The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission was due to announce on Thursday whether Aurizon could go ahead with
The acquisition is crucial to Aurizon’s plans to diversify away from coal. One Rail, which was formerly known as GeneseeWyoming Australia, operates rail networks in South Australia, NSW and the Northern Territory and has coal and bulk haulage businesses.
Aurizon already provide bulk handling and transport services in Queensland, NSW and Western Australia. Aurizon plans to pay for the acquisition with debt, and has told investors that dividends are likely to be paid at the lower end of its forecast payout range of between 70 and 100 per cent of underlying net profit for the next one or two years.
Thermal coal futures contracts, which were trading around $US86 per tonne a year ago, have more than doubled since late January to trade above $US400 per tonne, and last week touched $US446 per tonne.