Stocks to watch: NZX, F&P Appliances, Sky TV, APT, NPX, TLS

Thursday 15th April 2010

AMP NZ Office Trust sells five Wellington retail units and Nuplex is disappointed at the landmark prosecution. The Business New Zealand BNZ performance of manufacturing index comes out this morning.

AMP NZ Office Trust (NZX: APT ): The property investor said yesterday it had completed the $11.7 million sale of five retail units in Wellington’s Chews Lane precinct. Chief executive Robert Lang said the sale, before disposal costs, was 11% more than book value and the prices fetched for the units represented a weighted average yield being 7.12%. The shares fell 1 cents to 75 cents yesterday.

Fisher & Paykel Appliances Holdings (NZX: FPA ): AMP Capital Investors yesterday disclosed it had ceased to be a substantial security holder in the appliance manufacturer, with its stake dropping to 4.3% from 6.8% after the sale of 11.2 million shares this week. The stock was unchanged at 61 cents yesterday.

Nuplex Industries (NZX: NPX ): The company yesterday said it was “very disappointed” that the Securities Commission has decided to prosecute the specialty chemicals company under the Securities Act and NZX rules for failing to disclose breaches of banking covenants last year. As a result of the lawsuit, Nuplex director David Jackson has resigned from the commission. The stock fell 2% to $3.40 yesterday.

NZX (NZX: NZX ): The sharemarket operator and regulator is struggling to find an international clearing house willing to stand behind an electricity derivatives market a report in today’s The Independent said. A large third-party channel would be required for NZX’s involvement in energy futures/hedge trading, but the small volume, low margin nature of the business doesn’t make it appealing for them. NZX’s shares dropped two cents yesterday to $1.86.

Sky Network Television (NZX: SKC ): The pay-TV company is rated ‘outperform’ by ASB Securities analyst David Boyce, according to the ShareChat website. With confirmation of its five-year extension of broadcast arrangements with the SANZAR rugby unions for 2011 to 2015 added to its other rugby offerings, the company has enough weeks of the sport to ensure sports fans don’t churn as often. The shares fell 5 cents to $5.16 yesterday.

Telstra (NZX: TLS ): Australia’s biggest phone company yesterday scotched a newspaper report that it had completed talks to sell its fixed line assets to the federal government for A$9.75 billion. The stock rose 3.5% to $4.18 yesterday.

Economic themes of the day: Investors' appetite for higher yields was stoked around the world after investment bank JP Morgan Chase & Co. and chip-maker Intel Corp. posted strong first quarter earnings, taking the S&P 500 Index above a strong technical resistance level.

Singapore's economy surged by almost a third in the three months through March, boosting analysts' outlook for the Asian region.

The kiwi dollar edged up to 71.35 US cents, and was held back by weak retail sales data, which showed a 0.6% decline in February.

Chinese data out today is expected to show the world's third largest economy is continuing to grow at a double-digit pace.

Businesswire.co.nz

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