Stocks to watch: Heritage Gold, Kathmandu, TrustPower, Warehouse, Telecom

Monday 16th November 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 gained on Wall Street on Friday, after Walt Disney Co. and retailer Abercrombie & Fitch posted quarterly earnings that beat estimates, leading a rally in consumer stocks. Still, U.S. consumer sentiment weakened more than expected this month, according to the Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers, while government data showed the traded deficit surged in September.

Heritage Gold NZ Ltd (NZX: HGD ): The gold miner on Friday announced details of a Share Purchase Programme for Australian and New Zealand shareholders to subscribe for up to A$8,000 or NZ$10,00 of shares. Funds raised will be used to fund more exploration and for working capital, it said. The shares rose 2.6% to 4 cents on Friday.

Kathmandu Holdings (NZX: KMD ): The outdoor equipment and clothing chain rose 4.7% to $2.23 on Friday, its first day of trading on the NZX, compared to its IPO price of $2.13. Brian Gaynor, an adviser at Milford Asset Management, said on his blog that Australian small cap investment managers were net buyers of the dual-listed stocks on Friday and their continued interest “will have an important bearing on Kathmandu’s share price performance.”

Telecom Corp. (NZX: TEL ): The country’s largest phone company is looking at ways it can participate in the government’s roll-out of ultra-fast broadband and may make its 23,500 kilometres of fibre available to investors in local fibre companies, according to the Dominion Post. Chief executive Paul Reynolds said Telecom has no specific partners in mind, but has been progressing discussions through industry lobby, the Telecommunications Industry Group. The shares rose 0.4% to $2.56 in trading on Friday.

TrustPower Ltd (NZX: TPW ): The utility controlled by Infratil Ltd. is rated a ‘hold’ by Goldman Sachs JB Were analyst Matt Henry, according to the ShareChat website. The energy company’s first-half profit gain of 6.2% was “highly creditable” given the 75% decline in wholesale electricity prices and a 9% drop in generation output, Henry said. The shares rose 3 cents to $7.50 on Friday.

Warehouse Group (NZX: WHS ): The biggest retailer on the benchmark index fell 4.4% to $4.11 on Friday after chief executive Ian Morrice said revenue in September and October were lower than expected, signaling a slow start to sales of seasonal goods. Retail demand “remains unpredictable” despite a pick-up in consumer sentiment, he said.

Businesswire.co.nz

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