Barrenjoey speculated that Newcrest could defend itself from Newmont with a strategic break-up of the business to ascribe improved value. The board may evaluate a spin-off of Lihir “as we think its position in the portfolio might be a driver of the valuation discount we observe in the share price”, said analyst Daniel Morgan.AdvertisementP/ASX 200 Index dropped 0.3 per cent or 19.1 points to 7539 points; the All Ordinaries fell by the same margin to 7745.9.
Citi analyst Sam Teeger said customer orders in January for future delivery of Nick Scali brand sofas were down 12 per cent on the same time a year ago, a sign of slowing demand.Endeavour Group rose 1.8 per cent to $6.93 after NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said all gambling on poker machines would be cashless in five years’ time, with self-determined limits, if he were to win re-election on March 25.
ARB dropped 0.2 per cent to $33.32 after reporting a 30 per cent decline in interim net profit. Its bottom line was within the range of $64.0 million to $64.6 million, a decline of 29.7 per cent from a year earlier. The profit result reflected the lower sales and the inflationary impact on the company’s cost base, ARB said.