Press Releases

Sydney, April 15, 2010 (ABN Newswire) - Australian shares were stronger in early trade Thursday as resources sector were boosted by expectations of a batch of positive economic data from China. The benchmark ASX200 index rose to above 5000-point territory for the first time in 19 months, following the recent rebound of the broader All Ordinaries share index. Asian markets broadly were higher today with Japan's Nikkei opened up 0.9 per cent.

Key Economic Facts and Figures

Melbourne Institute said Australian consumer inflationary expectations showed that inflation pressure is mounting after a relatively stable period. Consumer inflationary expectations rose to 4.1% in April from 3.2% in March on continued low unemployment and a growing local economy.

Company News

Bank of Queensland (ASX:BOQ) today posted a 96 per cent increase in profit after tax to A$90.9 million for the year ended 28 February, compared with a result of A$46.3 million in the corresponding period of 2009. Normalised cash net profit after tax for the first half of current fiscal year was A97.2 million, up 15 per cent from the same half a year earlier. BOQ managing director David Liddy said the banks was in a far stronger position than it had been at the start of the global financial crisis and was now focused on delivering on its commitments to the market.

Gloucester Coal (ASX:GCL) said it had reached terms for its semi-hard coking coal volumes for Japanese fiscal year 2011 at prices close to 100 per cent higher than those achieved for 2009/10 contracts. In line with recent market movements, agreements reached with customers in Asia have been moved to shorter quarterly contracts from those previously priced annually. Gloucester said the new prices were "the second highest" that the miner has ever achieved for its coking coal.

MEO Australia (ASX:MEO) said Wednesday it has signed a farm-in agreement with Brazil's state-owned oil company Petrobras for the future development of the Artemis Prospect offshore Western Australia. Petrobras will earn a 50 per cent interest in the permit. The deal is the first step that Petrobras become involved in Australian oil and gas amid overseas competition for potential long-term energy sources in Australia.

Australian copper explorer CuDeco Ltd (ASX:CDU) said it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a mining and construction subsidiary of China state-owned Sinosteel Group. The MOU outlines financing and terms arrangement options for Cudeco for the entire development of the 100 per cent owned Rocklands Project in Queensland.

Contact

Michelle Liang Asia Business News Asia Bureau Tel: +61-2-9247-4344 Email: michelle.liang@abnnewswire.net