Sydney, Aug 23, 2007 (ABN Newswire) - Australian shares have gained in morning trade as upbeat earnings boosted shares in top miner BHP Billiton and investment firm Babcock & Brown, while financial shares gained on receding worries about credit markets.

At Midday the S&P/ASX200 index has gained 160 points to 6,165 and on the futures market the SPI 200's up 142.

In company news this hour, Babcock & Brown this morning reported a 53 per cent rise in first half profit, boosted by strong fee income, and raised its full-year earnings forecasts. Babcock unveiled net profit of $250.1 million for six months ended June, up from $163 million a year ago and above analysts expectations. Babcock shares have been hard hit over the past month due to the turmoil in global credit markets, as investors exited companies which take on huge debts to make acquisitions however this morning the company dispelled investors concerns about the impact of global credit squeeze, saying it had expanded its corporate debt facility to $2.35 billion, of which only $1.8 billion has been currently drawn. Babcock & Brown shares are 10.93% higher at $25.07

The full report is available at the following video and audio links.

Video Link

http://abnnewswire.net/fnnlnk/13EW21O2


Audio Link
http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/2FM9K9NZ

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