The market has been rocked early by the release of disappointing earnings results from blue chip companies including Coca-Cola Amatil (ASX: CCL) and QBE Insurance (ASX: QBE), with the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) down over 50 index points.
Coca-Cola this morning announced a 6.9% fall in earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) – which was marginally better than originally anticipated – whilst QBE announced a 37% drop in first-half profit. The results have sent CCL shares down by 4.2% and QBE's shares plunged by 8.2%.
Ansell (ASX: ANN), on the other hand, delivered EBIT growth of 11% and sales growth of 9% for the full year to June 30. Sydney Airport (ASX: SYD) and Arrium (ASX: ARI) (formerly OneSteel) are also releasing results today, but the one the market will be waiting for is that of BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP).
It is currently anticipated that the miner will deliver a profit loss of 26% due to diminishing growth in China and deflated commodity prices.
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Motley Fool contributor Ryan Newman does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this article.
