NZ stocks: Market down on quiet morning trading

12.00pm

The New Zealand sharemarket slipped lower during a "very quiet" morning session on New Zealand Exchange, a broker said.

At 11.30am, the benchmark NZSX-50 index was down 4.52 points at 2594.59, while the NZSX-All capital index was down 1.33 points at 880.61.

Shares in market heavyweight Telecom were down 2c at 566, its $4.5 million of turnover representing 35 per cent of the $12.7 million on NZX so far today.

Among the 118 stocks traded were 19 rises and 42 falls.

ASB Securities broker Stephen Wright said the market was quiet today, perhaps because there was little corporate news about.

"There's just not much going on," Mr Wright told NZPA today.

Restaurant Brands today said sales in the first 12 weeks of the 2004/5 year were up 0.5 per cent on a same store basis. Its shares were down 3c at 122.

Same store sales in its flagship brand, KFC, were down 1.9 per cent in the 12 weeks to May 17. Pizza Hut sales rose 1.5 per cent, and sales at the Starbucks cafe chain rose 5.5 per cent.

Total same store sales were down 0.3 per cent.

Mr Wright said investors were reacting to Restaurant Brands poor KFC sales report.

"The market will always focus on the weak one (brand)," he said, noting investors would be watching for evidence of a turnaround in KFC same store sales in coming months.

Overall, "things have got marginally better (for Restaurant Brands) but not good enough," he said.

Shares in New Zealand Oil & Gas (NZOG) were down 1c at 66 after yesterday reporting "good" oil traces in a 7m column at its Pukeko-1 well in Taranaki.

After its NZX debut yesterday, Mike Pero Mortgages' shares were up 1c at 95, down on their $1 listing price.

The mortgage broking franchise company raised $10 million through an its initial public offering (IPO), with an oversubscription of three million shares allocated on Friday.

"It's just weak holders quitting. With these new issues once there's no 'stag' value then the weakest of them just quit and take the small losses," Mr Wright said.

He noted that volume in Mike Pero shares was slight.

Other shares on the move included: AMP up 2c at 642, Cavalier down 4c at 477, Fisher & Paykel Appliances up 2c at 458, Hellaby down 5c at 495, NZ Refining up 25c at 1910, Westfield up 10c at 490, Hallenstein Glassons up 3c at 295, and Richmond down 10c at 270.

- NZPA