Stocks to Watch: New Zealand Equity Preview
Nov. 27 – The following stocks may be active on the New Zealand exchange after developments since the close of trading
yesterday.
Themes of the day: Stocks on Wall Street rose for a fourth straight session, led by a jump in technology stocks that
pushed the Nasdaq Composite index up 3.8% on perceptions companies like Apple Inc. have become relatively cheap after
this month’s rout. In New Zealand, government figures today may showed the merchandise trade deficit narrowed last month
as the weaker kiwi dollar lifted exports.
Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ): As of today, the bank’s ANZ National bank unit in New Zealand is tightening access to
home loans and will require borrowers to have a 20% deposit, up from its previous 10% requirement. In the last 12
months, the company's shares have fallen almost 50% to NZ$16.78.
Dorchester Pacific (DPC): The finance company yesterday released a three year repayment plan under which it pledges
investors will get their money back. Debenture holders owed $164 million would get 12 payments over three years
including an initial 20% payment before Christmas. The stock last traded on Nov. 19 at 6 cents and has fallen 95% this
year.
Fletcher Building Ltd. (FBU): The construction company said yesterday it won’t proceed with the acquisition Fielders
Australia. Chief executive Jonathan Ling said Fielders is “a good fit” for Fletcher and the decision not to proceed “is
indicative of the current market volatility and uncertainty in the Australian economy.” The shares fell 1.9% to NZ$5.57
and have declined 50% this year.
Heritage Gold (HGD): the mining company yesterday said its first half loss widened to NZ$441,647 from NZ$405,773 a year
earlier. The shares were unchanged at 1.6 cents yesterday and are down 75% this year.
Sanford Ltd. (SAN): The fishing company yesterday said annual profit increased to NZ$53.3 million from NZ$20.1 million.
The earnings growth, which included one-time gains, reflected higher market prices for many species and improved
operational results, the company said. The stock fell 0.9% to NZ$5.35 and has gained nearly 35% this year, making it a
stand-out on the NZX 50 Index, which fell by the same amount.
Telecom Corp. (TEL): The Commerce Commission plans to investigate an advertisement claiming Vodafone Group Plc has “New
Zealand's largest and fastest mobile network.” Telecom made the complaint to the Commission, saying its EVDO 3G network
is more extensive than Vodafone's WCDMA network. The company's share is NZ$2.36 after bouncing back from a record low of
NZ$2.20 earlier this week.
(Businesswire.co.nz)
ENDS