F&P Appliances gain 10 pct after profit result

Stuart Broadhurst, chief executive of Fisher & Paykel Appliances. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Shares in Fisher & Paykel Appliances rose 10 percent in early trading on the New Zealand sharemarket.

Shortly after the market opened Appliances shares were up 5.5c to 61, after the company reported full year net profit of $33.5 million, following a loss of $83.3 million a year earlier.

Tower shares rose 2c to 181 after the insurer and fund manager reported half year net profit down 54 percent to $12.8m, hit by the Christchurch earthquakes and global investment market changes. The company called the result "pleasing".

Around 10.15am the benchmark NZX-50 index was up 4.22 points to 3531.81, after yesterday losing 26.8 points as profit taking emerged in many leading stocks.

Mainfreight shares were up 12c to a new record 956. Yesterday they had gained 18c after reporting a hike in full-year net profit before non-recurring expenses to a record $47.2m from $38.3m the year before.

Restaurant Brands rose 5c to 266, Fletcher Building added 5c to 886, Kathmandu was up 3c to 230, and Abano Healthcare lifted 3c to 470.

Telecom lost 4c early to 239, as profit taking continued to afflict the stock which had traded as high as 254.5 following Tuesday's announcement it had the major share of the Government's ultrafast broadband initiative.

Contact Energy lost 4c to 590, while OceanaGold dropped 7c to 323.

In the United States stocks rose for a second day in a choppy session, with technology and consumer discretionary stocks leading the way after upbeat earnings.

The market's ability to sustain an advance ebbed and flowed with developments in the foreign-exchange market and fears over Europe's sovereign debt crisis.

The Dow Jones industrial average edged up 0.1 percent to 12,402.76, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 0.4 percent to 1325.69, and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.8 percent to 2782.92.

- NZPA