Australia Stocks: Babcock, Beadell, Centro, Macquarie, Spotless

By Shani Raja

Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) -- The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 83.50 points, or 1.7 percent, to 5,014.90 at the close in Sydney, the most in almost three weeks. The broader All Ordinaries Index added 79.90 points, or 1.6 percent, to 5,090.10, while the futures index expiring in September advanced 2.2 percent to 5,004.

Financial stocks: National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB AU), the nation's largest lender by assets, gained 54 cents, or 2.3 percent, to A$24.09, the most since Aug. 12. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA AU) advanced A$1.27, or 3.1 percent, to A$42.65, the most since Aug. 6.

U.S. stocks advanced, led by banks and retailers, on oil's biggest plunge in four years and speculation a purchase of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. would end the worst slump by financial shares since at least 1962. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 14.48 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,292.20.

Babcock & Brown Ltd. (BNB AU), an Australian manager of infrastructure assets, rose 7 cents, or 2.8 percent, to A$2.55, extending Friday's 12 percent gain. Babcock may seek a buyer for Irish phone company Eircom Group Plc, the Irish Times reported, citing unidentified people.

Beadell Resources Ltd. (BDR AU), an Australian gold explorer, soared 5 cents, or a record 61 percent, to 13 cents, after announcing ``further encouraging'' diamond drill results from the Tartaruga project in Brazil.

Caltex Australia Ltd. (CTX AU) climbed 35 cents, or 2.9 percent, to A$12.30, the highest since Aug. 11. The company's rating was raised to ``neutral'' from ``underperform'' by analyst Andrew Williams at Credit Suisse Group.

Centro Properties Group (CNP AU) slumped 2 cents, or 9.1 percent, to a record low 20 cents. Centro said shareholders may be affected if it offers hybrid securities to win an extension on as much as A$6.6 billion ($5.7 billion) of debt.

Challenger Financial Services Group Ltd. (CGF AU), the Australian fund manager backed by billionaire James Packer, rose 16 cents, or 7.1 percent, to A$2.41, the most since Aug.6. Profit excluding investment writedowns rose 20 percent to A$218 million ($188 million) in the 12 months ended June 30, Challenger said in a statement today, beating the A$212 million median estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Goodman Fielder Ltd. (GFF AU), Australia's largest baker, fell 6 cents, or 4 percent, to A$1.45, the fourth-biggest loser on the index. The company turned to a second-half loss after taking an A$170 million ($147 million) writedown to its New Zealand dairy unit.

Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group (MCG AU) surged 26 cents, or 9.6 percent, to A$2.98, the most since Aug. 5. The company said it reached a deal with UK regulatory authorities for a merger of its Arqiva and NGW units.

Rio Tinto Group (RIO AU) rose A$1.30, or 1.1 percent, to A$122.30, the highest since the end of July, after its biggest shareholder Aluminum Corp. of China, or Chinalco, was given Australian government approval to raise its stake.

Spotless Group Ltd. (SPT AU), an Australian property manager, gained 36 cents, or 13 percent, to A$3.25, the highest since June 17. Spotless reported 13.5 percent higher net profit in fiscal 2008 due to ``operational efficiencies,'' saying it was confident of delivering further growth in the next financial year.

Transfield Services Ltd. (TSE AU), an Australian provider of maintenance services to miners and utilities, advanced 48 cents, or 6.2 percent, to A$8.18, the most since February. The company said it expects profit growth of up to 20 percent in fiscal 2009.

Warrnambool Cheese & Butter Factory Co. (WCB AU), bidding to buy Australia's Dairy Farmers with Kirin Holdings Co., surged 65 cents, or 15 percent, to A$5.05, a record gain. The company, bidding to buy Australia's Dairy Farmers with Kirin Holdings Co., said full-year profit rose to a record.

To contact the reporter on this story: Shani Raja in Sydney at sraja4@bloomberg.net.