Forum Archive Index - February 2004

["Paula Cooper" <paula@tudorsteel.co.nz>]

Hi…

 I’ve been reading this forum for a while and silently enjoying the views and information… felt it was time to weigh in with my two cents worth.

 Regarding HQP, a topic many of you may have thought (or hoped) was dead… someone made the good point that they may struggle to find buyers for their heavy earth moving equipment. That may indeed be the case but they are using the current foreign exchange situation well by buying in their equipment at lower rates (in NZ$ terms) than they could a year or two ago. Assuming the almighty NZ economy slows down and the US picks up, it would be fair to assume that the NZ$ will depreciate against our trading partners and they could then export any surplus heavy machinery at some fairly good NZ$ prices… assuming again that there is demand for the machinery somewhere…

 Another (somewhat grisly point) is that they have serious market presence… I say grisly because during recent footage of some stabbings in the Nth Island I noticed that the barriers put up to “protect” the crime scene were Hirequip barriers. Despite the fact I shouldn’t really have been thinking of a Hire company’s market share at that time, I thought that was a picture which painted at least a few words…

 Also, my company deals as a supplier (occasionally) to HQP and they are sharp dealers… we enjoy some fairly consistent customer loyalty and yet HQP are astute in their purchasing to ensure they get the best price for their materials. A sales rep’s nightmare…

 Finally, I have heard several stories of occasions where HQP have bought equipment, hired the equipment out and then resold said equipment for as good a price or better than what they paid (refer second paragraph)… hearsay only but it is fitting with what I know of the company.

 David.

 PS enjoy all the posts, i.e. the ones with no immediate share trading value, the ones which curse the posts with no immediate share trading value, and the ones which have some reference to stocks. Cris… purchased a small package of ZYL shares simply because you sound like you know what you’re about, hope you prove as astute as your postings suggest. Enjoying the Gold 101 lessons too, incidentally.