NZ stocks: Quiet market driven by result announcements

The sharemarket had a quiet end to the week with most price movements driven by news.

The NZSX-50 gross index closed 7.422 points, or 0.3 per cent, lower at 2426.828, while the NZSX-40 capital index fell 9.186 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 2235.316.

ASB Securities broker, Stephen Wright said February had been a quiet month all round.

Turnover was 30.2 million worth $80.9 million with 34 rises and 54 falls on the 138 stocks traded.

Market leader Telecom closed down 2c to 561, on turnover of $49.26 million.

The day's standout performers were Hellaby Holdings and chemical manufacturer Nuplex, which both reported higher December half year net profits today.

Hellaby Holdings rose 21c to 490 after reporting a 49 per cent increase in its six monthly net profit to $9.3 million.

Nuplex rose 16c to 436, after posting a 64 per cent increase in its half year net profit to $15.5 million.

"They both had good reports and good recoveries," said Mr Wright, adding that both companies prices had weakened over the past week and a half in the lead-up to the results.

Other news driven movements included Air New Zealand, which dropped 1c to 41c. The company announced it had issued 78 million new shares to media magnate Rupert Murdoch's News Corp as final payment for the now defunct Ansett Australia. The new shares equate to 2.6 per cent of the airline's stock.

Fletcher Challenge Forests' price dipped just 2c to 131. Its shareholders approved the $560 million sale of the company's forest estate as expected. Less expected was yesterday's announcement that it was being sued by Norske Skog and Carter Holt Harvey over a pulp supply contract.

Mr Wright said this was disappointing in a run of bad news for the company.

A trading halt was placed on both Fisher & Paykel Appliances and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare this afternoon after the whiteware manufacturer announced it was selling its 19.3 per cent stake in the healthcare company.


Before the trading halt, F&P Appliances rose 3c to 372, while F&P Healthcare rose 5c to 1235.

Broadway Industries rose 1c to 95c after reporting a net profit of $1.9 million for the half year, up from $879,000 for the same period in 2002.

Provenco fell 1c to 060, despite posting a half year net profit of $2 million up from a net loss of $177,000 for the same period the year earlier. Earlier in the week, the IT company won a $21 million contract in Malaysia.

Designer Textiles dropped 3c to 085, after its six monthly profit eased to $1.58 million from $1.65 million for the same period last year and it announced it was suspending interim dividends to retain funds to grow.

The Warehouse continued to slip, fallng 6c to 443, its lowest close since June last year.

Mr Wright said the downward drift was likely to continue until the company announced some good news, particularly in regards to its Australian operations.

Ports of Auckland recovered half of yesterday's 20c loss to end at 730. Yesterday, it reported freight volumes fell 3 per cent in January.

Turners Auctions continued to recover from a mauling it received after its recent results announcement, rising 5c to 420.

The stock market operator, NZX continued to come off its peak, dropping 15c to 730.

Other stock on the move included: AMP down 6c to 508, Carter Holt Harvey down 1c to 187, Contact Energy down 3c to 510, Tower up 2c to 140, Telstra up 2c to 531, Ebos up 2c to 360, Sky City Entertainment up 1c to 451 and TrustPower down 15c to 680.

- NZPA