NZ stocks: Shares boosted by NGC, Ports of Auckland

12.00pm

New Zealand shares edged higher this morning as profit results from Ports of Auckland and power company Natural Gas Corp satisfied market expectations.

By 11am the benchmark NZSE-40 capital index was 6.01 points, or 0.30 per cent, higher at 2042.57 on quiet turnover of $17.3 million.

Ports of Auckland, the country's biggest port operator, recorded a full year profit of $46.5 million, just beating analysts' expectations of a flat $44 million figure, while Natural Gas Corp moved back into the black after a disastrous run last year with a $34.5 million full year profit -- also above forecasts.

The market immediately rewarded the pair, with their share prices rising 20c to 640 and 2c to 124, respectively, by 11am.

ABN Amro Craigs retail equities adviser Nigel Scott said the NGC result was positive, as it showed that the company was back on track after being severely scalded by a spike in wholesale electricity prices caused by a drought in the main hydro areas last year.

"It is a continuation of its return to profitability post its foray into electricity retailing," he said.

NGC also said today it plans to sell its gas customers and electricity generation assets to focus on gas distribution and energy metering.

"They are selling off other assets and lowering their debt levels, indicating that exactly what they've been saying they'll do over the last six months, they have done," Mr Scott said.

In the broader market, activity was quiet but firm this morning.

Top stock Telecom eased a cent to 504, Sky TV bounced 10c to 395, Sky City was 4c higher at 652, Auckland Airport added a cent to 419, Briscoe Group dipped 2c to 250, Contact Energy was a cent lower at 395, Fisher and Paykel Healthcare eased 8c to 940 after its recent strong run and Infratil was 5c higher at 193.

Air New Zealand slipped 2c to 58c after rival Qantas said yesterday it will match the national carrier's cut price airfares.

In all, rises outnumbered falls by 32 to 20 among the 98 stocks traded so far.

On Wall Street bargain-hunting lifted the broad US stock market to five-week highs on Monday, adding a leg-up to a choppy August rally, as investors took an optimistic view of mixed corporate financial results and forecasts.

The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index rose 33.68 points, or 2.47 per cent, to 1394.69, according to the latest available data. The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average gained 212.73 points, or 2.42 per cent, to 8990.79, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 21.95 points, or 2.36 per cent, to 950.72.

- NZPA