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Thursday 7th May 2009 |
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Fisher & Paykel Appliances Holdings, New Zealand’s largest whiteware manufacturer, pointed to a pick-up in sentiment and gains in the shares of Whirlpool Corp. to account for a 31% rebound in its stock.
The shares have climbed to 64 cents today from 46 cents at the start of the month, and the rapid jump in the stock prompted stock market regulator NZX to ask if the manufacturer had anything to disclose. Chief financial officer Mark Richardson he was not aware of any specific reason for the increase. The company announced an extension to its short-term banking facility on April 28.
F&P Appliances noted media coverage of the company reporting “improved sentiment towards FPA and other cyclical stocks and a significant increase in Whirlpool’s share price,” according to Richardson’s statement.
He reiterated that the company is considering a range of options to “strengthen its balance sheet” and will keep the regulator informed.
“Things are getting less worse in the US, and that’s big part of their market,” said Craig Brown, who helps manage about $1 billion of assets for ING New Zealand. “It was probably more news and rumours and speculation that will bounce it around like flotsam and jetsam.”
Shares of Whirlpool have surged 17% in the past week amid optimism the US recession is abating. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke this week said recession will give way to a slow recovery this year with the housing market showing signs of bottoming after the three-year slump.
He predicted 2010 US GDP growth of 2%.
F&P Appliances stock has fallen from as high as $2.69 in May 2008 amid increasing signs the global economic slump would weigh on company earnings. F&P posted a $7.3 million first-half loss reflecting the costs to relocate its factories overseas and sales waned in the US and at home.
The New Zealand company’s stock dived in February, when Whirlpool, the world’s largest maker of home appliances, posted a fourth-quarter profit slump and F&P Appliances said it was in talks with its bankers over debt levels.
Businesswire.co.nz
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