Australia Stocks: AWB, Babcock, CSR, Macquarie, OZ, Woodside

By Shani Raja

Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- The S&P/ASX 200 Index slipped for the third day. It lost 54.20 points, or 1.5 percent, to 3,469.00 at 11:46 a.m. in Sydney, the lowest since Aug. 20, 2004. The broader All Ordinaries Index declined 55.90 points, or 1.6 percent, to 3,457.20, while the futures index expiring in December dropped 0.9 percent to 3,518.

Oil companies: Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL AU), the nation's No. 2 oil producer, dropped A$2.05, or 5.9 percent, to A$32.94, the lowest in three years. Santos Ltd. (STO AU), the third-biggest oil producer, slumped 48 cents, or 3.8 percent, to A$12.27.

Crude oil fell to the lowest in almost 22 months in New York on forecasts that U.S. oil supplies increased for an eighth week as a recession erodes demand.

AWB Ltd. (AWB AU), Australia's largest wheat exporter, surged 18 cents, or 6.9 percent, to A$2.79, the most since Nov. 3 and the benchmark's third-biggest gainer. The company said second-half profit more than doubled, driven by increased sales at its Landmark farm merchandise unit.

Babcock & Brown Infrastructure Group (BBI AU) declined 0.2 cents, or 3.8 percent, to 5.1 cents, a record low. The owner of Australia's second-biggest coal-export harbor said it's examining the sale of as much as 49 percent of the port after drawing interest from potential bidders.

Babcock & Brown Ltd. (BNB AU), the worst performing stock on the MSCI Asia-Pacific Index this year, plunged 3 cents, or 11 percent, to 28 cents, a record low. Babcock said it will accelerate job cuts and separate its businesses as it tries to avoid defaulting on A$3.1 billion ($2 billion) of debt.

CSR Ltd. (CSR AU), Australia's third-largest maker of building products, tumbled 33 cents, or 19 percent, to A$1.39, the most since 1987. The company announced a 1-for-4 entitlement offer priced at A$1.40 a share, along with an institutional placement, aimed at raising A$482 million.

Macquarie Group Ltd. (MQG AU), Australia's biggest securities company, surged A$1.38, or 5.8 percent, to A$25.38, the index's fourth-best performer. Citigroup Inc. raised its rating to ``buy'' from ``hold.'' Macquarie soared 17 percent yesterday after results that beat analyst estimates.

OZ Minerals Ltd. (OZL AU), the world's second-largest zinc mining company, tumbled 11 cents, or 15 percent, to 62 cents, the lowest since July 2003. The company said it expects full- year earnings to decline because of falling metal prices and higher production costs.

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