Australia's Incitec Pivot up on H1 profit beat, fertiliser unit sale talks

Dyno Nobel

16/05/2024 06:09

(Updates share moves, adds analyst comments)
    ** Shares of fertiliser and explosives maker Incitec Pivot
 IPL.AX  rise as much as 6% to A$2.990, their highest since
early-March 2023
    ** Stock marks its biggest one-day pct jump since end-Jan
    ** Co posts HY adjusted net profit after tax of A$164 mln
($110 mln), down 55% y/y but ahead of RBC's estimate of A$142
mln
    ** Co announces interim dividend of 4.3 AU cents per share,
special dividend of 10.2 AU cents
    ** Also says it is in advanced talks to sell its fertiliser
business
    ** Citi says IPL has been a laggard vs peer Orica  ORI.AX 
given its fertilisers business 
        ** Adds, the result will reinforce market pressures for
a sale or revisitation of business split
  
    ** IPL up 15% YTD, as of last close

($1 = 1.4957 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by John Biju and Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru)
 ((Sameer.Manekar@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: https://twitter.com/sameer_manekar))