Qantas Airways Limited (ASX:QAN) is one of the world’s leading airlines and an Australian icon.

On top of its standard domestic and international flights, QAN also owns budget airline Jetstar, regional airline QantasLink and related travel businesses Qantas Flight Catering.

Although some still consider QAN as a blue chip stock, its huge share price fall since the GFC has taken away a lot of its lustre.

Today, QAN said it would plan to ground additional aircraft due to the ongoing strikes.

The group will ground two Boeing 767s, resulting in the loss of 20,000 seats.  The total hit to capacity has now reached 88,000 seats.

Qantas has not ruled further grounding of aircraft in response to the strikes.

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Centro Retail (ASX:CER) has decided to purchase Centro Properties Group (ASX:CNP) as it looks to consolidate its assets.

The new group will be called Centro Retail Australia, and is forecast to deliver an FY12 distribution yield of approximately 5%.

CER said the consolidated entity is likely to have the size and scale to enhance long-term value and moderate gearing levels.

The takeover announcement has seen CNP rocket almost 60% so far today, making it one the top performers in the stock market.

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David Jones (ASX:DJS) is Australia’s second-largest department store retailer.

The company operates a chain of over 35 retail stores and primarily sells upmarket brands of clothing, accessories and homewares and David Jones-branded merchandise.

Like many other retailers, DJS has been one of the shares to sell in recent times due to challenging trading conditions hurting its sales.

Today DJS reported an FY11 net profit of $168.1 million, down 1.5% from FY10 but in line with the company’s guidance.

Sales were down 4.4% on-year, which DJS attributed to a tough retail environment.  The lower sales were offset by a lower cost of doing business.

DJS forecast no improvement in 1Q12 sales from the 4Q11, but reiterated its 1H12 guidance of a 15% – 20% fall in net profit.

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Regis Resources Limited (ASX:RRL) is an emerging Australian gold production and exploration company.

Its management team has a successful track record of developing mid sized gold operations within Australia and Africa.

It has been one of the hot shares in the past year, having more than tripled in price since July 2010.

Today, RRL reported a maiden FY12 net profit of $36.3 million.  The result compares to a net loss of $18.3 million in FY11.

The group posted gold sales of $107.9 million as it successfully transitioned from explorer to producer.

RRL said the development of the Garden Well Gold Project will take its output to around 350,000 ounces in FY12/13.

Therefore it will be one of the shares to watch.

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Gunns Limited (ASX:GNS) is an Australian forestry company, with activities covering the milling, processing and merchandising of timber, merchandising of hardware and building supplies.

It has been one of the shares to sell for much of the past six years, plunging from around $4.40 in early 2005 to current levels around 21 cents.

GNS came out of a six week trading halt today, with the group announcing a restructure of its business and the sale of non-core assets.

GNS said the sell-down of inventory and decommissioned sits is expected to generated around $60 million in 2012.

Furthermore, an agreement with the Tasmanian government may see GNS receive $23 million upon exit of its operations there.

These steps are intended to help GNS retire $340 million of debt in January 2012.  The group also forecast an FY12 underlying EBIT of $40 – $50 million.

The stock has been fairly volatile today, plunging 15% on the open before reversing sharply.  It is currently one of the few gainers in today’s share market action.

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Sundance Resources (ASX:SDL) is an Australian-based international iron ore company developing the Mbalam Project in the Republic of Cameroon in the central west coast of Africa.

Today SDL has been rocked by allegations a Hanlong Mining director is being investigated by ASIC for insider trading.  In July, Hanlong made a $1.2 billion takeover offer for SDL.

ASIC has made interim orders preventing Hanlong’s managing director from leaving Australia, and has frozen assets of other Hanlong staff members.

In response, SDL said its company strategy will be unchanged despite the probe.

SDL shares have been hammered on the back of news.  It has been one of the worst performers in the stock market in today’s session.

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National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB) is one of Australia’s big four banks, whose divisions span retail and business banking, wealth management, capital markets and institutional banking.

It is one the biggest companies in the Australian share market and is widely considered among the blue chip stocks.

Overnight, newspaper reports suggested NAB is in talks to acquire more than 600 Lloyds branches in the UK.

The acquisition would see NAB merge its Clydesdale and Yorkshire bank units with the Lloyds branches, creating a new major UK lender.

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Queensland Rail (ASX:QRN) is Australia’s largest rail freight operator and the world’s largest rail transporter of coal from mine to port for export markets.

QRN is a recent addition to the Australian share market, having floated in November last year.

Today QRN reported a FY11 net profit of $349.5 million, rebounding from a $36.8 million loss a year earlier.

The Queensland flooding earlier this year heavily impacted coal haulage volumes, with many of QRN’s clients yet to experience a return to full production.

QRN was able to generate profit growth primarily due to cost management and operational efficiencies.

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Carsales.com Limited (ASX:CRZ) is an Australian business offering online access to automotive classifieds.

The company listed on the ASX at $3.92 in September 2009, up 12% from the $3.50 price at which the shares were issued.

Shortly after listing, CRZ was added to the S&P/ASX 200.

It is the largest consumer website in the country which covers automotive, plant machinery, motorcycle, caravan, marine and display advertising.

CRZ operates 23 individual websites which are all specifically focused on different products.

The company has been a fantastic growth story, benefitting from a migration to online advertising.

It has been one of the hot stocks since bottoming out at $3.79 earlier this month, having surged around 30% in the past few weeks.

Tough conditions, not for Carsales

Whilst most consumer sectors struggle in the face of tough economic conditions, CRZ has continued to prosper.

This is mainly because CRZ has been at the forefront of the continuing migration of advertisers from print to online.

Being proactive in identifying market trends has helped CRZ continue to be a clear leader in market share.

Surprisingly, there has been robust growth in new vehicle enquiry volumes despite decreased new vehicle stock availability.

CRZ recently acquired Jumbuck Entertainment’s OZtion assets which is one of the world’s leading developers of mobile phone applications.

FY earnings

CRZ reported a 30% jump in FY underlying earnings to $83.8 million with EBITDA margins at 55%.

Operating cashflow for the period climbed 19% to $60.1 million with operating revenue rising 26% to $152.5 million.

Earnings per share (EPS) increased by 34% to 25 cps while a final FY11 dividend of 10.5 cents per share was declared.

The majority of its revenue (47%) comes from the Dealer division and the Private division which accounts for approximately 20% of revenue.

The period saw continued strong growth in automotive enquiry volumes, up 15% on year.

Looking ahead

CRZ’s FY earnings were highly impressive, convincingly beating guidance. The company is looking to stay ahead of its competitors through the use of mobile devices.

Mobile now accounts for 13% of CRZ’s automotive traffic.

The acquisition of OZtion delivers CRZ a robust and proven e-commerce platform that will complement its growing general classifieds business.

CRZ has introduced significant new product releases with many planned for the coming months.

Its mobile application is expected to continue growing at a strong rate and will be a key area of ongoing focus.

Tough economic conditions remain a key challenge but we feel CRZ has enough upside potential to remain an outperformer, thus making it one of the stocks to watch.

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Qantas (ASX:QAN) is one of the world’s leading airlines, an Australian icon and is still seen as one of the market’s blue chip stocks.

On top of its standard domestic and international flights, QAN also owns budget airline Jetstar, regional airline QantasLink and related travel businesses Qantas Flight Catering.

Today Qantas announced a new international strategy in attempt to turn its fortunes around.

QAN will launch two new airlines servicing Asia.  One airline will be a Japanese low-cost carrier, with the other to be a new premium carrier.

1000 job cuts were also announced, although QAN’s unions warned that they will resist the plans.

The stock market was happy with the announcement, sending QAN shares up more than 1% so far.

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