澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2010-08-21

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The local share market took its lead from a tumble on Wall Street today and not even a hearty¹ outlook from the RBA deputy governor could pull it up. The All Ords and the ASX 200 closed more than one per cent lower. Billabong shares fell ten per cent after announcing a four and a half per cent fall in full-year profit and issuing a weak outlook. But ANZ put on two per cent, a solid increase in profit overshadowing a warning of slow future growth. And Consolidated² Media Holdings added two and a half despite reporting an eight per cent fall in full-year profit. Weakness in the US also weighed on Asian markets. Japan's Nikkei slipped nearly two per cent. And the Australian dollars eased to 89.1 US cents.

ANZ has joined NAB and the Commonwealth³ Bank in warning that higher funding costs are hurting profit margins⁴. ANZ's reported an underlying⁵ profit after tax of 1.3 billion dollars for the June quarter. But chief executive Mike Smith says despite the good result, ANZ faces growing pressure from increased funding costs. Lenders have previously⁶ used higher funding costs to justify⁷ rate rises outside of any official increases.
And Canadian agribusiness Agrium is a step closer in its bid to take over AWB. Agrium's finished due diligence on the Australian wheat company.