CSR SAYS IT WILL MAKE MAJOR STATEMENT NEXT WEEK
CSR Ltd <CSRA.S> said it expected to
make an announcement next week which would have a significant
and beneficial impact on the future of the company.
    It said the statement was prompted by heavy turnover in CSR
shares. Brokers said Bond Corp Holdings Ltd <BONA.S> today sold
24.2 mln CSR shares representing almost five pct of the
company. CSR closed 20 cents higher at 4.20 dlrs on a national
turnover of 31.39 mln shares.
    Share analysts said the CSR announcement could be about the
expected flotation of its <Delhi Petroleum Pty Ltd> unit,
releasing cash for a major building products aquisition.
    CSR forecast in January it would float Delhi and said it
expected to invest close to 100 mln dlrs on acquisitions in
building materials both in Australia and offshore.
    One analyst, who asked not to be named, said about 25 pct
of Delhi could be offered to CSR shareholders in an arrangement
which would preserve the tax position of the Cooper Basin oil
and gas producer, which is held in a trust.
    CSR had now finished paying for Delhi, after last year
writing down large foreign exchange losses on loans to buy the
company and selling such investments as its share of the Mount
Newman iron ore project, the analyst said.
    CSR had restructured its management in recent months and
was redirecting its efforts into industrial divisions from its
resources business, analysts told Reuters. It could be expected
to also float its coal interests, they said.
    The company earlier this month said it would sell its five
Sydney head office buildings.
    Stuart McKibbin of Melbourne broker <A.C. Goode and Co Ltd>
said CSR had till now been overlooked by many of the offshore
investors now heavily buying Australian gold and resource
stocks. That climate could prove an ideal time to float the CSR
petroleum division, he said.
 REUTER
