Stocks to watch: Fletcher, NZOG, Pike River, Tower

Stocks to watch: Fletcher, NZOG, Pike River, Tower

Nov. 9 (BusinessWire) – The following stocks may be active on the New Zealand exchange after developments since the close of trading yesterday. All prices are in New Zealand dollars unless specified.

Themes of the day: Fonterra Cooperative Group lifted its forecast 2010 milk fat payment to $6.05 a kilogram, citing strengthening international dairy prices. America’s jobless rate unexpectedly climbed to 10.2% last month while companies shed more-than-expected jobs. Stocks on Wall Street and in Europe edged higher, while the U.S. dollar strengthened.

Fletcher Building Ltd. (FBU): Australia’s construction sector grew at a seasonally adjusted 0.1 points to 50.9 last month, helped by a pick-up in building activity and signs of improvement in the jobs market, according to the Industry Group/Housing Industry Association Performance of Construction Index. A reading above 50 indicates expansion.

Hallenstein Glasson Holdings (HLG): Acting chief executive Roy Dillon has resigned and will leave on March 31, the clothing chain said today. Dillon was appointed acting CEO in October last year to steer the company through recession, it said. Dillon “has indicated he wishes to pursue other ventures, and we must accept that position.” The shares fell 5 cents to $3.10 on Friday.

New Zealand Oil & Gas (NZO): The stock was cut to ‘underperform’ from ‘neutral’ by First NZ Capital analyst Jason Familton, according to the ShareChat website. He says the downgrade reflects the oil company’s strong share price in anticipation of favourable drilling results. The company is drilling four wells over the next six months. Familton cut his 2010 profit forecast by 29.4% to $16.2 million, reflecting lower earnings from 29.5%-owned Pike River Coal (PRC). The coal miner declined 3 cents to $1.07 and NZOG gained 1 cent to $1.70 on Friday.

NZ Farming Systems Uruguay (NZS): Fonterra raised its forecast milk-fat payment for 2010 and said the company has “increasing confidence around the recent gains in international dairy prices.” Farming Systems, which develops dairy farms in South America based on intensive New Zealand farming methods, was unchanged at 44 cents on Friday and has weakened about 26% this year. PGG Wrightson (PGW), the nation’s biggest rural services company, rose 1 cent to 62 cents on Friday.

Tower Ltd. (RWR): The company’s insurance arm is seeking an injunction to stop rival Vero from selling ANZ and National Bank-branded policies after the bank ditched Tower as its insurance supplier last year. At stake are a share of annual insurance premiums of $70 million a year, the Sunday Star-Times reported. Tower rose 0.6% to $1.68 on Friday.

(BusinessWire)