Everybody is hopping in before the shorting ban comes off next week.
There's a deluge on. The capital raisings are banked up and in the wake of NAB's $3 billion and Incitec Pivot's $800 million comes $350 million from Sonic Healthcare and $2 billion in DRPs from Westfield.
Having hit the market with prescient timing for a monster rights issue at the peak of the cycle late last year, Frank Lowy's Westfield has reactivated his DRP. As the next four dividends are to be 50% underwritten, Westfield is raising up to $2 billion over the next two years.
Given a $12 billion capex program over the next five years and a current ratio squeezed to the max (short-term funding problem not helped by reticent banks and mall revenue getting toasted in the US) this may not be enough for Westfield.
These short-term measures may alleviate the pressure which Westfield stock has suffered in recent weeks but the group is still likely to put its hand out again sometime in the next year - perhaps coinciding with an acquisition.
Meanwhile, Incitec is expected to announce an $800 million raising today pitched at around $2.50 a share - for a quarter of the issued capital.
And Sonic has put its hand up this morning. ABN, Citigroup and JP Morgan are running the bookbuild for $350 million in a range of $11.40 to $12.20 against a last price of $13.
It's all happening. That this slather of raisings is hitting the market after substantial falls overnight and in the previous session shows the level of urgency.
Corporate Australia is tired of the downturn, tired of hanging about for the pricing to improve and is moving to put money in the tin, whatever the cost.
mwest@fairfax.com.au
BusinessDay
