Incitec Pivot Limited (ASX:IPL) produces and distributes fertilisers and explosives. IPL has operations throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and Australia.

ASX 200 stock Incitec Pivot has delivered a strong annual profit, slightly beating market forecast.

Incitec recorded a 13% lift in net profit, which it contributes to the second half rise in fertiliser prices and demand for explosives.

The company declared an 8.2 cent dividend, compared to 6 cents the same time last year.

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Onesteel Ltd (ASX:OST) is Australia’s premier manufacturer of steel and finished steel products and is also a leading metal distributor.

OneSteel revised downward its earnings guidance for the 1H12, saying it will provide a trading update at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on the 21^st of November 2011.

OST will revise down its earnings due to the collapse of iron ore prices, which are now around 30% below their the levels 3 weeks ago, and also the increase in the Australian dollar over the same period.

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Mount Gibson (ASX:MGX) is Australia’s fourth-largest iron ore miner, based in Western Australia.

On 27 July, MGX announced an unaudited FY11 net profit of $239.5 million, which was up 80% on-year.

However, iron ore production fell 26% in the same period, with lower costs the primary driver of the profit result.

MGX shares slumped 4.3% on the day, making it one of the worst performers in the Australian stock market.

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BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP) is the world’s largest diversified resources company, with a global portfolio of high quality assets and more than 100 operations in 25 countries.  It is also the biggest company by market cap in the Australian share market, and is considered among the blue chip stocks.

It is an industry leader in most of the major commodities markets, including aluminium, coking and thermal coal, copper, manganese, iron ore, uranium, nickel, silver and titanium. On top of this, BHP has sizeable interests in oil, gas, natural gas and diamonds.

Last week, BHP made a US$15 billion takeover offer for US gas producer, Petrohawk Energy.

The all-cash offer will significantly expand BHP’s oil and gas assets, and in particular, its shale gas holdings in the US,

The deal also signals that BHP is betting the US will turn to unconventional sources of energy, such as shale gas, in an attempt to wean itself of foreign oil.

The offer was unanimously recommended by Petrohawk directors.

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OneSteel (OST) is an Australia manufacturer of steel and finished steel products and is also a leading metal distributor.

OST, which was spun out of BHP in October 2000, markets products used in the construction, manufacturing, housing, mining and agricultural industries.

On 10 May, OST downgraded its full year guidance due to the strong Aussie dollar.

OST said that the dollar’s strength had hurt its steel margins and iron ore revenue.  Indeed, OST has been one of the shares to sell over the past year due to the soaring dollar.

Furthermore, its iron ore operations have been impacted by adverse weather in the second half.

As a result, OST now expects full year earnings to be around $270 million, down from its previous forecast of $232 million.

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Incitec Pivot (IPL) is Australia’s largest supplier of fertilisers and is involved in the manufacture, distribution and sale of fertilisers.

The company is roughly divided into three divisions: Dyno Nobel (mining, quarry, construction and geophysical exploration services); Fertilisers; and Southern Cross International (focused on sales to Australian distributors and export sales).

IPL was one of the hot stocks in 2010 amid hopes of increased demand for its fertilizer products due to Asia’s economic growth.

On 9 May, IPL reported a 22% increase in underlying profit from the prior year.  The $178.6 million result came on the back of a 15% growth in revenue.

Core earnings at IPL’s explosives division grew from a year earlier amid a modest recovery in US volumes.

IPL expected full year earnings to be biased towards the second half, whilst it was positive about the outlook for soft commodity prices.

IPL also declared an interim dividend of 3.3 cents per share, up from 1.8 cents a year earlier.

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Orica Ltd (ORI) is a leading Australasian manufacturer of industrial and specialty chemicals, agricultural chemicals and fertilizers, commercial explosives and mining chemicals, and other consumer products.

Recently, ORI saw its first half underlying profit rise 5% on-year to $264 million.  The result matched analyst expectations.

Driving the result was a recovery in volumes across some of ORI’s markets, aided by better pricing and productivity improvements.

However, the result was impacted by the strong Aussie dollar, which wiped $17 million off the company’s earnings.

Orica said commodity demand was underpinning growth in its business, and that it expects FY11 profit to exceed FY10’s result, subject to forex movements and the rate of global economic growth.

An interim dividend of 37 cents was declared.  ORI shares rose 2.5% on the day of the announcement, making it one of the better performers in the Australian share market.

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Fortescue Metals (FMG) is an iron ore miner, with operations located in the lucrative Pilbara iron ore province in Western Australia.

FMG was one of the market’s hot shares last year when it doubled its share price after bottoming out near $3.50 in May.

On 25 March, FMG downgraded its 1Q11 production guidance due to the wet weather events at the beginning of the year.

FMG now expects quarterly production to be at the lower end of its previous guidance of 8.5 – 9.0 million tonnes of iron ore.

However, Fortescue Metals said that operations are now back to normal and that its Christmas Creek ore processing, stockpile and train loading facility has now commenced.

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Fletcher Building (FBU) is a NZ-based deliverer of building products, and construction materials and services across the world.

FBU has been one of the hot stock picks in 2011, surging from around $5.75 to around $6.43.

On Friday, FBU advised that due to the recent New Zealand earthquake, it expects FY11 net profit to be between $14 million and $24 million lower than previous estimates.

Given the major disruptions to the Christchurch economy, Fletcher Building has made an allowance of $5 million for its part in the city’s expected recovery programme.

Separately, FBU has extended its $700 million takeover offer for Crane Group (CRG) until March 25.  The deal was previously accepted by CRG directors.

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James Hardie (JHX) is a leading international building materials group that produces a wide range of fibre cement building materials used in the exterior and interior of residential and commercial buildings.

The company is also the largest seller of home siding (imitation wood) in the US, and produces fibre cement in the US, Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines.

JHX and its sector peers have been one of the shares to sell in recent times, as the housing market at home and more so abroad has really struggled.

JHX’s US exposure thus caused the company headaches during these difficult times – JHX normally makes 75% of its earnings in the US.

On Friday, JHX reported a net loss of US$345.2 million in the nine months ending 31 December, 2010.  This compares to a US$82.6 million loss a year earlier.

For the quarter, JHX posted a loss of US$26.4 million, which compares to a US$14.9 million profit in 3Q10.  The result was impacted by significant asbestos related losses related to the stronger Australian dollar.

JHX said there is no evidence of housing sector recovery in the US, and it downgraded its full year guidance from the lower end of US110 – US$125 million to between US$105– US$115 million.

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