Stocks to watch: New Zealand equity preview

Thursday 4th December 2008

The following stocks may be active on the New Zealand exchange after developments since the close of trading yesterday.

Themes of the day: Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard slashed the official cash rate by a record 1.5 percentage points to 5% citing “ongoing financial market turmoil and the marked deterioration in the outlook for global growth.”

Briscoe Group (BGR): Rival retailer Noel Leeming said it is quietly confident about sales through the peak Christmas period after the central bank cut the OCR to 5%, according to the New Zealand Herald. The stock traded at 76 cents yesterday and is down 46% this year. Warehouse Group (WHS), the biggest retailer on the NZX 50 Index, was at $3.29 yesterday and has fallen 42% this year.

Delegat's Group (DGL): Competitor Babich Wines will be reviewing its growth strategies next year as the record cut of 1.5% to the official cash rate lowers bottle prices in overseas markets. Dave Babich of Babich Wines told BusinessDay that the record cut will let them cut their prices in the U.S. Delegat's posted a 77% increase in profit this year, which has seen its stock bounce back to $2.10 from a low of $1.50 in March.

Fletcher Building (FBU): The central bank’s rate cut may help reduce mortgage rates in New Zealand, where Fletcher is the biggest construction company. The stock rose to $5.57 yesterday and has fallen more then 50% this year.

PGG Wrightson (PGW): the biggest rural services company on the NZX 50 yesterday fell 4.4% to $1.53 after figures showed the ANZ Commodity Price Index declined 7.2% last month, stretching its four-month slide to 21%. The declining New Zealand dollar meant the local currency index fell only 1.8%.

Pyne Gould Corp. (PGC): The company that is transforming itself into a bank expects to report “a solid result for 2009,” chairman Sam Maling said in the company’s newsletter. Its MARAC finance unit is “in a strong position to meet the challenges of further uncertainty,” he said. The shares were unchanged at $3.20 yesterday and are down about 14% this year.

Vector (VCT): The power and gas utility said the volume of electricity distributed through its Auckland network rose 0.5% to 2294.4 gigawatt hour in the third quarter from a year earlier. The volume was 2.1 % below expectations, it said today. The stock was at $2.01 yesterday and is down 9% this year.

By Jonathan Underhill

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