NZ stocks: Sharemarket quiet, CHH announces restructuring

The New Zealand sharemarket retreated on yesterday's gains this morning while forest products company Carter Holt Harvey (CHH) grabbed the spotlight with a restructuring announcement.

At 11.30am, the benchmark NZSX-50 was down 4.13 points at 2337.86, while the NZSX-40 capital index was down 3.28 points at 2226.39.

There had been $22.7 million worth of shares traded on volume of 8.1 million. Among the 106 stocks traded were 27 rises and 29 falls.

Bourse heavyweight Telecom was up 2c at 507, having traded $8.7 million worth on volume of 1.7 million.

CHH today announced a proposal to close its Tokoroa sawmill and partially close its remanufacturing facility in the same South Waikato town.

CHH chief executive Peter Springfield said the sawmill had run at a loss for a number of years, while the remanufacturing business was not competitive and continued to lose money.

The company's shares slipped 4c to 183.

ABN Amro Craigs operator Matt Willis said the market had been quiet so far today, and CHH was the centre of attention after its announcement at the start of trading.

"I think the board is making it reasonably clear they're going to do something about creating shareholder value," Mr Willis told NZPA today.

"Because for so long the share price has lagged intrinsic value of the business and of the assets.

"I think they've drawn a line in the sand and are doing something proactive about it," he said.

Meanwhile, Steel & Tube is to issue a special dividend of 10c per share. Its shares were unchanged at 370.

Air New Zealand shares were unchanged at 46c after it and Qantas yesterday confirmed they would be appealing a Commerce Commission ruling against their proposed alliance.

Shares on the rise today included: ANZ Bank up 4c at 1920, Baycorp Advantage up 3c at 285, Fisher & Paykel Appliances up 3c at 375, Hallenstein Glassons up 5c to 300, Tower up 3c at 140, and Westfield up 10c at 390.

Among those on the slide today were: Auckland International Airport down 5c at 679, Ebos down 5c at 325, Sky TV down 2c at 525, Telstra down 11c at 541, Repco down 9c at 284, and The Warehouse down 1c at 564.

Overseas, the Dow Jones dropped 70.81 points to 9619.65, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 8.82 points to 1033.62, and the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 17.73 points to 1881.92.

- NZPA