Western Areas NL (ASX:WSA) is an exploration company that is involved in the development of the Fox Nickel mine and the exploration of nickel sulfides, platinum group metals and gold.

Material stock Western Area reported a 1H FY12 net profit of $24.1 million, reflecting a 64% drop compared to same period a year earlier.

The company said the price of nickel averaged US$8.51/lb in the first half of its financial year compared to an average of US$ 11.61/lb a year earlier.

WSA slashed its interim dividend in half, declaring $0.05 dividend, unfranked.

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OneSteel Ltd (ASX:OST) is an Australian manufacturer of steel and finished steel products and a leading metal distributor which is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.

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

OneSteel announced today that it will write-down $150 million of the value of its LiteSteel Technologies business due to weak residential construction activity.

The company said that the financial statements for last six months of the year will include $90 million of the write-down.

OneSteel also announced that it will sell its Piping System business for $67 million to US based McJunkin Red Man.

Together with the sale of related property investments the company expects proceeds of approximately $100 million.

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Macmahon Holdings (ASX:MAH) is an engineering contracting company operating in the mining industry. The company operates in Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia. It was formed in 1963 and listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in December 1983. The business consists of four divisions: Civil, Open Cut, Underground and Services.

Macmahon Holdings announced today that it expects full year net profit for the FY12 to be more than $55 million.

Last month MAH had forecasted full year profit of around $45 million.

CEO Nick Bowen said that additional work and greater clarity on project commencement has combined for the improved outlook for the company.

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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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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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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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