F&P Appliances Decline on Full-Year Outlook

Fisher & Paykel Appliances Holdings Ltd. (FPA), fell the most in 11 months in Wellington after New Zealand’s largest maker of refrigerators and washers forecast full-year earnings will fall because of weak demand.

Normalized earnings before interest and tax, which exclude property sales and unusual items, will fall to about NZ$42 million ($31 million) in the year ending March 31 from NZ$58.4 million a year earlier, the Auckland-based company said in a statement today. In August, the company predicted a NZ$42 million to NZ$52 million range.

The stock fell 7.7 percent to 36 cents at 10:25 a.m. in Wellington, the biggest drop since Dec. 17. The stock is the worst performer in the benchmark NZX 50 index the past month.

Directors are concerned about economic conditions in key markets, particularly Australia, which accounts for about 45 percent of production. Declining consumer confidence there has curbed retail sales and competitors are cutting prices, it said.

“It is unclear how the volatile conditions in Europe will impact Australia and New Zealand,” the company said.

Earnings before interest and tax fell 38 percent to NZ$16 million in the six months ended Sept. 30, the company reported today. F&P Appliances won’t pay a first-half dividend because it is taking a “cautious approach” to future market conditions and is planning further capital spending, it said.

The appliances unit posted a NZ$2.4 million first-half loss as sales fell and there were losses on currency hedging. Earnings at the company’s finance unit were little changed at NZ$18.4 million in the period.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tracy Withers in Wellington at twithers@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Ed Johnson at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net