Ports and rail operator Asciano Group
(ASX:AIO) says its subsidiary Pacific National has signed a 10 year haulage contract with its largest coal customer Xstrata Coal.
The contract is expected to generate revenue in excess of $800 million for Asciano over the ten year period.
The contract, which is to commence in January 2011, covers the significant majority of Xstrata’s current coal haulage volumes across the Hunter Valley and Port Kembla regions in NSW.
Asciano CEO Mark Rowsthorn says this contract is the largest executed single customer contract for Pacific National’s Coal Division.
Asciano says the contract enhances Pacific National’s significant footprint in coal haulage in NSW, which is expected to increase in scale by more than 50 per cent in the next five years. Asciano’s 2008 net profit was $197.4 million.
Abacus Property Group (ASX:ABP) says the valuation of its portfolio declined 11 per cent or $93 million over the half to $782 million at June 30 2009.
The property group says that 68 per cent of its portfolio of properties were independently valued at June, and properties not independently valued at June were last valued independently in December 2008.
Abacus says the decline in the value of its portfolio was offset by a $24 million improvement in the mark to market value of the group’s interest rate hedging swap book, with the liability reduced from $61 million to $37 million over the half year to June 30.
The company says as a result of these revaluations the group’s gearing at the end of fiscal 2009 is approximately 27 per cent, while the group’s covenant gearing is approximately 32 per cent compared with a 45 per cent covenant. Abacus Property Group’s 2008 net profit fell from its 2007 high of $120.4 million.
Drug Developer Biota Holdings (ASX:BTA) says royalties from the sale of its anti-flu drug Relenza more than doubled for the 2009 financial year from the year before.
Biota says royalties for the 2009 financial year totalled $45 million compared to $20.5 million in the 2008 financial year.
Distributor of the drug, GlaxoSmithKline says it plans to ramp up annual production of the drug to 190 million courses by the end of 2009, a threefold increase to its previous capacity of 60 million courses. Biota says the expansion of Relenza capacity and any increase in resultant royalty payments, will not affect the company’s cash position until June 2010 at the earliest. Looking back at the past five years Biota Holdings only net profit was in 2007 recording $20.18 million.
