Stocks to watch: Auckland Airport, NZOG, Nuplex

Tuesday 24th March 2009

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

Themes of the day: Shares soared on Wall Street after the Obama administration announced plans to buy as much as US$1 trillion of toxic mortgage security assets from American banks in an effort to revive the finance sector. The new weakened the US dollar, driving the kiwi above 57 US cents.

Auckland International Airport (AIA): The nation's busiest gateway yesterday reported a 6.9% decline in overseas passenger numbers last month. The shares yesterday fell 1.7% to $1.70.

New Zealand Oil & Gas (NZO): The price of light crude oil rose 3.6% to US$53.82 per barrel as global optimism improved after the announcement of the US rescue package rose, stoking demand for raw materials to increase manufacturing and production. Stock in the oil and gas explorer was unchanged on $1.40 at the end of trading yesterday.

Nuplex Industries (NPX): Analysts Macquarie Equities and Morningstar are upbeat about the specialty chemicals maker, predicting its stock will trade at 38 cents per share after 12 months and 40.8 cents after the rights issue respectively, the Dominion Post reported. Nuplex was forced to make a rights offer at a heavy discount in an effort to repay debt. Its shares rose 3.9% to 53 cents in trading yesterday.

Wellington Drive Technology (WDT): The company yesterday said the outlook for 2009 is for sales of $40 million, with 1 million motors sold. The manufacturer said the first two months of 2009 were on target and February was the best sales month in its history. "We expect to achieve a substantial improvement in margins in the second half of the financial year, resulting in a much reduced loss, and we continue to target operating breakeven late this financial year," the company said in its annual report. The shares rose 3.3% to 12.5 cents yesterday.

By Jonathan Underhill

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