Creditors vote to place Hastie in liquidation: Midday roundup

Creditors of the collapsed engineering group Hastie have now voted for all 42 of the company’s subsidiaries to be placed in liquidation.

According to AAP, PPB Advisory said the creditors voted over meetings during the past two days. Liquidators would have more scope to investigate the company’s dealings.

Hastie Group was placed in administration last May, owing hundreds of millions of dollars to both financiers and creditors.

Kathmandu shares rise on profit outlook

Kathmandu shares have risen 6.5% this morning after the company said it now expects to record a first-half net profit of between $NZ9.5 million and $NZ10.5 million.

In a statement, Kathmandu chief executive Peter Halkett said the trading performance through Christmas had been in line with expectations.

“Our sales in Australia have continued to grow at a faster rate than New Zealand, which reflects the continuing strengthening of the Kathmandu brand and market penetration in Australia”, he said.

Same-store sales for the 26 weeks ending January 27 grew by 6.1%

Shares rise despite weak offshore lead

The Australian stock market is performing well again today, despite a Wall Street drop overnight.

The S&P/ASX 200 benchmark was up 37.5 points at 11:50 AEST to 4916.3, while in the United States the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 49.8 points or 0.4 points to 13,850.6.

Australian manufacturing sector contracts in January

The Australian manufacturing industry has once again contracted, according to the latest Australian Industry Group performance of manufacturing index.

The index read just 40.2 points, down from 43.6 points in December and well under the 50-point level separating expansion from contraction. It is now the 11th consecutive month the industry has contracted.

AIG chief executive Innes Willox said in a statement the slowing domestic economic growth is becoming more of a problem.

“The well-entrenched pressures that have been confronting the manufacturing sector for several years are being compounded by a slowing in the broader economy,” he said.