MARKET CLOSE: NZ shares rally; Pike River, Tower advance
May 29 – New Zealand shares had their biggest advance in more than two weeks after Tower Ltd. lifted its first-half
profit, Fisher & Paykel Appliances climbed to the highest since Feb. 10 and Pike River Coal surged.
The NZX 50 Index rose 42.19, or 1.6%, to 2764.17, the second gain in seven sessions. Within the index, 33 stocks rose,
11 fell and six were unchanged. Turnover was NZ$125 million, making it one of the busiest days this year.
Tower jumped 7% to NZ$1.68 after the insurer and investment manager part-owned by Guinness Peat Group posted a 32% jump
in first-half profit on better earnings from general insurance and an accounting gain on the valuation of life risk
policy liabilities.
“Tower continues to operate successfully in a highly competitive and very uncertain market,” said managing director Rob
Flannagan. The first-half results were “very healthy” in the face of the “seismic shifts in financial markets globally.”
F Appliances rose 3.8% to NZ$1.10, extending its surge since concluding refinancing that includes China’s Haier taking a
20% stake.
Pike River soared 14% to NZ$1.23. The coal mine developer has an average ‘outperform’ rating, according to Reuters.
Long-term coking coal prices have been settled by the BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance, the world’s largest coking-coal
exporter, at between US$115 and US$125 a metric ton with Nippon Steel Corp., Bloomberg reported, citing Citigroup
analysts
New Zealand Oil & Gas climbed 7.4% to NZ$1.60 as crude oil rose, heading for its biggest monthly surge in 10 years. Crude oil for July
delivery was quoted at US$65.40 a barrel in Singapore. Oil has jumped 28% so far this month.
Fletcher Building rose 3.2% to NZ$6.50 amid signs the housing market may have found its bottom after demand tumbled last
year. Home building approvals rose 11% last month, suggesting lower borrowing costs are beginning to breathe life back
into the property market after demand tumbled last year.
“We have brought forward our forecast of the timing in the recovery in residential construction activity, which now
seems likely to revert to positive growth in Q3,” said Darren Gibbs, chief economist at Deutsche Bank. The recovery “may
now be underway.”
Also helping Fletcher is the budget announcement this week of NZ$323.3 million of spending on home insulation and
heating. Fletcher is the nation’s biggest supplier of insulation.
Freightways Ltd. rose 3.5% to NZ$3 after announcing that its NZ$5 million Share Purchase Plan closed yesterday 1,040%
oversubscribed, with applications for NZ$57 million of stock.
Dorchester Pacific soared 15% to 7.5 cents after reporting a full-year net loss of NZ$25.4 million, in line with its May
12 guidance.
(BusinessWire)