Stocks to watch: AIR, Auckland Airport, AMP, FPA

Stocks to watch: AIR, Auckland Airport, ALF, AMP, FPA

April 20 (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: Figures today are expected to show inflation accelerated in the first quarter, helping determine the pace of interest rate hikes by the Reserve Bank, which reviews monetary policy next week. The Consumer Price Index probably rose 0.6% in the first quarter for an annual pace of 2.3%, according to a Reutrers survey. Wall Street gained as fears eased about fraud charges against Goldman Sachs Group and Citigroup Inc. posted better-than-expected first-quarter earnings. The kiwi dollar lifted against the greenback to close at 70.97 from 70.68 overnight.

Air New Zealand (AIR): The national carrier said as it only has 12 flights a week to Britain, its own network schedules haven’t been too affected by the Iceland volcanic ash eruption. However its shares declined 2.8% to $1.37 yesterday as the global airline industry assessed the cost of disruptions.

Allied Farmers (ALF): The finance company said a 44% slump in its stock price since March 1 was probably a reaction to its first-half results and reduced valuation of its assets. The company made the comments in answer to an NZX share price inquiry yesterday. The stock rose 1.8% to 5.7 cents yesterday.

Auckland International Airport (AIA): New Zealand’s biggest gateway is rated ‘outperform’ by First NZ Capital analyst Rob Bode, according to the ShareChat website. He said earnings will rebound in the year through June 2011 and beyond. The airport's domestic passenger movements will rise about 10% in September and October next year as a result of the Rugby World Cup. The shares fell 1 cent to $2 yesterday.

AMP Ltd. (AMP): Australia’s competition watchdog has ruled out NAB’s bid for AXA Pacific Holdings, allowing AMP to merge with it instead. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said “allowing NAB and AXA to merge would significantly diminish incentives to compete for retail investment platforms used by investors that have complex financial needs.” AMP shares dropped 15 cents yesterday to $8.30.

Cavotec MSL Holdings (CCC): The engineering group whose products include a system for mooring ships said it has a record order book and sees signs of a global recovery, the BusinessDay website reported. The order book was US$73.4 million at March 31. The shares slipped 0.4% to $2.80 yesterday.

Fisher & Paykel Appliances (FPA): The home appliance manufacturer has faced complaints about the reliability of its products on a U.S. consumer website, Consumeraffairs.com, which allows people to submit complaints, the NZ Herald reported. Consumer NZ research manager Hamish Wilson said FPA’s products typically returned ‘average’ results in its reliability surveys, the report said. The shares fell 1.7% to 58 cents.

Kermadec Property Fund (KPF): The investor said the value of its property portfolio fell 3.9%, or $4.7 million in the 12 months ended March 31, reflecting two unexpected vacancies. The shares last traded at 48 cents.

(BusinessWire)

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