This write down was predictable. This is a public company after...

This write down was predictable. This is a public company after all so it is in the banks 'interest' to keep them as highly geared as possible to ensure the maximum amount of income is diverted from shareholders to the banks pockets and ensure they have to sail close to the wind in a downturn.

There will be hundreds of companies making similar write downs. Watch RIO and BHP make big write downs again this year. Hell, these days, if you are a mining company you can write down at least 20% of your assets every two years but with a 50% commodity price plunge, this year and next probably are going to be in the record books. So much for the commodities boom. It has been an unmitigated disaster of capital allocation and tax grabs.

Regardless the focus is on the future and whether it can survive. Looks like it might squeak by at these iron/steel prices, but of course this is a leveraged iron ore play now. If Iron tanks to new lows, this tanks to new lows as risk rises. Iron rises sustainably off lows, this will act similarly. At the moment a speculators stock, but any evidence of a sustainable rise in iron ore prices will likely see investors front up.