TIL trading halt until info on 6.5% stock fall

AUCKLAND: Trading in TIL Logistics has been halted pending an announcement after the stock dropped 6.5% on Thursday morning on unusually big volumes.

The halt was effective from 11.37am and will remain until TIL makes an announcement or the market opens on Tuesday. The shares dropped 10 cents to $1.43 before the halt on a volume of about 4.5 million shares, when it would typically see about 49,000 shares change hands in a day. There are 86.3 million shares on issue at present.

Refinitiv data shows five trades accounted for the bulk of that volume at $1.20 a share, a discount to the onmarket bid and ask prices and the $1.53 price TIL closed at on Thursday.

TIL has more than 900 trucks and operates depots and warehouses in 60 locations. Its Pacific fuel business is one of the country’s largest tanker fleets, while its general freight business includes major brands such as TNL, Hooker Pacific and Roadstar.

The firm listed on the NZX in 2017 as a means to fund its expansion and to provide a mechanism to allow its major investors to exit over time.

Last October, major shareholders Bowker Holdings and Kern Group collectively sold about 3.5 million shares at $1.50 apiece in a bookbuild managed by Woodward Partners.

Bowker was controlled by the owners of the Hooker Brothers transport group, including TIL managing director Jim Ramsay, chief financial officer Greg Whitham and marketing general manager Alan Terris. Since then, the TIL shares have been transferred to those investors who now hold them directly. — BusinessDesk