Pyne Gould plunges 19 percent to record low on NZ exit plans

Pyne Gould plunges 19 percent to record low after annual meeting

By Paul McBeth

Nov. 29 (BusinessDesk) - Shares in Pyne Gould Corp plunged to a record low after yesterday's annual meeting where chairman Bryan Mogridge told investors the firm will probably quit New Zealand.

The stock sank 19 percent to 22 cents in trading this morning, with about 0.08 percent of shares on issue changing hands. The shares have shed a third of their value this month, and are now trading at a 41 percent discount to what managing director and controlling shareholder George Kerr paid earlier this year.

Kerr paid 37 cents a share to take control of the company with 77 percent, while warning that the difficult process of selling assets meant Pyne Gould was no longer a generator of dividend income.

The trading comes a day after the company's annual meeting in Auckland, where chairman Mogridge repeated his warning that the company won't pay dividends and told investors the board is “seriously considering the domicile of the company,” which is unlikely to be New Zealand, and will update the market on its decision when it is made.

The firm has almost exited its last New Zealand asset, with Kerr overseas trying to finalise a deal to sell the Perpetual wealth management assets. It had previously sold the corporate trust unit in a management buy-out.

Pyne Gould is looking to get a return of more than 15 percent over a decade on its $97.5 million of net assets.

Its Torchlight Investment Group owns 19.7 percent of investor Torchlight Fund 1, which runs until 2019, and Torchlight Fund 2, which holds remaining bad loans carved off when Marac Finance was sold into Heartland New Zealand.

Pyne Gould’s Torchlight Securities owns 27 percent of Equity Partners Infrastructure Company No. 1 which in turn owns 17 percent of UK motorway services company Moto International Holdings.

(BusinessDesk)

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