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Stocks to watch: FBU, Allied Farmers, DNZ

Monday 6th September 2010

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Building materials will be in strong demand due to the Canterbury earthquake, impacting on the likes of Fletcher Building and Steel & Tube Holdings, while Allied Farmers shares were unchanged on Friday after announcing its chief executive Rob Alloway has resigned.

Fletcher Building (FBU): New Zealand’s largest construction and building supplies company may benefit from the earthquake in terms of a pick-up in demand for building work and raw materials. The disaster comes at a time when the outlook for commercial construction has dimmed. Fletcher shares rose 7 cents to $7.75 on Friday. Steel & Tube Holdings (STU), which supplies steel building supplies such as reinforcing rod, fell 1 cent to $2.20.

Allied Farmers (ALF): Chief executive Rob Alloway resigned on Friday following the departure of chairman John Loughlin, who left when Allied’s finance arm was placed into receivership. The finance company that took over the Hanover loan book was unchanged at 2.4 cents on Friday.

DNZ Property Fund (DNZ): Newly listed DNZ Property Fund is trading at a sizeable discount to its asset backing and has an attractive dividend yield, according to Forsyth Barr analyst Jeremy Simpson, quoted on the ShareChat website. Shares were unchanged on Friday at $1.04.

Insured Group (INS): The recently-listed company announced that it was selling its subsidiaries Classic Cover and Tasman Insurance Consultants to Rothby Group, one of the largest insurance broking groups in New Zealand. Proceeds from the sale will be used for debt reduction. Shares were unchanged last week at 0.1 cent.

NZ Farming Systems Uruguay (NZS): The company on Friday clarified its support for Olam International’s takeover offer, saying shareholders may wish to hold onto some of the shares to benefit from the growth that the company may enjoy with capital from a new owner. The Board “reiterates that its recommendation is "that shareholders accept the Olam offer in respect of at least part of their shareholding". The shares rose 1.5% on Friday to 70 cents, matching Olam’s offer price.

NZ Oil & Gas (NZO): Crude oil prices fell after reports that service industries grew in August at the weakest pace in seven months, bolstering concern that the US economic rebound will slow. Shares in energy exploration and development company closed the week 1 cent down at $1.20.

Telstra (TLS): Australia's biggest phone company said on Friday that its Chinese subsidiary SouFun Holdings has filed for an initial public offering with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, valuing the business at US$810 million to $850 million. SouFun is China's second-largest online real estate website. The shares rose 0.3% to $3.60 on the NZX on Friday.

Themes of the day: The Canterbury earthquake is likely to create a surge in demand for everything from construction to concrete and may add to demand for services and products from companies including Fletcher Building and Steel & Tube Holdings. The New Zealand dollar rose on the back of better-than-expected non-farm payroll data out of the US. The kiwi was last trading at 71.90 cents to greenback, up from US71.40c at 5pm on Friday. Wall Street snapped a three-week losing streak ahead of the Labor Day weekend. US markets will be closed Monday for the traditional end of summer holiday. Last week, the Standard & Poor's 500 gained 3.8%.

Businesswire.co.nz

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