NZ stocks: Hefty volume in Telecom feature of flat market

6.00pm - By SIMON LOUISSON

There was very heavy trading in Telecom on the sharemarket today as some institutional investors assessed its 7 per cent slide in three weeks provided attractive buying.

The market juggernaut rose 2c to 583, having been beaten down from 627 when it reported its poorly received fourth quarter result.

Goldman Sachs JBWere's Murray Rutherford said it appeared as if the fall had been arrested.

"It's reached a level where many people see it as attractive," he said. Over 22 million shares worth $129.5 million changed hands, completely overwhelming the rest of the market's turnover.

Telecom today announced it had sold 15 retail stores for $16m.

The benchmark NZSX-50 gross index closed 0.05 of a point lower at 2737.31, while the NZSX-All capital index fell 0.74 of a point to 919.14.

Fisher & Paykel Appliances, a stock to have been caned even more harshly than Telecom after an apparently solid result on August 16, lost another 1.7 per cent today. It fell 7c to 413 and is now down 12 per cent since its result on worries that its margins are being squeezed in the current year.

Former sister, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, caught the downdraft, dropping 15c to 1300.

Mr Rutherford said there was a move to defensive stocks. One beneficiary was Waste Management which rose 7c to a new record high of 508.

Tourism Holdings fell 5c to 190 despite a sharp increase in its June year net profit to $11.2m. Turnover rose 4 per cent to $166m.

Feltex was another to suffer despite announcing an improved performance. The recently re-listed carpet maker posted an $11.2 million full year profit to June, up from $6.8 million last year and said it expects to more than double that in the present financial year. But its shares fell 4c to 170.

Sky TV and its parent Independent Newspapers were pegged back today following a good run since Friday on Sky's result and the announcement of their merger talks. Sky closed down 5c to 545 and INL lost 7c to 505.

Investment company Hellaby rose 8c to 558, 2c shy of its all-time high.

Two tiddler telecommunications companies were punished today. Alternative market Zintel was sold down nearly 10 per cent, 14c to 130, after its warned about its first half profit. It said its full year profit would be similar to the 2003 result but investors wanted runs on the board.

GDC Communications dropped 21 per cent, or 5c to 19c, after announcing a hefty four-for-five rights issue, a $686,000 loss and a restructuring.

Cadmus technology closed up 1.2c at 12c after sharebroker ABN Amro Craigs announced it was making a $4.98 million stand in the market to buy 18.6 per cent of the eftpos unit manufacturer. The stand, which ends at 5pm tomorrow, was to secure 41.5m shares at 12c each. At the bell some 37 million shares had traded.

Oceana Gold was unmoved at 91c after today reporting a half year net profit of A$10.9 million ($11.9 million).

Auckland Airport fell 3c from its record high to 727.

The newly consolidated stock of Air New Zealand fell 3c to 192. ahead of its result tomorrow morning.

Others among the leaders to prosper were: Contact Energy, 2c to 581, NGC, 2c to 287, The Warehouse, 2c to 452, Promina, which reports tomorrow, 5c to 435, AMP, 4c to 667, Michael Hill, 5c to 660, and Westpac NZ, 10c to 1733.

Losers included Baycorp Advantage, 3c to 317 and Lion Nathan, 2c to 768.

- NZPA