Tower under the spotlight

By PAUL PANCKHURST

Is something up with Tower?

Shares in the company shot up nearly 10 per cent on the Australian Stock Exchange yesterday to close at A$1.80.

That means the share has put on nearly 13 per cent on the ASX in two days.

Tower was yesterday up nearly 6 per cent on the New Zealand stock exchange, which closes before Australia's.

The prices are 20-month highs for a stock that had tumbled from $3.55 when it issued a profit warning in November 2002.

In May, Tower announced a profit of $20.5 million for the six months to the end of March - reversing a net loss of $154.4 million for the same period a year earlier.

The company's back-from-the-dead performance included a tumultuous capital raising.

At the time of the latest result, Malcolm Davie, of sharebroking firm First NZ Capital, said Tower had regained its momentum after a tough period.

The company has been seen by some as a likely takeover target.

But in an interview this month with an Australian reporter, chairman Olaf O'Duill said it had been a potential target since it was demutualised in 1999.

An acquisition of its own or a merger were long-term possibilities, he said.

"There is no reason why we shouldn't consider an acquisition in Australia."