The market is unchanged. The SFE Futures were down 1 this morning.

The Dow closed down 1. It was down as much as 100 and up 44, but unable to hold above the 13,000 level. It rallied on news of a German vote in favour of the Greek bailout deal. The S&P 500 closed slightly higher and hit its highest level since June 2008. The index is now up 9% this year. Metal prices were mostly higher on the LME. The gold price was down $8.10 to $1769.30. The Aussie dollar was up buying $107.56¢. The oil price down $2.08 to $107.69.

Main points:

  • QBE Insurance Group (QBE) FY profit was down 45% to US$704m, in line with consensus. Revenue was up 37% to US$20.1bn. Final dividend of 25c. QBE is currently in a trading halt pending the announcement of a $500m capital raising to replace its current tier two convertible debt.
  • Telstra (TLS) has cleared the final objective to allow its participation in the NBN. The ACCC has accepted TLS’s structural separation undertaking and approved its draft migration plan. This marks a significant milestone in the structural reform of the sector. The approval is the last step before TLS can begin migrating its customers to the NBN.
  • Boral (BLD) interim underlying profit was down 28% to $67m and below expectations. Dividend of 7.5c. BLD has given guidance for a FY profit of $150m-$175m which was below market expectations. This could prompt analyst downgrades by about 5% as they had expected guidance of $174.5m.
  • James Hardie (JHX) 3rd Q profit up 32% to US$27.7m below the expected $30.5m. Total sales increased 4% to US$283m. Interim dividend of US 4c. JHX confirmed guidance and expects FY earnings to be between US$130m-$140m.
  • Aristocrat Leisure (ALL) FY profit was $66.1m above the expected $61.7m. This included a one-time convertible bond settlement. EBIT was up 30.8% to $119.7m. Final dividend of 4c. The company said it expects strong growth in fiscal 2012 with continued volatility from mixed economic conditions, currency headwinds and competitive trading conditions.
  • Southern Cross Austereo (SXL) 1st H profit was up 180% to $94m which was better than expected. This included a one-off benefit of $36m arising from the Austereo acquisition. Revenue was up 66% to $362.6m. Interim dividend of 5c.
  • Prime Media Group (PRT) reported a 1st H profit of $16.1 up 5% above an expected $15.2m. EBITDA was up 3% to $28.6m. Interim dividend of 3.3c.
  • Atlas Iron (AGO) delivered an interim profit of $62.2m up 77.5% in line with an expected $60.9m. Interim dividend 3c. Confirmed production guidance of 5.5-5.7Mt.
  • AGL Energy have announced a $650m subordinated note issue.

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