Australia's Aurizon jumps after HY results; Citi says results muted

Aurizon Holdings

12/02/2024 02:43

(Updates share moves, adds Citi comments)
    ** Shares of Aurizon Holdings  AZJ.AX  rise as much as
3.5%to A$3.89, their highest level since July 18, 2023
    ** The rail freight operator posts HY EBITDA of A$847 mln
($552.50 mln), up about 26% from last year
        ** HY EBITDA in line with Citi estimates, but beat
Visible Alpha consensus estimates by about 4% 
    ** Co declares interim dividend of 9.7 AU cents per share
    ** Aurizon says FY24 outlook remains unchanged 
    ** Citi says results were overall muted 
    ** Investors will likely be concerned regarding capital
allocation as co's bulk business unit continue to disappoint -
Citi 
        ** Citi says co's HY revenue and EBITDA from bulk missed
expectations by about 5% and 10%, respectively 
    ** Stock down 1.1% this year as of last close

    ($1 = 1.5330 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Rajasik Mukherjee in Bengaluru)
 ((Rajasik.Mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com))