New Zealand shares rose, led by Heartland New Zealand, after Pyne Gould increased its holding in the finance company. Pumpkin Patch paced gained in retailers on perceptions consumer spending has bottomed out and may improve.
New Zealand shares rose, led by Heartland New Zealand, after Pyne Gould increased its holding in the finance company. Pumpkin Patch paced gained in retailers on perceptions consumer spending has bottomed out and may improve.
The NZX 50 Index rose 1.22 points, or 0.03 percent, to 3403.05. Within the index, 25 stocks fell, 18 rose and seven were unchanged. Turnover was $116 million.
Heartland, which has ambitions to become a registered bank, rose 4.4 percent to 47 cents. Pyne Gould Corp, the company controlled by George Kerr and Baker Street Capital, increased its holding in the finance company to about 10.4 percent from about 6 percent through its wholly owned subsidiary Torchlight Securities.
Pyne Gould was unchanged at 36 cents.
"A key catalyst for them is going to be the banking licence - the market is awaiting that news," said Peter McIntyre, an investment adviser at Craigs Investment Partners.
Pumpkin Patch, the children's clothing chain, rose 1.2 percent to 84 cents, adding to its gain yesterday, when it announced an agreement to sell its products through Mexico’s leading department store, Liverpool. The company also announced plans to ramp up distribution in the Middle East.
Warehouse Group, the biggest retailer on the bourse, rose 1.2 percent to $2.57 and jewellery chain Michael Hill International gained 3 percent to $1.02.
"If you look at the (retail) sector as a whole, investors are betting on it having reached a cyclic bottom," McIntyre said. "
Goodman Fielder, the Sydney-based food manufacturer, fell 5.6 percent to 85 cents and was the biggest decliner on the NZX 50. Government figures showed Australia's economy grew 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter, half the pace expected by economists.
Among Australian companies that trade on the NZX, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group fell 2.1 percent to $28.30, Westpac dropped 1.7 percent to $26.45 and AMP fell 1.9 percent to $5.11.
Fletcher Building, which counts Australia as its biggest market after New Zealand, fell 0.3 percent to $6.64.
Restaurant Brands, the fast-food restaurant operator, fell 3.5 percent to $1.92 after reporting sales figures that showed revenue in the fourth quarter 5.5 percent to $69.8 million. Most of the decline reflecting the closure of earthquake-affected stores in Christchurch and the continuing sell-off of its Pizza Hut stores.
Same-store sales, sales through stores open 12 months or more, fell 1.8 percent. The one bright spot was same-store sales through its Starbucks Coffee stores rose 4.3 percent in the quarter.
Telecom rose 2.2 percent to $2.32, a new high since it split off its Chorus network business last year.
"It is a defensive stock and has a good dividend yield," McIntyre said.
Postie Plus Group fell 4 percent to 24 cents after the clothing retailer said its first-half loss widened after a 4.6 percent decline in sales. First-half results will be released on March 26 and are expected to be “marginally below last year’s result,” the retailer said in a statement.
The company posted a loss of $750,000 in the first half of 2011. Sales fell to $53.9 million in the six months ended Jan. 29, from $56.5 million a year earlier, it said today.
