Business lending falls in September, Shares move higher: Midday Roundup

Business lending fell in September, according to the latest figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The figures show commercial finance fell 10% to $30.8 billion, from the $34 billion recorded in August, while personal finance fell by a seasonally adjusted 2.5%.

Revolving credit commitments fell by 7.3%, while fixed lending commitments also rose by 1.7%.

Shares higher after strong overseas leads

The Australian sharemarket has opened higher this morning after strong leads from overseas markets late last week, with investors growing more confident Europe will be able to create a deal to manage Italy and Greece’s sovereign debt.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 33 points or 0.8% to 4229.8 at 12.10 AEST, while the Australian dollar rose to $US1.03c.

AMP shares rose 0.69% to $4.38, while NAB shares also rose by 0.61% to $24.73. Westpac rose by 1.09% to $21.27 as the Commonwealth Bank saw its shares rise by 1.33% to $50.25.

In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 259 points or 2.2% to 12,153.7.

Elders records full year loss

Elders has recorded a $395.4 million annual loss but predicts its performance will improve over the next year.

The net loss for the year to September was $395.4 million, with a large chunk of that coming from the sale of the company’s forestry assets.

Managing director Malcolm Jackman said in a statement the results represent a good improvement on the company’s part.

“After a difficult start to the year, seasonal conditions have been positive and we are starting to see the benefits of the investment made in business transformation over the past three years as the business has clearly turned around,” he said in a statement.

“Seasonal and market conditions will have a high degree of influence on our result as always,” he said. “But with that qualification, our rural services business goes into the new financial year with momentum from the turnaround in network operations, and with its trading operations on the rebound after what was a very disrupted year in 2011.”

DuluxGroup shares lift on FY profit tip

Shares in DuluxGroup have risen after the paint maker flagged an increase in full-year profit.

Chief executive Patrick Houlihan has told analysts that, subject to economic conditions, he expects the 2012 underlying net profit after tax to be higher than that recorded in 2011.

This year it reported a 13% lift in underling net profit for the year to $77.6 million amid “challenging conditions”.

Net profit was up 52% to $62 million.

At 11.50 am, DuluxGroup shares were up 13 cents to $2.82.

Tony Blair warns collapse of euro would be “catastrophic”

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has called for urgent action to support the euro, warning a collapse of the shared currency would be “catastrophic”.

Blair told the BBC there had “never been a tougher time to be a leader right now” as the “myth that the Italian and German economies were the same… has now evaporated.”

Blair added that former Prime Minister Gordon Brown was correct to keep Britain out of the euro.