[UPDATED] Stocks to watch: Infratil, Goodman Property, Rakon

Tuesday 30th June 2009

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

Themes of the day: The New Zealand dollar rose to above 65 US cents as rising stocks in the US and improved sentiment in Europe helped fuel risk appetite and weighed on the greenback.

New Zealand household borrowing rose 0.4% to $176.5 billion, according to seasonally adjusted figures from the central bank yesterday. Crude oil climbed above US$71 a barrel after militants attacked a Royal Dutch Shell Plc field in Nigeria.

Goodman Property Trust (GMT): The property investor yesterday released a presentation from a national roadshow to investors with ABN AMRO Craigs. It said the economic outlook remain weak, with ongoing credit restrictions. The trust’s portfolio quality is intact but will be impacted by weakened demand for business pace and increased risk of tenancy default, according to the presentation. The trust’s units climbed 1.1% to 91 cents yesterday.

Infratil (IFT): The investment group was raised to ‘buy’ by Matt Henry, an analyst at Goldman Sachs JBWere, according to the ShareChat website. Henry said Infratil will probably be able to reduce debt faster than expected because of the potential sale of its 32% owned Energy Developments in Australia. Improved sentiment for Infratil may spur the exercise of its 81.6 million warrants, of which 68 million are being underwritten by. First NZ Capital. The warrants are exercisable at $1.62. Infratil shares fell 1 cent to $1.74 yesterday.

Lion Nathan (LNN): The brewing company said Its biggest shareholder, Kirin Holdings, gained clearance from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission for its proposal to acquire the remaining shares of Lion by way of a Scheme of Arrangement. The shares slipped 0.4% to $14.35 on the NZX yesterday.

Rakon (RAK): The maker of components for navigation systems said plans to build a facility in China, postponed as the global economy deteriorated, are now being revisited as demand begins to return. “We are reviewing the timing, scale and location of the operation in China,” managing director Brent Robinson said in the company’s annual report. “We expect to make a decision on when and how to best proceed in the coming months.” The shares were unchanged at $1.50 yesterday.

Sky Network Television (SKT): New Zealand’s largest pay-television operator may halt its Sky Online service, saying it struggles to provide acceptable service because of data caps imposed by Internet service providers, the NZ Herald said. Chief executive John Fellet said data limits had been annoying customers to the NZ$5 a month online service. The shares fell 3 cents to $4.22 yesterday.

Telecom (TEL): The Commerce Commission may this week recommend regulating the fees the mobile phone companies charge for routing calls and texts to their customers, The Dominion Post reported. Its draft report is expected this week. The commission was twice shot down by the previous government on the proposal in favour of voluntary cuts in charges by Vodafone and Telecom, the report said. Telecom rose 9 cents to $2.74 yesterday.

Businesswire.co.nz

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