Stocks to watch: Infratil, L&M, NZ Oil & Gas

Tuesday 27th July 2010 1 Comment

Infratil is considering putting in a bid for the Port of Brisbane, possibly in conjunction with the NZ Super Fund, L&M is planning to drill at two new sites in Taranaki over the next two years, while NZ Oil & Gas's bad luck of hitting dry wells continues.

Infratil (IFT): Infratil manager Morrison & Co. yesterday confirmed it is having a looking at Port of Brisbane, which has been put up for sale by the Queensland government. There has been speculation it may bid in conjunction with the NZ Superannuation Fund. The shares rose 0.6% to $1.63 yesterday.

L&M Energy (LME): The energy company announced yesterday that it plans to drill exploration wells in two Taranaki prospects in 2011 and 2012, as well as pushing ahead on coal seam gas opportunities that underpin a share purchase scheme, which opened yesterday. The shares last traded on July 23 at 12 cents.

Michael Hill International (MHI): The jewellery retailer yesterday lowered the value at which it transferred its intellectual property to an Australian subsidiary by 6.8% to $274 million, resulting in changes to the transaction’s tax treatment, after concerns raised by the Australian Tax Office. The stock was unchanged yesterday at 70 cents.

New Zealand Oil and Gas (NZO): The oil explorer’s bad luck continues, with three wells being dry, costing about three cents a share, Forsyth Barr analyst Andrew Harvey-Green said in ShareChat. Share price falls due to declining oil prices and its unsuccessful drilling campaigns have been overstated he said. The company’s 29.4% stake in Pike River Coal is a healthy exposure. Its shares lifted two cents yesterday to $1.24.

Pacific Edge (PEB): The Dunedin-based biomedical diagnostics company has been awarded two NZ patents for its detection of gastric cancer and for its melanoma prognostic technology. They join patents already obtained for bladder cancer and colorectal cancer prognosis, and the company anticipates more, later stage patents in other targeted countries over the next two years. Its shares dropped three cents yesterday to 22 cents.

Pulse Utilities (PLU): The retail electricity supplier will seek up to $5 million from sophisticated investors in a convertible notes issue that will lead into a proposed share purchase plan later this year. The NZAX-listed company says it needs between $1.7 million and $3.5 million as "core funding" for operations, while a further $1.5 million is earmarked for use in expansion projects that the company is assessing. The stock was at 45 cents yesterday and trades infrequently.

Themes of the day: Better-than-expected sales of new US single-family homes bolstered optimism about the economic recovery, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising about 1%. Relief over the results of the European bank stress tests helped push the euro 0.2% higher against the greenback to 1.2923, as the US prepares to auction US$104 billion in notes this week. Overnight the kiwi rose to 73.42 US. cents, a six-month high, from 72.95 cents.

Businesswire.co.nz

Comments from our readers

On 27 July 2010 at 10:32 am john said:

I think NZOG's "Bad luck continues" Is an overstatement.It is not bad luck at all.It is more of a "Missed Opportunity",Which came at a Total Cost of 3cents to its shareholders.NZOG has a lot going for them.Why do you make it sound so bad?