So  how was your reporting season ?

Australia has just finished its reporting season  and the action is just picking up. judging from the reporting season  we  will  possibly in for a helluva ride looking forward.

There was the minor hiccups affecting the global economy predictions like the Greece scare that is still fresh in our minds  and alive  and the impending doom of the  UL economy gloom ( when is that bubble going to be pricked) .Irrespective of all this  our reporting season  saw very good results  with the mining stocks poised to boom and the banks expanding into  overseas economies ( CBA and ANZ poised to explore growth potential in india  after acquiring their licenses) .

CommSec assessed 129 companies among the top 200 on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and found that 113, or 88 per cent, were profitable for the six months to December 31, 2009. Sixty-seven per cent reported improved earnings and 60 per cent lifted earnings per share.

Australia's December quarter GDP came in slightly stronger than expected, with growth of 0.9% in the quarter which, combined with upwards revisions to growth in the previous two quarters, resulted in growth over the year to the December quarter of 2.7%.

Rockers of reporting season:

Coca-Cola Amatil pleased with its annual figure.

Woolworths, AGL and Harvey Norman impressed

Dazzlers were the supposedly generously valued net stocks such as Realestate.com. Wotif, Carsales and Melbourne IT

Shockers of reporting season:

Toll Holdings, which shocked the market last Thursday when it missed expectations by almost 15 per cent

Timber-lopper Gunns slipped on ice with a 99 per cent profit decline

Qantas,  and plumbing supplier Crane Group disappointed

Foster's Group lost its fizz

CommSec expects the SP/ASX 200 and the All Ordinaries indices to lift to 5,150 by mid-year and to 5,600 by the end of calendar 2010.

Recent earnings upgrades from big companies such as Commonwealth Bank and Qantas, as well as a strong fourth-quarter production report from miner Rio Tinto ahead of its full-year results in March, have added to the belief that the worst is behind us.

The AMP's chief economist, Dr Shane Oliver, says that as we approach the one year anniversary of the bear market low in shares (Australian shares bottomed on March 6, 2009 and US shares bottomed on March 9) things are vastly different; the economy is much stronger than expected and corporate profits are recovering solidly. Profits have now bottomed and with the economy picking up pace and costs well and truly under control profits are likely to rise by around 20% over the next year.

Australia's growth performance remains stellar compared to other advanced countries - Australia's growth of 2.7% through 2009 compares to just 0.1% growth in the US, a 0.4% contraction in Japan, and a 2.1% contraction in the euro-zone and a 3.3% contraction in the UK

In the United States, the current reporting season has seen about 80% of companies surprise on the upside. But don’t assume positive earnings will translate necessarily translate into a higher stock price.

Reporting season for Newbies

1. What are the dates for the end of the ASX reporting seasons?

2. What is the Reporting Season?

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Director-General Pascal Lamy, in his report on the state of play in the Doha Round to the General Council on 22 February 2010, said that “although some progress is taking place, gaps remain”. He suggested that the stocktaking at the end of March be undertaken by senior officials, adding that “the Geneva process remains ready to translate political movement into concrete and substantive progress”.

WORLD TRADE WEAKENS

World trade fell by 12 percent last year as the economic crisis caused the biggest drop since 1945, giving new urgency to the need to conclude trade talks, WTO chief Pascal Lamy said Wednesday.

Lamy said the worst contraction in more than 60 years made it "economically imperative to conclude" the Doha Round of global trade talks, which started in 2001 and remained deadlocked after nine years of negotiations due to lingering disagreements between developed and developing countries on market access for agricultural and industrial goods.

The unprecedented reduction in global commerce makes it "economically imperative to conclude" international trade negotiations, which are at a standstill, in 2010, Lamy said.

ECONOMIC DATA SHOW WORLD TRADE HAS WEAKENED SO FAR IN 2010

" World trade was reduced by 12 percent in 2009," he told the European Policy Centre, a Brussels think tank.It was the "sharpest decline" since the end of the World War II, he said, and worse than the 10 percent fall that the WTO had forecast in December.The Doha Round of trade negotiations began in 2001 with a focus on dismantling obstacles to trade for poor nations, by aiming for a deal that would cut agriculture subsidies and tariffs on industrial goods.

Deadlines to conclude the talks have been repeatedly missed.

Discussions have been dogged by disagreements, including on how much the United States and the European Union should reduce farm aid and the extent to which developing countries such as India and China should. The WTO chief said on Monday that it was too early for trade ministers to meet at the end of March on a new push for the Doha Round, dampening hope that the trade talks could be concluded by the year end as promised by world leaders.

ANZ  Ready to launch into Indian market

ANZ appears to have all but secured its long-awaited Indian banking licence after the nation's reserve bank recommended to the Indian government that it be allowed to open a branch in Mumbai. An unnamed official with India's Ministry of Finance was quoted by India's Economic Times as saying the Reserve Bank of India had given its approval to the ANZ application for a banking licence. The final decision on the matter now sits with India's Finance Minister.

ANZ BANK IN INDIA

RBI ( RESERVE BANK OF INDIA ) has recommended to the finance ministry that ANZ Bank be allowed to open a branch in Mumbai, opening the doors to the bank that was caught up in the 1992 securities scam and had left the country at the turn of the millennium.  At the turn of the millennium, ANZ, or the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, was among the top three foreign banks in India, but it made an exit from the country in 2000 after selling its Grindlays Bank unit to Standard Chartered for $1.34 billion. At that time, ANZ Grindlays had 41 branches in India.

REF:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/banking/finance/banking/RBI-recommends-opening-of-ANZ-Mumbai-branch/articleshow/5574412.cms

The licence would open a new front to the ambitious Asian expansion headed by the ANZ chief executive, Mike Smith. The bank has been waiting more than a year for approval to enter the fast-growing Indian market.

Last year, ANZ took part in talks regarding the 30 Royal Bank of Scotland branches in India but the branches were sold to HSBC. ANZ has a mixed history in the Indian market through its previous ownership of Grindlays, which it sold to Standard Chartered in 2000. Grindlays later became involved in a long-running legal action after being caught up in a fraudulent cheque scam. ANZ was eventually hit with more than $280 million in losses as a result of the action. ANZ owns a technology services business in Bangalore, which provides back office support for the bank's Australian and New Zealand operations. In India, like other parts of Asia, ANZ is hoping to sell retail banking services to the nation's booming middle class.

Bank ANZ in Vietnam

ANZ is Australia’s leading bank in Asia.

In Vietnam, ANZ has been providing banking services for the last 14 years. ANZ has won quite a few banking awards in asia

• ‘Best Customer Oriented Bank’ 2005, Vietnam Economic Times
• ‘Most Favourite Bank in Vietnam’ 2004, Vietnam Economic Times
• ‘Best Foreign Bank in Vietnam 2003/4’, Finance Asia, Hong Kong
• ‘Best Retail Bank in Vietnam 2003’, The Asian Banker, Singapore

ANZ ( Australia and New Zealand Bank ) around the world

ANZ was founded in Australia more than 150 years ago. It has since grown to become a major international banking and financial services group. ANZ is Australia’s leading bank in Asia and the Pacific and today is one of the top 50 banks in the world. With thousands of banking outlets, modern systems, world-leading technology, financial expertise and a real commitment to local communities, ANZ is now the choice for banking services for over 6 million customers worldwide.

Related Links:

http://www.australianstockwatch.com/2009/10/15-million-for-new-anz-bank-logo.html

http://www.blogcatalog.com/blogs/australian-stock-watch/posts/tag/anz/

Is Qantas a good stock pick , well looking at the market signs today  it sure is telling us  where Qantas is heading  at least for the short term ,DOWN and so is its aircraft from what we saw today on the news, yet another Qantas incident.

Shareholders dump Qantas stock

Shareholders savaged the Qantas stock  today bringing it down a heft 8 % to $2.73  and their Qantas  aircraft followed suit by coming down as well after being unable to operate its  landing gear properly. Qantas had bad news to spare today - in the air and on the ground - after a plane with troublesome landing gear was forced to turn back as the company announced a massive fall in profit.

The carrier disappointed investors when it forecast that annual earnings before tax would only reach 300 to 400 million Australian dollars ($268 to 358 million). The airline had already made 267 million Australian dollars ($239 million) in the first six months, but higher fuel and depreciation costs were expected to reduce second-half earnings.

Qantas said that in light of current market conditions and fuel prices, in addition to its "capital expenditure program," it has opted to not pay an interim dividend to shareholders."Future dividends will be assessed against ongoing earnings performance and capital requirements," the company said.

DISMAL QANTAS PROFIT ANNOUNCED

Qantas net profit for the half year had fallen by 72 per cent to $58 million because of the global financial crisis and fewer people travelling overseas. That was no surprise for share market analyst Roger Montgomery, who said airfares were far too cheap and it was amazing that airlines could make any money."They only continue to operate because they're able to borrow money or raise fresh capital from shareholders," he said.

The global airline industry is expected to take several years to recover from the downturn. The International Air Transport Association said the industry may lose $5.6 billion in 2010.

Qantas is part of the Oneworld alliance that includes American Airlines ( AMR - news - people ), British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways ( CPCAY.PK - news - people ) and Japan Airlines, which was bolstered last week by the news that JAL would stay with the group. Delta Air Lines ( DAL - news -people ) had been lobbying hard to persuade Japan's bankrupt carrier to switch to its SkyTeam group instead.

Technorati Tags: Dividend,qantas stock price,quantas dividend,net profit qantas,qantas profit report,airlines,sector,aviation,incidents,Airline accidents

Qantas Annual report 2009

Qantas previous incidents

Qantas Airbus A330 incident, 480km North West of Perth on 27 December 2008
Qantas Airbus A330 Accident on 7 October 2008 ( Qantas A330 In Flight Upset Accident 7 October 2008)

Qantas Boeing 747-400 accident and diversion to Manila on 25 July 2008 ( Qantas 747 Depressurization Accident 25 July 2008)

Qantas tyre burst incident in Singapore 8 March 2006