Earthquake hot topic on world trip, say Fletcher execs

Philip King. Photo / Supplied

Two Fletcher Building executives back from an international trip said the Canterbury earthquake was the biggest topic.

Bill Roest, chief financial officer, and Philip King, investor relations general manager, returned yesterday from Asia, Europe and North America where they were promoting the stock to new and existing investors.

King said they were asked most frequently about the quake.

"Everywhere we went, they knew about it and asked us about it. I thought the people in London would know, but the New Yorkers and even people in Boston - in restaurants, people asked us where we were from and said they were sorry to hear about the earthquake," King said.

Investors were keen to know how the catastrophe would affect the business, he said.

"We told investors that Christchurch would be a city which will want to be ready for Rugby World Cup next year," King said.

Fletcher stands to make huge gains from the disaster, controlling monopolies in various product categories and dominating others. It is in a strong position to supply infrastructure, panels, concrete blocks, masonry, wallboard, structural and roofing steel, cement and concrete.

The company employs more than 1000 staff in Christchurch.

Fletcher is now trading at $8.33, giving it a market capitalisation of $5.1 billion.

"The price has rallied a lot and that has to do with Christchurch and what people think Fletcher will benefit from, which is awful, of course," King said.