CLOSE: Shares slip for a second day; NZ Refining falls

Tuesday 18th August 2009

New Zealand shares fell for a second day, extending a global slide amid doubts the much-anticipated global recovery will be as big or as fast as was hoped.

New Zealand Refining (NZX: NZR ) fell after saying it would operate at a loss in the second half. The NZX 50 Index fell 14.50, or 0.5%, to 3071.58. Within the index, 32 stocks fell, 10 rose and seven were unchanged.

Turnover was $106.7 million. NZ Refining dropped 5.8% to $6.50. The nation’s only oil refinery’s second-half performance will be hurt by “a relatively strong New Zealand dollar, continuing pressure on margins and our planned four-week shutdown in September,” chairman David Jackson said. First-half profit fell 2.8% to $52.5 million.

Pike River Coal (NZX: PRC ) fell 3.4% to $1.15 as commodity prices declined. China Shenhua Energy Co., that nation’s biggest coal producer, was among declining stocks today.

Fisher & Paykel Appliances (NZX: FPA ) fell 1.3% to 79 cents, its second daily decline after long-serving chief executive John Bongard announced his resignation as he fights cancer.

APN News & Media (NZX: APN ), the publisher of the New Zealand Herald, fell 6.5% to $2.15, leading the index lower on volume of just 8,181 shares. The stock climbed 0.3% to A$1.77 on the ASX today.

Fletcher Building (NZX: FBU ) was the biggest gainer, rising 2.1% to $7.80 as it tracked rising building-related companies on the ASX.

James Hardie Industries soared 22% to A$7.07 after saying the housing slump in the U.S. may be abating, helping the company lift earnings to the top of the range of analyst forecasts. Boral Ltd. jumped 5% to A$5.66.

Rakon Ltd (NZX: RAK ) fell 3.5% to $1.39 and Nuplex Industries (NZX: NPX ) declined 2.7% to $2.15 as global optimism receded. Children’s clothing chain Pumpkin Patch (NZX: PPL ) fell 3.2% to $1.80.

Clothing chain Hallenstein Glasson Holdings (NZX: HLG ) rose 1% to $2.93 after the retailer was upgraded to ‘hold’ from ‘sell’ by Buffy Gill, an analyst at Goldman Sachs JB Were. Gill predicts positive earnings momentum as the New Zealand and Australian economies recover, according to the ShareChat website.

Infratil (NZX: IFT ) slipped 2.2% to $1.77 after chief executive Marko Bogoievski told shareholders at their annual meeting yesterday that the group’s operating profit will be at the low end of its forecast range this year. Earnings from its European Airports unit and Australian energy business may undershoot expectations, he said.

Businesswire.co.nz

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