A late jump in Pike River Coal's share price on Friday appears to have been caused by a one-off buyer keen to get shares, sharebroker Grant Williamson says.
Shares in the West Coast mining company rose 13.8 per cent on Friday, closing 15 cents up at $1.23 after the trading of 3.3 million shares.
The New Zealand Exchange said it was a big increase from the usual volume and asked the company if it knew of undisclosed information that could have influenced trading.
Managing director Gordon Ward told the NZX yesterday the company was not aware of any material information that could explain the jump. He said the firm announced on May 18 that coal production was under way again and restoration of the main vent was progressing to schedule.
Mr Williamson, director of sharebroker Hamilton Hindin Greene, said there appeared to be a one-off buyer late on Friday afternoon who wanted the stock then and there and was prepared to pay 7c to 8c more to get them. Since then the price has dropped to $1.19 , but was still more than 50 per cent higher than on April 29. A similar query of Pike River Coal was made by the Australia Securities Exchange in early May after a 39 per cent increase in its share price in one week to A$0.85.
Mr Williamson thinks the price will stay at the existing level until investors were confident the firm was producing coal efficiently.
PRC Price at posting:
89.3¢ Sentiment: LT Buy Disclosure: Held
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