News Round Up

Registrations are flooding in for this year's Financial Planners and Insurance Advisers Convention.

Convention organiser Paul O'Brien says more than 600 people have registered to date. He says that is getting close to the maximum number possible, so registrations may have to be closed off.

The convention, called Taking Charge, will be held in Palmerston North from July 18-20.

One of the highlights will be the establishment of the Manawatu Stock Exchange which will be opened by new NZSE chief executive Mark Weldon.

Investment Yearbook is back
One of our most popular annual books, the New Zealand Investment Yearbook 2002, has been published in a new format this year.

This year's edition includes full coverage of all listed New Zealand companies, but in addition includes the top 100 ASX listed companies.

There is a full page profile for each company in the book. This profile includes directory, 4-year financials, overview, outlook and chart.

The introductory section includes comprehensive dividend data (NZ companies only), profit announcement calendar (NZ and Australia), and explanatory notes.

Dorchester well placed: King
Financial services company Dorchester Pacific has experienced difficult trading conditions in the past 12 months, but still managed to post a record net annual profit of $3.72 million.

This is 24% higher than in the previous year.

During the year Dorchester acquired Save and Invest Life, Lynx Finance, Plains Finance and Harts Reeves Moses, renamed Sterling Portfolio Management.

Those businesses had not yet made a significant contribution to earnings.

"The Dorchester group has now reached the stage where we have significant diversification of our operations. During the year we had outstanding performances from some subsidiaries, while in others further improvement is required," managing director Brent King says.

"The Dorchester group is now well placed to take advantage of opportunities as they occur. We will be continuing our policy of steady growth for all aspects of our businesses," King says.

KIPT rights issue
Kiwi Income Property Trust posted a net profit after tax of $43.4 million for the year to March 31 and has announced a one-for-six rights issue.

KIPT says its rights issue, which is pitched at 82 cents a unit, aims to raise $69.4 million to expand the Northland Shopping Centre in Christchurch.

The trust's result was buoyed by its acquisition of the Royal & SunAlliance Centre, chairman Jim Syme said.

"It's a pleasing result, in no small part due to the strong sales in the trust's retail assets which were up by 9.4% overall," Syme said.

"The agricultural sector boomed, boosting confidence in the provincial economy and ultimately confidence in the property and retail market overall in New Zealand.

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