Stocks to watch: AIA, CEN, DIL, NZX, PPL, WEL

Tuesday 27th April 2010

Auckland Airport's traffic climbs on an increase in Australian visitors and domestic traffic. Pumpkin Patch plans to launch a stand-alone everyday brand and Wool Equities expects to announce partnership deals in next few months.

Auckland International Airport (NZX: AIA ): New Zealand’s busiest gateway said passenger volumes and aircraft movements climbed last month, led by visitors from Australia and an increase in domestic traffic. Excluding transits, international passenger volumes grew 3.9% in March, the airport said, reflecting a 15.8% increase in arrivals from Australia. Yesterday the shares rose 0.5% to $2.02.

Contact Energy (NZX: CEN ): The energy generator and retailer’s unhedged generation has grown as retail electricity customer numbers have fallen – a formula for more volatile earnings, leveraged to the rising wholesale price,” said ASB Securities analyst David Boyce in ShareChat. “Given Contact’s growing long-generation position, this should assist earnings in the six months ending June.” Boyce expects all electricity retailers will raise prices 2-3% to recoup rising line charges, while the imminent commissioning of Contact’s Ahuroa and Stratford peaker stations will provide the company with generation flexibility again, and allow it to make more efficient use of its gas and to take advantage of periods of elevated wholesale prices. Contact shared lifted two cents yesterday to $2.24.

NZX (NZX: NZX ): The stock jumped 2.8% to $1.85 yesterday, after the bourse operator and regulator said more than half of its shareholders elected to take their dividend as bonus shares rather than a cash dividend of 6.5 cents a share.

Pumpkin Patch (NZX: PPL ): The children’s clothing chain yesterday announced it will launch an as-yet unnamed lower-cost brand in stand-alone stores, with up to 8 to be opened this year in Australasia. The stock gained 0.9% to $2.22 yesterday.

Wool Equities (NZX: WEL ): The cashed-up wool industry investor said it expects to announce partnership proposals for wool ventures in the next few months. It has been in talks with groups including Romney NZ to form joint ventures targeting export markets. The NZAX-listed stock last traded on March 23 at 15 cents, valuing the company at $2.35 million.

Diligent Board Member Services (NZX: DIL ): The provider of online services to boards of directors is rated a ‘buy' by McDouall Stuart analyst Roger Paterson, according to the ShareChat website. Paterson says the small-cap company is becoming increasingly attractive as an acquisition target. The shares rose 1.7% to 61 cents yesterday and have gone up about 170% in the past 12 months.

Economic themes of the day: European equities rose while Wall Street was flat, with the Standard & Poor's 500 up 0.1%. The UK's FTSE 100 rose 0.53%, Germany's DAX 30 rose 1.16% and France's CAC 40 gained 1.17%.

The Dollar Index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, fell to 81.39 from 81.62.

Shares in Greece and Portugal fell after it appeared Germany won't swiftly approve funds to help Greece cope with its deficit.

The New Zealand dollar climbed to a three-month high of 72.44 US cents amid talk Fonterra Cooperative Group will announce an increased forecast payout for 2010.

Businesswire.co.nz

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