New Zealand Investment Trust

NZ Investment Trust. 2002-10-01

Some of the highest yielding stocks in the developed world are to be found in Australia & New Zealand. Blue chip shares can be bought at low P/Es, with dividends in excess of 5% and with the prospects for excellent capital appreciation. The New Zealand Investment Trust is listed in London and New Zealand and is a basket of high caliber, undervalued companies, paying great dividends. It is currently trading at a discount to net asset value.

The share holdings in this fund  give a good diversification of sectors, pay excellent secure dividends & should do really well over the next few years.

The objectives of this investment trust is to provide shareholders with the maximum possible total return primarily from investment in quoted securities in New Zealand and, to a maximum extent of 35% of total assets, Australia.

As at 31st October 2002, the main shareholdings in the trust are as follows:

Fisher & Paykel Appliances Holdings

The company designs, manufactures and distributes household appliances such as refrigerators, freezers, clothes washers and dryers, dishwashers and cooking products. The company also provides financial products and services to based retailers of its goods, and has a rapidly growing international business helped by an alliance with the company Whirlpool.

Fletcher Building

The company manufactures, distributes and sells materials for the building industry including wood
fibre-based products, cement and aggregates, plasterboard, lumber and aluminium extrusion. The
company operates primarily in New Zealand and Australia. The company is also involved in residential
and commercial construction.

Telecom Corporation of New Zealand

The company remains by far the largest listed corporation in New Zealand and is the dominant provider of telecommunication services in the country. In addition to conventional telephone services, the  company also provides leased circuits, data communications, directories, cellular, paging and internet-related services and solutions.

Sky City Entertainment

The company owns and operates the Sky City entertainment facility in Auckland. The facility includes
Auckland’s only casino, which is based in the famous tower that dominates Auckland’s skyline, Sky City Hotel, restaurants and bars, conference facilities, a 700 seat theatre, car parking and an inter-city bus terminal. The company also has important gaming interests in Australia with casinos in Adelaide and
Hamilton.

Auckland International Airport

The company is New Zealand’s major passenger gateway and air transport hub, providing ‘airside’
services (i.e. runway maintenance, emergency services, customs and immigration facilities) and ‘landside’ services (retail shopping and food concessions). It also has investments in commercial
property assets. It continues to benefit from the country’s growth in tourism.

Sky Network Television

The company is the dominant pay-television operator in New Zealand. It operates pay channels which
broadcast sports, movies, news, entertainment and documentaries. It is the subject of an offer from its dominant shareholder, Independent Newspapers.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare

The company designs, manufactures and markets heated humidification products and systems for use in the global marketplace for respiratory care and the treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea. The company also offers patient warming and neonatal care products, including warming products and infant resuscitators.

Contact Energy

The company is an integrated energy company with diversified interests across the energy sector, although its most important business is the generation and sale of electricity and gas in and.

SFE Corporation

This company, the Sydney Futures Exchange, is a supplier of trading and clearing services in the Australian derivatives market. The company is the dominant provider of a number of Australia’s leading derivative contracts, giving it a strong competitive position.

Burns Philp & Co

The company processes, through fermentation, food products and ingredients, including bakers’ yeast, vinegar, bacterial products and consumer foods. The company is one of the world’s leading yeast producers, operating in Australia, North America, South America and Europe. Following a successful
restructuring from a period of financial distress, the Company has gone back on the acquisition trail,
taking over Goodman Fielder.

Tranz Rail Holdings

This commercial rail operator provides freight transport and distribution and passenger carriage. The company also operates the principle ferry services between the North and South Islands of New Zealand, and provides trucking services throughout the country. As at 31 October 2003 the holding in TranzRail had been retained in the belief that the offer for the company by Toll Group undervalued the business.

Freightways Limited

The recently listed company is a leading courier and express package carrier and provider of information management and mail services to commercial customers.The company is the number two in its industry after New Zealand Post and has an impressive earnings record.

Waste Management

The company develops and implements technologies for integrated waste management. The
company provides residential, commercial and industrial waste collection and recycling, water and wastewater services and portable sanitation services. The company also designs and manages
waste transfer stations, landfills and special waste collection stations.

Salmat Limited

This Australian company is a provider of data management and processing services, providing
solutions for businesses requiring delivery services, digital printing and call centre operations. The company is benefiting from the outsourcing trend with interests in Taiwan, Hong Kong and the
Philippines complementing its core Australasian operations.

Independent Newspapers

The company is the New Zealand element of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. It is the country’s largest newspaper operator and publisher and prints half the nation’s newspapers. It also publishes magazines in New Zealand. In addition, it owns a controlling interest in New Zealand’s major pay  television operator, Sky Network Television, and is seeking to raise its ownership to 100%.

United Group

This diversified company has interests in engineering, construction and maintenance and logistics. A number of the company’s businesses are seeing strong demand due to the high level of infrastructure spending in Australia and the trend for customers to employ United Group to provide services previously done in-house.

Turners Auctions

The company is a New Zealand national auctioneer of motor vehicles and commercial goods. The company’s main business of auctioning cars has proved extremely successful and Turners Auctions now accounts for 9% of New Zealand auto sales. The company is introducing financing operations for its customers and is entering the Canadian car auction market via a joint venture.

Warehouse Group

The company operates general merchandise retail stores throughout New Zealand under the name “The Warehouse” and is New Zealand’s dominant discount retailer. It also operates “Warehouse Stationery” stores which sell office supplies. The company is building its business in Australia, significantly enhancing the company’s future earnings potential as the opportunities to open
new stores in New Zealand continue to diminish.

Metlifecare Limited

The company is the owner and operator of retirement villages and facilities for caring for elderly people, both of which are attractive and growing markets. Following a period of rapid expansion, the company’s management are focussing on increasing profitability from existing facilities.

Macquarie Infrastructure Group

The company is a diversified toll road owner with several toll roads and infrastructure projects, including toll road construction and maintenance in Australia, Europe and Canada. In terms of average daily traffic, MIG is the largest toll road owner in the world.

Western Australia Newspapers Holdings

The company is a leading newspaper publisher, and owns and operates “The West Australian” which is Perth’s dominant newspaper attracting around 70% of the city’s advertising expenditure. The company also has commercial printing operations and is involved in the radio industry.

Promina Group

This company was recently floated on the Australian and stock markets by way of a sell down by its owner, the company, Royal and Sun Alliance. The company is a leading supplier of general and life insurance in Australia and New Zealand and has interests in other financial services including fund administration and management.

Infratil Limited

This investment company, managed by Morrison & Co, specialises in the infrastructure and utility sectors. Major investments include Wellington and Glasgow International Airports together with interests across the energy utility sector.

Briscoe Group Limited

The company, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, owns and operates the Briscoes Homeware chain of retail stores and the Rebel Sport chain of retail sporting goods stores throughout New Zealand under a limited franchise agreement with Australian company Rebel Sport Limited.

Infomedia Limited

The company owns and operates automotive electronic parts catalogues, and provides dealer management systems for the automotive industry. The company has a strong franchise, and is licensed to provide information on a number of brands including General Motors, Ford and Toyota.

QBE Insurance Group

The company is an insurance company which underwrites most forms of commercial and industrial insurance policies, as well as individual policies. The coverage of the company has interests in over 20 countries including Hong Kong, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. QBE also provides reinsurance policies.

Michael Hill International

The company is the dominant jewellery retailer in New Zealand, owning and operating more than 40 retail jewellery stores in New Zealand. It is expanding overseas, mainly through a fast growing operation in Australia, where there are plans to manage a portfolio of around 120 stores. The company’s profitability benefits from its in-house manufacturing facilities.

Mainfreight Limited

The company is an integrated supply chain logistics provider mainly operating in New Zealand and Australia, but with offices in Asia and North America. Major activities include freight forwarding and customs clearance services. The company has recently acquired its competitor Owens.

Port of Tauranga

This company is a port operator that provides a full range of services for its customers, including storage and transit facilities. Historically the company was extremely dependent on the forestry industry, although while this remains an important sector, management have been successful in building up a more diversified client base.

Wrightson

The company specialises in the agricultural industry and its products include seeds, grains and supplements. The company is also involved with wool procurement, warehousing, marketing and export. Wrightson also provides rural merchandising, insurance broking and farm consultancy Ryman Healthcare Limited. The company is a provider of private healthcare services to the elderly through its network of retirement homes, hospitals and nursing homes. The company has been steadily growing its operations and has facilities in both the North and South Islands.

Guinness Peat Group

This is an actively managed investment company run by Sir Ron Brierley and a small team of associates. It operates in the,, and North America, and has interests in businesses that include stockbroking, property development and investment, building services, food processing and testing services. The company has a good record of building shareholder value.Share price publication
The current mid-market price of the ordinary shares is quoted daily in the Financial Times.

Net asset value

The net asset value of the ordinary shares is released to the London and New Zealand Stock Exchanges on a weekly basis and may be obtained daily by telephone on 01392 253225.

Buy the New Zealand Investment Trust and hold onto it for the long term.