Brisbane-based Campbell Brothers expects full year net profit to be in the range of $200 million to $220 million, after reporting a 54% jump in first half profit.
And the company boosted interim dividend to 95c a share from 65c previously, according to yesterday’s statement from the company.
The interim dividend is 50% partly franked, just as the previous interim was because of the company’s rising level of offshore sourced earnings.
Despite that good news, the company’s shares yesterday fell 54c, or 1.1% at first, at $48.46 after a strong run up in the past couple of months of more than $10 a share.
They then rebounded to close unchanged on the day at $49 as the wider market enjoyed a solid afternoon which saw a 1% plus rise for the second successive day.
The testing services company said net profit for the six months to September 30 was $102.3 million, up from $66.3 million in the same period last year.
First half revenue grew by 22% to $667.5 million as testing in the resources sector and the impact of several takeovers here and offshore kicked in with big contributions.
The company said all divisions within the core ALS laboratory services business posted higher profits and margins, with particularly strong growth in analytical testing services in the minerals division.
"Trading in October and November has remained very strong and the company expects the full year after tax profit, excluding unusual items, will be in the range of $200 to $220 million," Mr McGrath said in a statement yesterday.
Campbell Brothers recorded a net profit of $132.35 million in the financial year to March 31 this year.
The company is one of the best examples of how the resources boom is being spread through medium and smaller sized non-resource companies.
Other companies feeling the benefits of the boom recently are Programmed Maintenance which has a big contract starting at the Gorgon LNG project soon, and UGL and Bradken which continue to win rail and engineering business.
Judging by the figures issued yesterday by the federal government’s main resources adviser, the boom will go on for years to come, providing more business opportunities for the likes of Campbell.
And one of those projects will be the huge Olympic Dam mine of BHP Billiton.
That mega project has moved one more step closer to expanding its already huge Olympic Dam mine after the multi-billion dollar project was approved by South Australian parliament yesterday.
Despite fears the evenly-divided South Australian Upper House could delay or frustrate the final approval, the legislation gained a ‘yes’ vote early yesterday afternoon.
After a procedural approval in the lower house of South Australian parliament is out of the way, BHP can start spending $1.2 billion in ”pre-commitment capital” announced two months ago.
BHP promised that spending in October, saying it would be spent on trucks, accommodation and other long-lead items, on the grounds that the South Australian parliament gave speedy approval to the $30 billion project.
The Olympic Dam Project will create one of the world’s largest open pit mines with the potential to increase copper production from around 180,000 tonnes per annum to 750,000 tonnes per annum and beyond.
It will expand to become the world’s biggest uranium mine, as well as continue to produce significant amounts of gold.
BHP Billiton received environmental approvals for the Olympic Dam Project from the government of South Australia and the Commonwealth in October this year, following assessment of its draft and supplementary Environmental Impact Statements.
BHP says its board will make a final investment decision on whether to go ahead with the project in the middle of next year.
BHP shares were down 18c to $34.67 around the time of the approval yesterday, but recovered in the afternoon to end up 13c at $34.98.
The company welcomed the approval with the company’s Uranium President Dean Dalla Valle saying, “This is a major milestone in the progression of our Olympic Dam Project.
"The passage of this Bill provides the Company with greater certainty for what would be a significant investment and demonstrates South Australia’s support for the project.
"It also allows us to activate pre-commitment funding, previously approved by the Board, for the purchase of long lead items such as trucks, infrastructure development and early site works for the first phase of the expansion project.
"We need to complete further studies on the project before seeking Board approval next year for the first stage of our expansion.
"If approved, the Olympic Dam Project will be an economic driver for South Australia over the next 40 years."
And early Wednesday BHP announced that it was reviewing its Canadian diamond operations for possible sale.
"This review will, therefore, examine whether a continued presence in the diamonds industry is consistent with BHP Billiton’s strategy and evaluate the potential sale of all or part of the diamonds business," he company said in a statement.
And it was a circumspect Gerry Harvey who addressed the company’s AGM yesterday.
The company has already in effect downgraded interim earnings by reporting a $14 million fall in pre-tax
