The market is up 20. The SFE Futures were up 5 this morning after a 74 point rise in the ASX 200 yesterday.

The Dow Jones closed up 8 overnight. It was the 2nd day it closed higher after 3 days of losses. Initial jobless claims were up more than expected. The 1st Q revised GDP number was unchanged at 1.8%…below expectations for 2%+. Commodities were down. The oil price was down $1.09 to $100.23. Gold was down $3.90 to $1522.80. Aussie dollar was up more than 1c to 106.35.

Quiet day today…

  • Centrebet (CIL) has agreed to be acquired by Sportingbet for $183m with shareholders receiving $2.00 per Centrebet share. The deal is subject to London-listed Sportingbet raising cash to fund the deal. CIL up 6.3% to 196c.
  • Breville (GRB) – Talk that GUD will bid. They had a bid knocked back by the ACCC in 2009. GUD still holds 19.29%. Premier Investment (PMV – Solomon Lew) has a 30.25% stake and is thought likely to be a willing seller. Also talk that Electrolux may be a buyer. Meanwhile the stock yields 4.5% (40% franked?). On a PE of 12.3x. Strong balance sheet. ROE of 25-45%. BRG 329c unchanged today.
  • RHG Limited (RHG) – Talk that Pepper Homeloans who recently bought GE’s $5bn home loan book is interested in buying RHG’s $4.4bn loan book. No mention of price but is likely to keep RHG on the go. RHG up 1.5c to 43c.
  • AJ Lucas Group (AJL) have downgraded full year earnings guidance – now expects EBITDA of $19-21m, down from earlier guidance of $32-36m. They say they will sell assets to reduce debt which it says is “unsustainable”. They said that after experiencing “difficult trading conditions” they were “starting to trade well” following restructuring. AJL currently suspended at 135c.
  • Tower Ltd (TWR) –  Half year net profit fell 54% to $NZ12.8m, including the impact of earthquakes in Christchurch and a loss due to changes in the global investment market.  TWR unchanged at 133c.
  • Acrux (ACR) said it has been granted marketing approval in Sweden for its Ellavie product, a spray-on menopause treatment, which could lead to further approvals to sell the treatment elsewhere in Europe. ACR up 0.9%.
  • Japan‘s core consumer prices rose 0.6% in April from a year earlier, for its first annual rise in over 2 years.
  • US markets closed for a holiday on Monday.
  • NAB ex dividend on June 2nd. Next Thursday.
  • Stocks hitting 52-week highs: CIL, GPG, PFL, SKI, SPL, TSI.

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