NZ stocks: Fletcher Forests dominates quiet market

12.00pm

The New Zealand sharemarket was soft again today, although rises outnumbered falls.

By mid-morning the NZSE-40 capital index was down 7.20 points, or 0.35 per cent, at 2045.47, on turnover of 21.56 million stocks valued at $45.66 million. Topping that was Fletcher Forests with 7.53 million stocks valued at $1.73 million.

ABN Amro Craigs retail equities adviser Nigel Scott said the big news of an otherwise quiet morning was the withdrawal of the Fletcher Forests bid for the massive Central North Island Forestry Partnership plantation up for sale.

Fletcher Forests shares were down 1c at 23, recouping a cent lost just after the announcement, while its 17.6 per cent shareholder Rubicon was off 3c at 60, shedding 5 per cent.

Forests said it didn't have enough to time to meet the conditions of the provisional agreement with receivers Ferrier Hodgson to purchase the 190,000ha estate. However, the company said it was still interested in making a further bid.

"I was always surprised at the shortness of the time span for them to get their act together in buying the assets," Mr Scott said.

"You'd already seen the banks obviously lost a bit of money in this transaction, so whether they were keen to put more money after it... and I think at the moment the forestry estate would be discounted to a buyer.

"Clearly the market's saying it's not as positive for Forests in the near term. We always viewed that as a very tough deal to do and I think that's still what the market's saying," he said.

The collapse of the Fletcher bid opens the gate for a back-up bid by fishing and bloodstock tycoons Peter and Phillip Vela, whose personal wealth has been estimated at $145 million.

"On the positive front, Auckland International Airport staying pretty firm (up 1c at 441), Contact Energy staying firm (up 1c at 402), both Fisher & Paykel stories -- Healthcare and Appliances -- staying in the positive following on from yesterday."

The F&P stocks reacted swiftly to good news from the whiteware manufacturer Appliances yesterday, that it expected its full year result to beat analysts' expectations.

Healthcare gained 10c to 950 in early trade but eased to last night's close of 940 by mid-morning. Appliances was up 10c at 940.

"But the market's really just range trading... and we're going into a short week," Mr Scott said.

New Zealand markets are closed tomorrow for the Anzac Day holiday.

Baycorp Advantage rose 11c to 495, Fletcher Building was up 4c at 282, Guinness Peat Group gained 1c to 200, Ryman Healthcare rose 3c to 175, Tranz Rail gained 5c to 390 and BIL International rose 1c to 485.

Trans Tasman Properties was up 2c at 28 on good volume after news yesterday that GPG was seeking to wind up the company.

On the down side, Telecom was down 6c at 480, Telstra shed 4c to 626, Axa lost 3c to 361, Carter Holt Harvey was down 2c at 183, Sky Network TV was down 5c at 430, debt collector RMG was off 1c at 21, and Wrightson Ltd was down 2c at 114.

There were 30 rises and 22 falls on the 103 stocks traded.

On Wall Street, the technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index ended down 28.38 points, or 1.61 per cent, to 1730.30; the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average slipped 47.19 points, or 0.47 per cent, to 10,089.24; and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index declined 6.87 points, or 0.62 per cent, to 1100.96.

- NZPA