NZX CLOSE: NZ shares gain; NZ Refining, Allied Finance, Xero rise

Thursday 1st October 2009

New Zealand shares rose for a fourth straight session, with the NZX 50 Index reaching a new 12-month high amid optimism the economy is well placed for recovery in a week when business confidence jumped to a 10-year high.

The NZX 50 rose 22.79, or 0.7%, to 3183.85. Within the index, 21 stocks rose, 18 fell and 10 were unchanged. Turnover was a higher-than-average $112 million.

New Zealand Refining, the nation’s only oil refinery, rose 8.2% to $5. The shares have slipped 21% this year and tumbled last month after the company said it faced a second-half operating loss as the high kiwi dollar squeezed margins.

Mainfreight Ltd., the biggest trucking firm on the NZX 50, rose 3.2% to $5.49. Fletcher Building, the largest construction company, climbed 2% to $8.52.

National Bank’s Business Outlook, released yesterday, showed a net 8% of companies polled in September expect profits to rise over the next 12 months, up 7 percentage points from the previous month.

Xero Ltd., the online accounting company, rose 4.5% to $1.40, the highest in more than a month, after announcing that paying customers have climbed to 12,000 from 2,200 a year ago.

Allied Farmers Ltd., the rural services and finance group, jumped 7% to 30 cents after announcing that a large professional investor will inject some $7 million of additional equity capital into the company. The cash will give the company space to “consolidate and restructure” its business, said chairman John Loughlin.

Telecom Corp. climbed 1.5% to $2.70 as shareholders met for their annual meeting, where chairman Wayne Boyd defended the salary paid to chief executive Paul Reynolds and said the company restructuring “has been one of remarkable success.”

Sky City Entertainment Group gained 2.2% to $3.32 and Methven Ltd. rose 1.8% to 1.73. Children’s clothing chain Pumpkin Patch gained 1.6% to $1.94.

Hallenstein Glasson Holdings, the clothing retailer, fell 2% to $2.90, the biggest decline on the benchmark index.

Sanford Ltd., the fishing company, fell 2% to $4.90 as the kiwi dollar held around 72 U.S. cents, eroding the value of export sales. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, which gets almost 80% of sales in U.S. dollars, fell 1.8% to $3.22.

Rakon Ltd., which counts the U.S., Europe and Asia as its markets, fell 1.6% to $1.23.

Businesswire.co.nz

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