Forum Archive Index - May 2000

[kevin.young@gfmb.co.nz]

For those interested in CEN, an extract from an daily email.

Once  again we have seen how quickly a stock can come back into favour.   Only a
few  weeks  ago Contact Energy was trading @ $2.35.  This morning CEN has traded
to  $2.90.  At  $2.35 CEN was well oversold and had no friends.  But as the fizz
has  well  and  truly  gone  out of the tech sector and investors are once again
looking  at  value  plays,  CEN was a stand-out example, as our DCF valuation is
$3.44.  On top of this there is talk in the market again that Edison may look to
increase  their 40% stake.  Only speculation but CEN must look attractive to the
Americans  with  the  low  New  Zealand  dollar.   Also  the  wholesale price of
electricity has continued to firm to be trading around $45.50 per KWh.  Unlike a
large  number  of  the ?dot com? stocks which are in trouble, CEN has a stunning
ability to generate cash.

Contact Energy Ltd?s (CEN) share price rose 14 cents per share yesterday, driven
by  its inclusion in the Morgan Stanley Capital Index. Other shares to have been
helped  by  inclusion  in  the  index  as  of 31 May, are Auckland International
Airport Ltd (AIA), The Warehouse Group (WHS) and Carter Holt Harvey (CAH).

Contact  Energy  (CEN)  has  said  that  it  has been given no indication by its
cornerstone  shareholder,  Edison  Mission  Energy Ltd that it is about to boost
it?s  stake in the company.  The comment comes after CEN?s share price has risen
sharply  this  week.   CEN?s communications manager, Bruce Thompson said Contact
has received no recent advice from Edison regarding any possible increase in its
holding.   He  said  that there was little justification for the earlier fall in
CEN?s  share  price and the recent rise appears to be a recognition by investors
of the company?s strong fundamentals and earnings potential?.

A  surge  in  the  share  price  of  Contact  Energy  Ltd.  may save its biggest
shareholder,  Edison International, from having to guarantee some of the debt it
incurred buying its stake in New Zealand?s largest energy company.

Contact  Energy  (CEN)  -  spot  prices?  Spot prices continued the strong trend
finishing  up  at  $45.5 MWh. Particularly strong in the South Island? Don't get
excited,  we  need these levels to hit consensus? At week's end national storage
was at 2,787 GWh, 94% of the average for this time of the year. National inflows
for the last seven days were 112% of the average.


The information contained in this message and any annexures
is confidential and intended only for the named recipient(s).
If you have received this message in error, you are
prohibited from reading, copying, distributing and using the
information.

If you have received this message in error, please contact
the sender immediately by return email and destroy the
original message.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.sharechat.co.nz/          New Zealand's home for market investors
To remove yourself from this list, please use the form at
http://www.sharechat.co.nz/forum.shtml.