Asciano at loss to explain share price roller coaster

But when analysts said the market was in for a year of volatility, they may have had the ports and rail firm in mind.
Asciano had no explanation on Monday for the 27% rise in its share price last Friday and reiterated that it was too early to say how its “monetisation” process was going.
The process outcome, which could see the sale of one or more assets or the whole of the group, would be disclosed by the end of the financial year.
The company expected to incur further restructuring costs on top of the $4.6m it had advised in December but, otherwise, it was restated that the full-year performance, “excluding significant and non-recurring items” would be better than in the previous financial year.
Asciano also rejected press speculation that:
• There were only two serious parties who had tabled recapitalisation proposals as part of the monetisation process;
• The members of the banking syndicate, with which Asciano was negotiating an extension/rollover of its working capital and bank guarantee facilities, had sought a maximum term on any extension/rollover of two months;
• A number of members of Asciano’s banking syndicate were treating Asciano as a “workout” situation.
“Asciano advises that these assertions are factually incorrect and have no basis or substance whatsoever,” company secretary Fiona Mead said
Shares ended Friday at $1.81 but had fallen beneath $1.70 this week, though, to a certain extent, the price has generally followed fairly close to, if slightly below, the market’s own performance.
The spike had been put down to reports that US-based private equity group Global Infrastructure Partners was prepared to go it alone after having failed in its August 2008 bid for the company as part of a consortium that included TPG Capital.
The earlier bid was $4.40 a share, deemed too low for Asciano’s board to endorse at the time.
Asciano’s shareprice has since dropped to as low as $0.40 this year but has recovered ground in the last two months.
The company hopes to push ahead with a part or full sale of its assets by the end of the 2008/09 financial year.
The group is now worth about $1.2bn, though its debt is about four times that amount.