Stocks to watch: Abano, Telecom, WHS, XRO

Thursday 28th January 2010

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 kept the official cash rate at a record low 2.5% today, as expected, and reiterated a mid-year rate hike is likely. In the U.S., the Federal Reserve held its benchmark interest rate unchanged near zero and vowed to keep rates low for an extended period. Still, it said the world’s biggest economy has continued to strengthen since its last meeting in December and the labour market is recovering.

Abano Healthcare (ABA): The specialist health clinic investor yesterday posted a decline in operating earnings and said EPS growth wouldn’t track as strongly as expected because fewer shareholders had elected to have the company buy back their stock. Yesterday the shares fell about 3% to $5.90.

Pike River Coal (PRC): The coal miner is rated ‘hold’ by Forsyth Barr analyst Andrew Harvey-Green, according to the ShareChat website. He predicts the company will need to raise close to $40 million in additional working capital. The rock graben facing Pike is taking twice as long as expected to get through, which will delay the start of hydro mining. The shares were unchanged at $1 yesterday.

Tasman Farms (TASMAN): The owner of dairy farms in Tasmania post first-half sales that almost halved from a year earlier to $12.2 million, for a net loss of $766,246. The company blamed a lower payout from Fonterra, its biggest customer, it said. The shares last traded at $1 on the Unlisted platform on Dec. 21.

Telecom Corp. (TEL): Chief executive Paul Reynolds told Radio New Zealand that compensation for customers who lost service during the second outage on its XT network in as many months may be eligible for compensation though the company’s first priority is identifying the cause of the fault. Customers south of Taupo lost service yesterday. The shares were unchanged at $2.44 yesterday.

Warehouse Group (WHS): Woolworths, Australia’s biggest retailer, posted a smaller-than-expected 4.1% increase in second-quarter sales and said demand may run out of puff in the second half. Warehouse, the biggest retailer on the NZX 50, fell 1.6% to $3.82 yesterday.

Xero (XRO): The online accounting software firm yesterday announced an agreement with Yodlee Inc., giving it access to more bank feeds to speed its global expansion. Being able to access bank account details lifts the effectiveness of Xero’s accounting services and lifts the prospects for sales in the U.S. and Europe. The shares rose 3.2% to $1.62 yesterday.

Businesswire.co.nz

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