Stocks to watch: Pike River, NZOG, Pyne Gould Corporation

Thursday 29th October 2009

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

Themes of the day: Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard has kept the Official Cash Rate at 2.5% and while he has dropped references to possible further falls, he sees no increase likely before the latter half of 2010. Following sharp corrections overnight, the kiwi dollar fell further on the RBNZ announcement to US72.81 cents, after touching highs above US76 cents in recent days.

L&M Petroleum (LMP): The oil and gas explorer yesterday said it continues to carefully husband shareholders’ funds and remains well-funded, with $7.4 million of cash available at the end of the quarter to undertake its projects. The shares dropped 8.4% to 14.2 cents yesterday.

New Zealand Oil & Gas (NZO): Development costs on the Kupe gas field have risen, with NZOG’s share of costs creasing by up to $20 million, managing director David Salisbury told shareholders at their annual meeting yesterday. NZOG’s final contribution would be $195 million to $200 million," he said. The shares rose 1.2% to $1.73 yesterday.

Nuplex Industries (NPX): Managing director John Hirst yesterday said increasing demand and lower costs in Asia have resulted in “strong” profit growth in the region. The shares are up 28% in the past three months. They gained 0.8% to $2.41 yesterday.

Pike River Coal (PRC): The coal miner has dealt with problems at its West Coast Mine and expects to have 30kt of coal ready for its first export shipment in January, according to a research report from McDouall Stuart's John Kidd. Pike River requires $20 million in additional capital ahead of full production. The broker expects to release "some upbeat reading" on the coal sector this week. PRC traded unchanged yesterday at $1.12, having fallen close to 70 cents in March.

Contact Energy (CEN): The electricity generator-retailer continues to face operational inflexibility until 2012 while the Cook Strait cable is upgraded, says McDouall Stuart. "To spread sector risk, we maintain our recommendation that investors who are overweight in CEN but underweight in TrustPower (TPW) should consider rebalancing their positions," the broker says. CEN closed down 1 cent at $6.23 yesterday, while TPW was down 10 cents at $7.50.

Pyne Gould Corporation (PGC): The stock was down a cent yesterday to 43 cents, with reports that director and chair of the company's asset management unit, George Kerr appears to have spent $36 million to up his stake in PGC from 10% to 13.2%.

Businesswire.co.nz

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