Boral lifts 1HFY13 net profit guidance, Australia

Boral Ltd today announced that following stronger-than-expected performance in the December 2012 quarter, it expects net profit after tax (before significant items) for the first half of FY13 to be approximately AUD52m, subject to finalisation of the audit review.

At its 2012 Annual General Meeting on 1 November, the company had said that it expected Boral’s first half FY13 net profit after tax (before significant items) to be comparable with that achieved in the second half of FY2012, which was approximately AUD35m.

The improvement on Boral’s previous guidance primarily reflects better than anticipated trading conditions in its Australian Construction Materials division underpinned by favourable weather conditions, together with early benefits from Boral’s restructuring and rationalisation activities announced on 16 January 2013.

Boral’s new segment reporting on Wednesday 13 February 2013, Boral will announce its results for the six months ended 31 December 2012. As a result of changes to Boral’s management reporting structure, the company has amended its reportable segments to comply with the requirements of the relevant accounting standard.

Last week, the company also announced further redundancies following a 100-day review by its new chief executive Mike Kane. The company is to cut 700 functional, operational support and managerial positions jobs in Australia. Of those 700, some 200 have already occurred in late 2012, with the majority of redundancies expected to be completed by March 2013.  New South Wales is to bear the brunt of the cuts, accounting for a third of the job losses, with 20 per cent of the reductions coming from Victoria and Queensland and the balance spread across the rest of the country.

An additional 300 production jobs in Australia (185) and the US (115) are to be axed, including the 90 previously-announced job cuts as part of the decision to end clinker production at Waurn Ponds in Victoria, announced last month.