appears to be a nasty opening, page-20

DJ MARKET TALK: Allco Shares Down Amid Hedge Fund Selling Talk

0103 GMT [Dow Jones] With MFS (MFS.AU) woes prompting market to look for next stock to
be hit by subprime fallout, Allco Finance (AFG.AU) down 24% at A$3.66, after earlier
hitting 3.5 year low of A$3.40. Nervous market bailing out of companies with complicated
structures. Traders say talk of hedge fund selling is adding momentum to fall. AFR Due
Diligence column says some hedge funds are betting AFG may go way of RAMS (RHG.AU),
Centro (CNP.AU), MFS (MFS.AU). Cites analysts saying market is concerned about
difficulties AFG faces in moving from private partnership to listed company structure.
Analysts cite market concern over transparency of AFG, high proportion of management
ownership, related-party transactions, raising questions about governance issues.
Investors are also unhappy about recent acquisition of Rubicon, which increased exposure
to international property at a time when that sector is suffering from credit crunch.
Challenger Financial (CGF.AU) also caught up in the turmoil today, down 59 cents, or 14%,
at A$3.60 - lowest level in just over a year. (RBT)

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 20, 2008 20:03 ET (01:03 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Monday 21 January 2008 12:03:42:250 AEST




News Story: AFG; CGF; CNP; MFS; RHG - DJ MARKET TALK: Allco Shares Down Amid Hedge Fund Selling Talk