Stocks to Watch: New Zealand Equity Preview
Dec. 1 – 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 ended the week higher, helping the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index round out its biggest weekly gain since 1974 after Citigroup won federal financial aid and automakers
rebounded. In New Zealand, exporters are calling for a central bank rate cut of 200 basis points and economists say a
150 point cut is becoming more likely on Dec. 4.
Air New Zealand Ltd. (AIR): The cockpit voice recorder from the Airbus A320 that crashed off the coast of France has
been recovered and will be sent to Paris for examination. The company's share price is at 89 cents and has fallen almost
52% this year.
Dorchester Pacific (DPC): the finance company posted a net loss of NZ$35 million for the six months ended Sept. 30, from
a year earlier profit of NZ$3.1 million. The loss includes a NZ$21 million writedown of its holding in St Laurence and
additional provisions of NZ$11.5 million. Dorchester is seeking investor approval for its deferred repayment plan and
said today it risks receivership of liquidation is the plan isn’t approved. The stock last traded on Nov. 27 at 20 cents
and is down 79% this year.
Pike River Coal (PRC): Chief executive Gordon Ward told shareholders at their annual meeting on Friday that spot prices
for hard coking coal has dropped “quite significantly,” hurting the shares of coal mining companies. The shares fell 1%
to NZ$1 and are down 30% this year.
SmartPay Ltd. (SPY): The company on Friday posted a first-half net loss of NZ$2.4 million and said the results
don’t yet reflect the benefits of a recent restructuring programme. Sales fell to $17.6 million from $20.8 million. The
stock traded at 0.7 cent on Friday and has dropped 80% this year.
Warehouse (WHS): The discount retailer is preparing to open more stores, betting that its brand is less susceptible to
the economic downturn. Managing director Ian Morrice told shareholders at their annual meeting that the company plans to
increase its red shed stores to more than 100 in the next five years, from 85 now. The stock rose 3% to NZ$3.63 on
Friday.
(Businesswire)
ENDS