NZ stocks: Lion's roar wakes up slow trade

The sharemarket ended the day almost unchanged on turnover that would have been considered minimal for a morning session.

Broker John Cobb, of JB Were, said the day was very quiet on turnover and news.

"It's a public holiday in the United States [and London] overnight, and Mondays are traditionally the quieter day of the week as well."

The NZSE-40 capital index closed down 1.17 points, or 0.06 per cent, at 2051.55.

Turnover was 17.20 million valued at $36.10 million, topped by Telecom's $9.60 million.

The day's highlight was Australasian brewer Lion Nathan's half-year result, an $A89 million ($110.4 million) profit for the six months ended March, up from $A76.7 million a year ago.

Lion, led by chief executive Gordon Cairns, surged 14c to $5.00. The company also posted an 8c half-year dividend, compared with 6.3c in the six months to February 29, 2000.

Mr Cobb said the overall result was up on market expectations.

"It shows that they're keeping or improving their market share - it's a shrinking market but they're still obviously improving their margins and shares. The outlook looks pretty good," he said.

Lion, which has hit the headlines as it locked horns with Britain's Allied Domecq over control of winemaker Montana, said the outlook for the coming year was positive.

The other market news was the diesel problem faced by New Zealand Refining, which has had major repercussions for the fishing industry in particular.

NZ Refining said it could take up to a month to remove the affected diesel from the market. The normally solid NZ Refining shares closed down 79c at $15.71, shedding 4.79 per cent on very light turnover.

Elsewhere on the market, Tranz Rail was down 10c at $3.60, pay TV operator Sky TV lost 9c to $3.75, casino operator Sky City shed 6c to $9.84 and Telecom was down 2c at $5.64.

UnitedNetworks lost 8c to $8.50, and Wilson and Horton exchangeable notes went ex-dividend 20c, falling 80c to $9.70 on very light turnover.

Richmond, the subject of a possible bid by South Island meat processor PPCS, was down 10c to $2.75.

ANZ Bank was up 20c at $18.70, Frucor gained 5c to $1.62, Fletcher Building was up 2c at $2.35 and fishing company Sanford rose 5c to $6.45.

Discount retail giant The Warehouse was up 3c at $5.60 and electricity lines company Horizon gained 44c to $11.60 on light turnover.

There were 45 falls and 42 rises on 141 stocks traded.

- NZPA