KEY POINTS:
Investment company Viking Capital is hunting a bigger stake in financier Dorchester Pacific but is waiting for the shares to sink further before it makes its move.
Brent King, former Dorchester managing director and Viking's executive chairman and managing director, said yesterday he wanted to buy a bigger holding in his former firm.
Dorchester, with a market capitalisation of $67 million, was trading around $2.30 earlier this month but shares sank last week after it said its profit would fall more than 50 per cent, from $8.1 million last year to around $3 million to $4 million.
Dorchester's shares were yesterday trading at $2.13 to $2.15 and King said he would buy a bigger stake when they reached "the low twos".
King has consistently criticised Dorchester since he resigned as its managing director two years ago.
He has also tried unsuccessfully to get elected to its board.
Andrew Walker, Dorchester's chief executive, blamed a series of poor-quality car loans and a bad debt provision of $4.65 million for the revised profit outlook.
Barry Graham, Dorchester's chairman, said the company was financially sound and had high cash reserves and strong support from debenture holders.
In December, King announced he had taken his Dorchester stake from 7.9 per cent to 9.3 per cent and he said yesterday he held around 9.5 per cent.
* Viking Capital will hold a special meeting at the offices of Minter Ellison Rudd Watts in Auckland at 11am on March 7.
