Property group, Mirvac lost $12.7 million in the six months to December 31 after making a $215 million provision for loss on inventories.
Mirvac said yesterday the net loss for the six months to December 31, 2010 compared to a net profit of $47.2 million for the previous corresponding period.
The loss was signalled by the company in late January when it paid a quarterly distribution of two cents per security, identical to the September quarterly distribution bringing half-year distributions to four cents.
The securities rose 2.5c to $1.29, a rare rise on a day when the market was down around 1%.
Investors were relieved that Mirvac didn’t report any more problems.
The impairment losses were non-cash and the company yesterday revealed a 55% jump in first-half operating profit to $200.1 million, for the December half year.
That was struck on a 17% jump in revenue to $1.058 billion.
The company said it saw an improved outlook for some property sectors in Australia and is looking for a rise in second half earnings of around 14%
"The Group remains cautious in its outlook for the retail sector, with Australian consumer confidence softening following interest rate increases and a continued downtrend in annual retail turnover growth from a high of 4.0 per cent in July 2010," the company said in yesterday’s statement.
"Nationally, the average vacancy rate is expected to remain unchanged over the next six months.
"Conditions in the Australian industrial market have weakened recently and are expected to begin a gradual recovery going forward. In the major markets, conditions are best in Victoria where a mild upswing is underway, whilst New South Wales and Queensland remain the weaker states.
"National industrial vacancy rates are expected to continue to tighten over the next 12 months.
"Australian residential markets remain vulnerable to weaker construction momentum becoming entrenched in the medium term, and the prospect of higher interest rates and their subsequent impact upon affordability will continue to impact investor sentiment."
Mirvac said it will continue to focus on its core strengths of managing its Australian investment grade assets and developing large-scale, pre-eminent residential developments in core locations across Australia.
"Mirvac experienced limited impact to its residential projects and investment assets across Queensland as a result of the recent flood crisis and Cyclone Yasi. The Group will continue to monitor project impacts."
And shares in jobs website Seek weakened yesterday to a new 52 week low, despite a 31% rise in earnings and forecasts for a bigger profit in the current half.
Seek shares fell 11% after the results were released yesterday morning, falling 77c to $6.30.
They eased again in afternoon trading to be down 83c, or 11.7%, at $6.24, the lowest they have been for more than a year.
The fall happened despite the company lifting interim dividend and saying the half-year result was a "record", with profit, earnings, and revenue all higher.
Seek directors declared an interim dividend of 6.8c a share, fully franked, up from 5.2c, fully franked, in the first-half of 2009-10.
Net profit was $47.897 million, up 31 on a 22% rise in revenue to $159.532 million, and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) which rose 12% to $62.5 million.
"This was a record half year result for SEEK and was achieved due to sustained growth in the Employment Business, solid growth in Brasil Online and Zhaopin moving to profitability," Seek joint chief executive officer Andrew Bassat said in the statement.
The company’s other chief executive, Paul Bassat, said Seek continued to experience sustained month-on-month growth in job ads and was well positioned for further growth.
"There are still segments in the market which are under penetrated by SEEK and approximately 50% of job ad spend still resides in print," Paul Bassat said.
"If the current labour market trajectory continues, we expect SEEK to be the primary beneficiary given its market leading position and exposure to favourable structural trends."
Seek said it expected net profit in the second half of the current financial year would be greater than in the first half, excluding transaction costs involved in the takeover of JobsDB and its Swinburne joint venture.
Andrew Bassat said conditions in the education business had been challenging over the first half of 2010/11, but the company remained confident of its growth potential.
‘‘SEEK Learning, THINK and IDP are all industry leaders in their respective markets and exposed to large and growing market opportunities,’’ Andrew Bassat said in the statement.
Analysts said the weak performance in the education area was the reason for the sell off yesterday as it came as a surprise.
