Profit results aid market firmness

Press, 16 November 1981, Page 24

Profit results aid market firmness

By

ADRIAN BROKKING.

commercial. editor

The New Zealand sharemarket continued its recovery last week, in spite of profit taking during the. final three days. On Monday and Tuesday prices rose over a broad front, in reaction to the solid profit increase by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group N.Z., Ltd, and growing awareness that the forest industry is not likely to suffer immediately from abolition of export incentives. Forestry shares also benefited from the strong profit performances by Henderson and Pollard and Carter Holt. Fletcher gained 4c to 212 c, Carter 8c to 378 c, Odlins 4c to 99c, and Winstone 6c to 82c. However, N.Z. Forest Products slipped 2c to 322 c. ANZ rose 20c to 375 c, and other shares to improve on

good profit results were Fisher and Paykel, 20c up to 340 c, Marac, 10c higher at 190 c, UEB, a rise of 5c to 126 c, CPD also sc, to 295 c, Mair, 5c to 255 c, Rex, 5c to 290 c, and Hellabys, which put on 2c to 98c..

Almost every one of these companies' reported a profit increase which handsomely beat the rate of inflation. Shares of other local companies to improve were Christchurch Press, PDL, Mt Cook, Printpac, Quill Humphreys, Skellerup, W’aitaki, Ballins, Firestone, and Carbonic Ice. Associated British Cables reacted to the news of a one-for-two bonus issue by jumping 38c to 360 c ex dividend.

T. J. Edmonds fell 10c to 320 c — the price of the cash offer by Buntings, which it-

self rose 5c to 240 c ex dividend. This makes the share and cash offer (one Bunting share plus 100 c cash for each T. J. Edmonds share) worth 340 c a share.

The directors of T. J. Edmonds are recommending shareholders to accept the bid, which almost certainly guarantees that it will be successful. T. J. Edmonds has been a strong performer during the last 10 years, on the domestic market as well as abroad. However, it is believed that its latest export venture — a 50 per cent interest in Game Management (Australia) Pty, Ltd — has been a bit of a disaster, and that the bid from Buntings was rather timely, when say a year ago it might have been strenuously resisted.