Stocks to watch: Hallenstein, Genesis Research, Tower

Wednesday 5th August 2009

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

Themes of the day: The New Zealand dollar jumped above 67 cents to a new 10-month high after prices of milk powder in Fonterra’s latest online auction rebounded. Stocks on Wall Street edged higher after figures showed a bigger than expected pick up in home resales.

Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ): Australia’s fourth-biggest lender rose 3.3% to $24.80 yesterday after agreeing to acquire Royal Bank of Scotland’s retail and commercial banking operations in Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia and Hong Kong, and its institutional units in Taiwan, the Philippines and Vietnam for US$550 million.

Genesis Research and Development Corp. (GEN): The gene trechnology research group said it has finalised an agreement with a Japanese investment fund to set up a subsidiary to develop its gene silencing technology. The investment fund plans to provide progressive funding of the subsidiary of up to $1 million and Genesis will transfer intellectual property and patent rights to the new unit, called Solirna Biosciences. The shares traded at 5.7 cents yesterday.

Hallenstein Glasson Holdings (HLG): The clothing chain said it has lifted sales “through (an) aggressive pricing strategy which had been at the expense of margin. Net profit for the year ended August 1 probably fell 23% to as low as $12.2 million, it said. The shares rose 5 cents to $2.85 yesterday.

Kingfish (KFL): The investment group which focuses on small to medium sized New Zealand companies said its net asset value rose 12.8% in the June quarter, the biggest gain since early 2007, which it said indicates “confidence is creeping back into equity markets.” Kingfish stock rose 6.7% to 95 cents yesterday.

Tower (TWR): Stock investor Kingfish said in its June quarter review that it has added a small holding of the insurer, which “offers earnings growth even in recessionary times.” The shares rose 2.8% to $1.81 yesterday.

Tourism Holdings (THL): The campervan rental company yesterday said it was in compliance with continuous disclosure rules after the NZX queried the 39% surge in its stock between July 27 and August 4. The shares jumped 12% to 58 cents yesterday.

Wakefield Health (WFD): The private hospital operator tumbled 8% to $9.20 yesterday after slashing its earnings forecast for the first half of this year as the worst economic slump in 30 years slowed demand from patients using the private health system. Profit in the six months ended September 30 will be 30% to 40% lower than the year-earlier $6.1 million and full-year earnings may lag behind the previous 12 months.

Businesswire.co.nz

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