NZ stocks: Exchange plan put to the vote

By PAUL PANCKHURST

Stock Exchange members have the chance to make both history and money this week.

If voting members give approval on Wednesday to demutualisation, and a 75 per cent majority is required, the exchange will become a limited liability company.

Then - and, yes, it does sound bizarre - the exchange will list on the exchange.

Soundings last week indicated the proposal for a new, commercially driven exchange was likely to go through, although a number of brokers wanted more information before the vote.

One result of demutualisation will be a windfall for many members in the form of shareholdings in the new company.

However, one sharebroker said these were likely to be worth tens of thousands of dollars, rather than the hundreds of thousands when the much bigger Australian exchange went through the same exercise.

The industry that is number one for corporate gossip, forestry, has one certain event this week: the release on Wednesday of Carter Holt Harvey's third-quarter result.

Sharebroking firm Forsyth Barr predicts earnings before interest and tax of $108 million - compared with the "cyclically depressed" $16 million of the same period last year.

Less certain are the new stories likely from the tussle over forestry. Corporate raider Guinness Peat Group's partial takeover offer for forestry and biotech company Rubicon is still alive, and Chinese investment company Citic is trying to stitch up finance to buy the central North Island forest.

Also on this week's menu: Restaurant Brands, the company with the fast-food and fast-drink brands Pizza Hut, KFC and Starbucks.

This is one stock that has taken a pounding. Last week, it hit a 12-month low of $1.58 before bouncing back to $1.67.

On Thursday, investors will see the company's half-year result. JBWere broker Humphrey Sherratt said the key issue would be the Pizza Hut outlets in Victoria, Australia, that, so far, have been dragging the company down.

In the currency market: watch to see if the kiwi stays with recent form and trades in the band above US47.80c.

Although the new Consumers Price Index is out tomorrow, inflation is not the topic of the moment.

Think global. Think deflation. Think: "What happens then?"