Stocks to watch: F&P Appliances, Genesis Research, Sanford

Tuesday 16th June 2009

The following stocks may be active on the New Zealand exchange after developments since the close of trading yesterday.

Themes of the day: Stocks on Wall Street sank as the prospect of an early recovery dimmed on weaker manufacturing data in New York, prices of raw materials fell, and the International Monetary Fund forecast the US economy wouldn’t return to growth until next year. The kiwi sank 0.6% as investors flocked to the relative safety of US Treasuries and the greenback. Crude oil for July delivery slipped 2.1% to US$70.56 a barrel.

Fisher & Paykel Appliances (FPA): The whiteware manufacturer spent the better part of $20 million organising finance arrangements that saw Chinese company Haier take a 20% stake, the NBR reported. The shares jumped 7.6% to 71 cents on the stock exchange yesterday.

Genesis Research and Development Corp. (GEN): The research firm said it is in talks with several international groups to provide funding to develop its `novel gene silencing technology.’ The group has filed patent claims for technology that “is intended to achieve effective gene silencing using single-stranded oligonucleotides that act through the RNAi cellular mechanism.” The technology is likely to be transferred to a new subsidiary, with funding from interested groups allowing it to complete critical experiments, it said. The shares were last at 12 cents and have soared 300% in the past three months.

OceanaGold Corp. (OGC): The price of gold sank 0.5% to US$927.85 per ounce after touching a three-week low of US$927.50 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Shares in the owner of the country’s largest gold mine were unchanged at $1.35 on light trading yesterday.

Sanford (SAN): The fishing company was raised to ‘hold’ from ‘reduce’ by research firm Morningstar, according to the ShareChat website. Sanford has hedged 30% of its foreign exchange receipts, mainly in US dollars and yen at favourable exchange rates, according to the report. The stock was unchanged yesterday at $5.70.

Vector (VCT): The nation’s biggest electricity and gas lines company said it is “cautiously optimistic” that the company’s full year EBITDA and net profit will be “comfortably within or above the range of analysts’ most recently published forecasts.” EBITDA is forecast to be $573 million, according to estimates collated by Reuters. In the first nine months, electricity consumption in Auckland fell 1.4%, led by declines from commercial customers. Gas distribution fell 3.3% from the same, year-earlier period. The shares were unchanged at $2.05 yesterday.

Businesswire.co.nz

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