Australian Stocks Climb, Centro Advances as It Seeks Buyers

By Stuart Kelly


Jan. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index rose on its first day of trading this year. Centro Properties Group, Asia's worst casualty of the global debt crisis, surged after saying it's looking for buyers of its assets.

The S&P/ASX 200 added 18.90, or 0.3 percent, to 6,358.70 as of 10:50 a.m. in Sydney. About 12 stocks rose for every seven that fell. The index climbed 12 percent in 2007, capping off its fifth year of gains.

Shares were boosted by a report that showed Australian manufacturing expanded at the fastest pace in more than five years last month.

Centro, the owner of U.S. malls that lost 80 percent of its market value last month, jumped 17 cents, or 17 percent, to A$1.18. The company said it is ``seeking expressions of interest'' from potential buyers as it struggles to refinance A$3.9 billion of debt by a Feb. 15 deadline.

Centro, which began as a real estate investment trust in 1985, owns 700 malls in the U.S. after Chief Executive Officer Andrew Scott took on debt as he led $9 billion of acquisitions the past two years.

Stocks with domestic earnings, such as Wesfarmers Ltd., rose as PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Australian Industry Group said a manufacturing index gained 3.8 points to 57.6 from November, buoyed by consumer and business spending.

It's the 19th consecutive reading higher than 50, which indicates manufacturing is expanding.

Wesfarmers, the owner of the Bunnings chain of hardware outlets, added 12 cents, or 0.3 percent, to A$40.62. Woolworths Ltd., the nation's biggest retailer, gained 12 cents, or 0.4 percent, to A$34.11.

The S&P/ASX 200's futures contract for March added 0.5 percent to 6,377. The broader All Ordinaries Index rose 0.3 percent to 6,436.80.