NZ stocks: Strong Pumpkin Patch debut features on quiet market

12.20pm

A strong debut by children's clothing retailer Pumpkin Patch was the highlight of otherwise dull trading on the sharemarket today.

Pumpkin Patch shares opened at $1.32, a 5.6 per cent premium on their issue price of $1.25 and within half an hour had lifted to $1.36 -- an 8.8 per cent premium.

There was good turnover with over 3.2 million shares traded in the first half of hour of its 11am listing, worth $4.2 million.

With 166 million shares on issue the company has a market capitalisation of $226 million.

Existing shareholders retained around 42 per cent of the company.

About 60 per cent of the newly issued stock was believed to have gone to retail investors, versus 40 per cent to institutional investors.

Pumpkin Patch is the second large market listing in a week although the other, Feltex Carpets, had a less successful debut and its shares are still 6c below their 170 issue price.

The rest of the market was slightly down. Having risen eight of the last nine days, albeit in small steps, the benchmark NZSX-50 index was off 3.71 points to 2617.12. The NZSX-All capital index was down 1.62 points to 877.82.

Turnover totalled 15 million shares worth $39 million. Telecom, as usual, topped the trading with $13.9 million of stock changing hands. It was down 2c at 551.

Genesis Research leapt 8c, or 11.9 per cent, to 75c following its annual meeting yesterday where it told shareholders it was in discussions with a number of major international companies on licensing some of its drugs in development.

Pyne Gould Corp continued its good run, rising another 10c to 540 today.

Turners Auction rose 5c to 510, Fletcher Building fell 3c to 440 and Auckland Airport fell 2c to 675.

NZ Refining fell 5c to 1955 despite reporting its average profit from processing crude oil in March and April was 38 per cent higher than a year earlier. The average gross refining margin, or profit from refining a barrel of crude oil, was US$4.83 ($7.79) during the two months, compared with US$3.49 for the same time in 2003, the Ruakaka-based company said.

Baycorp's 4c fall to 315 and ANZ Bank's 5c rise to 2055 were among the few top 50 stocks to move more than a couple of cents.

There were 31 stocks up and 33 down among the 109 traded by 11.30am.

US stocks rose for a third straight session as investors welcomed a plunge in the price of oil, easing concerns that high energy costs will drag on the economy.

The major indexes set new highs for the last four weeks, with the Dow Jones industrial average closing up 41.44 points, or 0.40 per cent, at 10,432.52. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index ended up 1.76 points, or 0.15 per cent, at 1142.18. The technology-focused Nasdaq Composite Index rose 2.91 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 2023.53.

- NZPA