Stocks to watch: Freightways, Comvita, Pyne, ING

Stocks to watch: Freightways, Comvita, Pyne Gould, ING

August 17 – The following stocks may be active on the New Zealand exchange after developments since the close of trading yesterday.

Themes of the day: Stocks edged lower on Wall Street and in Europe on Friday after an unexpected drop in U.S. consumer confidence. Prices of oil and metals fell. Freightways Ltd. posted earnings that exceeded some analysts’ forecasts.

Comvita Ltd. (CVT): The maker of honey-based products was rated a ‘buy’ by brokerage McDouall Stuart, which cited recent successes such as the FDA’s approval of its woundcare products in the U.S. Comvita “appears to be regaining momentum with sales and profitability recovering in 2009,” the brokerage said, according to the Share Chat website. Net profit is forecast to rose to NZ$4.3 million in 2011 from NZ$2.8 million in the year ended March 2010. The shares rose 10 cents to NZ$1.25 on Friday.

Freightways Ltd. (FRE): The courier and logistics firm today posted a 5% gain in full-year operating revenue and a 7% gain in net profit to NZ$34.6 million, exceeding Forsyth Barr’s forecast of NZ$31.5 million and First NZ Capital’s NZ$34.1 million. The shares were unchanged at NZ$3.40 on Friday.

ING Property Trust (ING): The trust on Friday said it sold three properties for a total NZ$10.4 million, bringing sales of non-core assets since March to NZ$48.9 million as it repays debt. The trust sold its Maui St, Hamilton site and two properties in East Tamaki, Auckland, it said in a statement. Sales since March have averaged 103% of their March valuations, it said. The shares were unchanged at 73 cents on Friday.

Lyttelton Port Co. (LPC): The South Island’s biggest port company last week signed a new commercial contract with Fonterra for the transport of dairy products for export through the Container Terminal. Fonterra has slashed its ties with the ports of Timaru and Taranaki, using KiwiRail’s cheaper freight costs by channeling greater volumes through Auckland, Tauranga, Lyttelton and Napier. Lyttelton Port jumped 4.2% to NZ$2.50 on Friday.

NZ Farming Systems Uruguay (NZS): The shares dropped 6% to 47 cents on Friday, having tumbled from NZ$1.96 in May last year. The shares have declined amid speculation the developer of dairy farms in South America needs to raise capital and may have to sell assets, said Paul Richardson, who oversees $2.3 billion as chief investment officer at BT Funds Management.

Pyne Gould Corp. (PGC): The investment group sank 14 cents to a record low close of NZ$1.27 on Friday after the credit rating on its Marac finance arm was cut to junk. The company today said it completed the NZ$18 million purchase of Equity Partners Asset Management in what chairman Sam Maling described as moving the company “closer to achieving its goal of becoming New Zealand’s only publicly listed banking and asset management company.

Telstra Corp. (TLS): Chief executive David Thodey told shareholders in a letter on Friday that Telstra expects to generate A$6 billion of free cash flow in the 2010, with low single-digit sales and EBIT growth. The forecasts don’t include any impact of government regulatory review. The shares rose 10 cents to NZ$4.50 on the NZX on Friday.

(BusinessWire)

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