澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2010-08-21

The local share market took its lead from a tumble on Wall Street today and not even a hearty¹ outlook from the RBA deputy governor could pull it up. The All Ords and the ASX 200 closed more than one per cent lower. Billabong shares fell ten per cent after announcing a four and a half per cent fall in full-year profit and issuing a weak outlook. But ANZ put on two per cent, a solid increase in profit overshadowing a warning of slow future growth. And Consolidated² Media Holdings added two and a half despite reporting an eight per cent fall in full-year profit. Weakness in the US also weighed on Asian markets. Japan's Nikkei slipped nearly two per cent. And the Australian dollars eased to 89.1 US cents.

ANZ has joined NAB and the Commonwealth³ Bank in warning that higher funding costs are hurting profit margins⁴. ANZ's reported an underlying⁵ profit after tax of 1.3 billion dollars for the June quarter. But chief executive Mike Smith says despite the good result, ANZ faces growing pressure from increased funding costs. Lenders have previously⁶ used higher funding costs to justify⁷ rate rises outside of any official increases.
And Canadian agribusiness Agrium is a step closer in its bid to take over AWB. Agrium's finished due diligence on the Australian wheat company.

1 hearty   

adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的

参考例句：

• After work they made a hearty meal in the worker's canteen.工作完了，他们在工人食堂饱餐了一顿。
• We accorded him a hearty welcome.我们给他热忱的欢迎。

2 consolidated   

a.联合的

参考例句：

• With this new movie he has consolidated his position as the country's leading director. 他新执导的影片巩固了他作为全国最佳导演的地位。
• Those two banks have consolidated and formed a single large bank. 那两家银行已合并成一家大银行。

3 commonwealth   

n.共和国，联邦，共同体

参考例句：

• He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
• Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。

4 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

5 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

6 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

7 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？