul system, up from 60 per cent in December, and AutoHaul is on schedule to be completed by the end of this year.
Santos LTD (STO):
Santos’s first quarter sales revenue was squeezed by a drop in production following a severe earthquake in Papua New Guinea, which offset stronger prices. Still, the oil-and-gas producer (STO) said it continued chipping away at its debt pile, putting it on track to hit a $US2 billion net debt target more than a year ahead of plan. The company, a target of a takeover offer worth about $US10.5 billion, previously raised the prospect of returning capital to shareholders if it can hit the target ahead of schedule. Santos produced 13.8 million barrels of oil equivalent in the first three months of the year, a drop of 8 per cent on the prior quarter and down 6.8 per cent from 14.8 million barrels a year earlier. The February earthquake forced the temporary closure of Exxon Mobil Corp’s PNG liquefied natural gas operation, in which Santos has a 13.5 per cent stake. Planned maintenance at operations in Australia also dented quarterly output, Santos said. The shutdown in Papua New Guinea is expected to reduce output and sales volumes by about 2 million barrels for the full year. Santos said it had trimmed the upper end of its earlier forecast for a production range of 55 million-58 million barrels. Last week, Exxon said the PNG LNG plant had restarted and deliveries would resume soon.
AMP Limited (AMP):
Over the last few decades AMP has regularly inflicted harm on itself. This week’s incredible revelations to the banking royal commission about breaking the law to boost profits takes the AMP tradition of self-harm to new, low levels and almost certainly it will result in yet another clean out of directors and top executives. Already shareholders have suffered yet another sickening loss.
BHP Billiton Limited (BHP):
BHP Billiton said it will produce less iron ore than expected this fiscal year because of unplanned maintenance work，and also cut expectations for its Olympic Dam copper mine in South Australia. BHP (BHP), the world’s top listed miner, reported iron-ore production of 58 million tonnes for the three months through March, up 8 per cent on-year but 6 per cent lower than the quarter immediately prior. Output of the steelmaking ingredient for the nine months through March rose 2 per cent to a record 175 million tonnes, it said. The miner is facing problems, however, with “car dumper reliability issues as we push to record levels of production,” sparking a downgrade to its full-year output forecast. BHP now expects to produce between 236 million and 238 million tonnes of ore, down from an earlier forecast of 239-243 million. The company meantime lowered fiscal-year production guidance for its Olympic Dam mine in southern Australia to roughly 135,000 tonnes from 150,000 tonnes because of a slower-than-anticipated ramp up following maintenance work there.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA):
Senior Commonwealth Bank executive Marianne Perkovic has been accused of dissembling in her evidence to the financial services royal commission to cover up the fact it took Australia’s biggest bank two years to tell the corporate regulator that it was ripping off customers by charging them fees for services they did not receive. Commissioner Kenneth Hayne had to repeatedly remind Ms Perkovic, who for many years was closely involved in CBA’s deeply troubled financial advice business, to answer the questions posed by counsel assisting the commission, Michael Hodge QC. The commission has heard that between 2007 and 2015, CBA and its financial planning subsidiaries failed to provide annual reviews to more than 30,000 customers.
Evolution Mining Ltd (EVN):
Evolution has narrowed its full year guidance range after reporting a lift in gold production in the March quarter. The company (EVN) produced 191,474 ounces of gold in the three months to March 31, down from 202,926 ounces in the prior corresponding period but up on the December quarter. The quarter-on-quarter rise was driven by strong production from Evolution’s Queensland mines, Mt Rawdon and Ernest Henry.
SKYCITY Entertainment Group Limited (SKC):
Investment bankers at Goldman Sachs are believed to be targeting Darwin’s most powerful families as possible buyers of SkyCity’s casino located within the Northern Territory capital. Information memorandums are now circulating in the market for the casino that was purchased by SkyCity in 2004 for $195 million. The understanding is that the listed casino operator is hoping to secure at least $200m for the business, but sources believe finding another casino company to take it off its hands is highly unlikely. A more probable outcome is that a private consortium, which already hold interests in the Northern Territory, acquires the casino.
South32 (S32):
South32 said it should produce more manganese than anticipated this fiscal year, and less coal, as the mining company also reported another rise in its cash balance. South32 (S32) said it expects to produce about 3.3 million wet tonnes of manganese ore from Australian operations this fiscal year, up 6 per cent on prior expectations. It also increased guidance for its South African manganese operations by 5 per cent to 2.15 million tonnes. The upgrade comes despite a fall in quarterly manganese ore production, by 10 per cent to 1.4 million tonnes for the three months through March. CEO Graham Kerr said the company was lifting production “in light of strong market demand.” South32 recorded small increases in quarterly coal output, but said it will produce less annually than anticipated mainly because of “a greater focus on coal clearance and ground rehabilitation activities at the Appin colliery during the quarter.” The company cut guidance for its Illawarra metallurgical coal operations to 4.1 million tonnes from 4.5 million tonnes previously.
Suncorp Group Ltd (SUN):
Suncorp chairman Ziggy Switkowski will retire from the board of financial services giant in September and be replaced in the role by Christine McLoughlin. Dr Switkowski will end his seven-year stint at the company’s annual general meeting, when Ms McLoughlin — a former Whitehaven Coal and Spark Infrastructure director — will take over. Ms McLoughlin is currently the chairman of Suncorp’s remuneration committee, was the inaugural chairman of the Australian Payments Council, and is also a director of health insurer nib.
Woodside Petroleum Limited (WPL):
Woodside Petroleum chief executive Peter Coleman says the company has already had early discussions with potential customers interested in sourcing liquefied natural gas from its newly acquired Scarborough project off Western Australia. After releasing the company’s latest quarterly production report yesterday, Mr Coleman told The Australian the integration of Scarborough into Woodside was making rapid progress.
（Source: AIMS）
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