Stocks to watch: ANO, FPA, MFT, OGC, TLS

Stocks to watch: ANO, FPA, MFT, OGC, TLS

Aug. 12 (BusinessDesk) – The following stocks may be active on the New Zealand exchange after developments since the close of trading. All prices are in New Zealand dollars unless specified.

Themes of the day: The government is set to release the retail trade survey for the July quarter today, which is likely to show an increase in consumer spending levels based on electronic card spending trends. Global markets rallied after U.S. weekly unemployment claims fell by 7,000 to 395,000, below the 400,000 expected by economists. On Wall Street, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 4.6% to 1,172.64, Europe's Stoxx 600 gained 3.2% to 230.57, and the 19-commodity Thompson Reuters CRB Index rose 1.8% to 326.34.

AMP NZ Office Ltd. (ANO): The specialist investor in office properties made an operating profit of $61.1 million in the 12 months ended June 30, compared to a profit of $60.7 million a year earlier, slightly ahead of Forsyth Barr’s forecast profit of $59.7 million. ANO shares rose 1.2% yesterday to 83 cents.

Fisher & Paykel Appliances Holdings (FPA): The whiteware manufacturer and exporter tapped David Sullivan as chief financial officer, replacing Mark Richardson. Sullivan has held the same position at SkyCity Entertainment Group and Vodafone New Zealand, and has worked at Air New Zealand, Lion Nathan and BayCorp Advantage, the company said in a statement. FPA shares fell 3.5% yesterday to 55 cents.

Mainfreight Ltd. (MFT): The transport and logistics company more than doubled first-quarter profit to $14.2 million, reflecting improved performance in New Zealand, Australia, the U.S. and Europe as well as a boost in earnings from its Wim Bosman acquisition. The company's shares rose 1.6% yesterday to $9.77.

OceanaGold Corp. (OGC): Waning levels of global risk aversion saw the gold price fall to US$1745.99 an ounce, down from a fresh historic high of US$1800 earlier in the week, although the hedge asset still remains at elevated levels. Shares in OGC, the gold miner, rose 1.5% yesterday to $2.70.

Steel & Tube Holdings (STU): The Wellington-based construction materials supplier yesterday reported a three-fold jump in annual earnings. Net profit for the year ended June 30 rose to $17 million from $5.7 million the previous year, though still well shy of the $26.1 million in earned in 2008/09. STU shares rose 2.1% yesterday to $2.40.

Telstra Corp. (TLS): The Australian phone company rose 5.9% yesterday to $3.76 after full-year earnings came ahead of expectations. The company posted a net profit of A$3.23 billion, which was 16% lower than the previous year, but head of the A$3.1 billion expected by analysts.

(BusinessDesk)

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