Fletchers rebuild city

Though a regional disaster for most, the 7.1 earthquake which hit Christchurch in September will generate some serious business for New Zealand’s largest construction group Fletchers. While acknowledging the tragedy of the earthquake, investors say it’s clear New Zealand’s construction sector, which had been expected to be quite subdued, will see a lift from the added government spending following the earthquake. Early figures from the New Zealand Treasury estimate the reconstruction costs to damaged assets could be $4 billion and as one of only two major suppliers of cement in the market, Investors Mutual senior portfolio manager Simon Conn said he expected Fletcher Building’s products to be in high demand. “The Christchurch rebuild will lift demand for a whole list of their products, so Fletcher is well placed on the back of that,” Conn said.