Stocks to watch: AMP Office, F Appliances, Freightways
Oct. 30 (BusinessWire) – The following stocks may be active on the New Zealand exchange after developments since the
close of trading yesterday. All prices are in New Zealand dollars unless specified.
Themes of the day: Shares advanced on Wall Street and in Europe after figures showed the American economy expanded in
the third quarter, emerging from its worst downturn in more than 70 years. The U.S. dollar weakened after the figures
and commodity prices rose.
AMP NZ Office Trust (APT): The property investor is rated ‘accumulate’ by Forsyth Barr analyst Jeremy Simpson, according
to the ShareChat website. The company is benefiting from lower interest costs as a result of its capital raising and the
payment of back rent that had been delayed by negotiations over rentals. The shares fell 1 cent to 83 cents yesterday.
Fisher & Paykel Appliances (FPA): The manufacturer said it will take an impairment charge of $70 million to $75 million against
its assets in North America, reflecting the impact on trading of the prolonged downturn in demand.
The charge would be taken against the company’s first-half results. The shares were unchanged at 63 cents yesterday.
Freightways Ltd. (FRE): The courier and logistics firm fell 4.8% to $3 yesterday after managing director Dean Bracewell
told shareholders that the economic recovery was still “fragile” and without positive, organic growth, “the express
package and business mail division’s near-term performance will continue to track below the prior year.”
Pyne Gould Corp. (PGC): The investment group’s Perpetual Asset Management unit yesterday announced it had established
its Torchlight Credit Fund with a $75 million facility for South Canterbury Finance. Perpetual CEO John Duncan said the
deal was “a great example of the opportunity that is out there for a specialist credit fund like Torchlight,” providing
funding that was too difficult for banks. Perpetual is putting $15 million of seed capital into Torchlight. The shares
were unchanged at 43 cents yesterday.
Sky Network Television (SKT): Chief executive John Fellet held off on giving guidance, saying he wants more evidence of
the economic recovery. The shares were unchanged at $4.75 yesterday
(BusinessWire)