Stocks to watch: Infratil, NZOG, Wrightson

Monday 13th July 2009

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

Themes of the day: Shares on Wall Street weakened on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rounding out its fourth monthly gain. Crude oil weakened further below US$60 a barrel. Data this week includes the consumer price index on Thursday, expected to show inflation slowed to a benign 0.5% in the second quarter for an annual rate of 1.8%.

Infratil (IFT): The investment group’s IFTWB warrants expired on Friday, with underwriting arranged by First NZ Capital for at least 68 million and other major shareholders committing to exercise about 30 million, helping bolster its balance sheet. The shares rose 0.6% to $1.67 on Friday.

New Zealand Oil & Gas (NZO): The oil explorer may have waited too long to spend its $193 million of cash from the exercise of options last year, according to John Kidd, an analyst at McDouall Stuart, the ShareChat website reported.

“There is growing evidence to suggest that the trough of the current economic cycle may have passed, bringing with it concern that the most distressed and perhaps best value opportunities may already have been missed,” he said. Kidd still rates NZOG a ‘buy’ and said it has "fundamentally attractive metrics." The shares rose 0.7% to $1.52 on Friday.

PGG Wrightson (PGW): The nation’s largest rural services company fell 3.7% to $1.05 on Friday after rival RD1, owned by Fonterra, said it would offer interest free terms to dairy farmers to buy essential items. Fonterra will lend its 50%-owned RD1 $15 million until April 30 next year, to enable it to offer interest free terms.

Port of Tauranga (POT): Stevedore and logistics group NZL on Friday presented its plans to compete in container handling to Port of Tauranga, a move that the port has resisted as the two companies argue over whether NZL has historic rights.

NZL’s Sulphur Point Container Terminal subsidiary submitted details of its proposed terminal operation, claiming it is exercising its right “to re-establish a full service container terminal at Sulphur Point.” The shares rose 5 cents to $6.10 on Friday.

Sky City Entertainment Group (SKC): The casino and hotel group bought back US$53 million of its March 2012 US private placement debt, it said on Friday. The buyback was at 98 cents and reduces the company’s total debt position by 9%. It used funds raised from its equity raising in April. The shares fell 3 cents to $2.65 on Friday.

Businesswire.co.nz

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