Sydney - Wednesday - Dec 29: (RWE Australian Business News) - **************************** Some share price moves to keep an eye on in the market:
QBE INSURANCE (QBE) down 19c to $15.01: Went as low as $14.96 in early dealings, despite issuing a statement saying the earthquake and resulting tsunamis in southeast Asia were not expected to have a material impact on QBE's 2004 insurance profit targets. Other insurers were also hit, in line with the global post-tsunami trend, with AMP down 7c to $7.18, AXA 3c to $4.07, Promina 7c to $5.29 and IAG 3c to $6.35.
FLIGHT CENTRE (FLT) down 14c to $18.61: Reflects pressure on travel operators as investors considered the impact of the tsunamis on the Asian tourism industry, which had already been weakened by fears of terrorism and SARS outbreaks. Flight Centre today said would waive its cancellation policies for customers travelling to affected areas until January 15. Meanwhile, Transonic Travel was down 9c to $****, Harvey World Travel 5c to $1.40, Jetset Travelworld 4c to 52c and Gullivers Travel 4c to $1.40.
QANTAS (QAN) down 3c to $3.70: Also washed up in the tsunami selloff, along with Air New Zealand down 2c to $1.51.
VIRGIN BLUE (VBA) up 1c to $1.87: Has managed to buck today's weaker trend among airlines, thanks to news it had formed a joint venture with the government of Samoa to launch Polynesian Blue.
WESTFIELD GROUP (WDC) up 16c to $16.48: Touched $16.54 after reporting "overwhelming support" for a $US4 billion global syndicated facility, the largest ever in the Australian market.
RANGE RESOURCES (RRS) up 1.8c to 5.5c: Follows announcement the first drillhole of an 18-hole campaign at Forrestania in WA had hit significant sulphide mineralisation.
CUSTOMERS (CUS) up 3c to 15.5c: Has agreed to buy almost 700 merchant ATMs from St George Bank for $38 million. This single transaction will almost complete Customers's initial objective of achieving a base of 1000 ATMs nationally.
ST GEORGE (SGB) up 10c to $25.47: Today said it expected to achieve a book profit of $26.6 million before tax from the sale of its unbranded ATM network to Customers. The bank will continue to own and maintain its branded ATM network.
PACIFIC ENERGY (PEA) down 4c to 36c: Follows news it has granted an option for the sale of its stake in the Nonoc nickel project in the Philippines which, the company has concluded, is no longer feasible.
BOUGAINVILLE COPPER (BOC) up 8.5c to 44c: Shares opened at 39c and rose throughout the morning. This is the second time in a fortnight the shares have taken off for no known reason. The stock jumped 6c to 35c on December 17.
