Home>News Center>World
         
 

Asia drug, sanitary firms rally on bird flu worry
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-11-25 14:01

For Asian drug and sanitary companies, escalating worries over bird flu have been an unexpected boon as demand for their products boom.

Vaccine producers such as CSL of Australia, cleaning product makers including Kao Corp and home entertainment providers such as Nintendo are likely winners should a human pandemic of the deadly bird flu emerge.

"We would expect pharmaceutical companies, hospital chains and sanitary companies to benefit by fighting the pandemic," said Markus Rosgen, Citigroup head of regional strategy.

Already, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd and its Swiss partner Roche AG have seen global demand for their anti-viral drug, Tamiflu, soar. Chugai shares have jumped nearly 70 percent this year.

Tamiflu has been recommended by the World Health Organisation as the most effective treatment available in the event of a flu pandemic.

Taiwan's Kang Na Hsiung Enterprise Co. has also seen strong demand for its masks and its shares hit a 17-month high in late October.

"Both sales and output of our masks doubled in the past two months," said Johnson Lee, a spokesman for Kang Na Hsiung.

Rockeby Biomed Ltd. , the Singapore-based maker of poultry test kits that detects traces of bird flu in 10 minutes, saw its stock more than quardruple to a high of A$0.056 early in November.

"We have received bulk orders for the kit from Turkey and Saudi Arabia," Sze-Wee Tan, Managing Director of Rockeby said from Singapore. "There is interest from distributors from the Middle East, Canada and many other countries in the East Asian region."

"We just came from Germany and demand is very strong and we are trying to cope with it... Potentially, there is upside for earnings, but at this stage it is too hard to predict."

Changes in eating habits sparked by bird flu have helped South Korean fishery companies such as Oyang Fisheries Corp., Dongwon Industries Co. and Daerim Fisheries Co., which rallied after a case was reported in North Korea in March.

RESTRAINED

So far, despite daily headlines about bird flu, Asian stock markets have been sanguine and have in fact extended their rally as investors focused on optimism about regional economies.

South Korea's KOSPI hit a record high on Thursday, Japan's Nikkei average reached a near five-year high and even Taiwan  and Hong Kong, which were hammered during the SARS outbreak in 2003, have climbed off their lows.

Until there is an outbreak of human bird flu, level heads are likely to prevail, analysts said.

"This (bird flu) is not something that can be solved right away," said Kenichi Azuma, equity strategist at Cosmo Securities Co. Ltd. "We don't know what will happen, so we cannot say that the market has fully factored in the bird flu effects."

Robert Patterson, managing director of Argo Investments Ltd. in Sydney, said that while CSL was a possible beneficiary, he was not looking to increase exposure to the stock at this stage. CSL shares have risen 42 percent this year.

"We are unsure about the timing and the severity. We are not risking that uncertainty," he said.



Election cast shadow on Canada aboriginal goals
Protest against alleged Bush bombing plan
Ukraine marks 'orange revolution' anniversary
 
  Today's Top News     Top World News
 

Commentary: Cover-up can't hide murky water truth

 

   
 

Shrine visit 'pouring salt into open wound'

 

   
 

Xinjiang reports 7th outbreak in 10 days

 

   
 

Buyers of big cars will pay more tax

 

   
 

Number of jobless may peak next year

 

   
 

Unexpectedly high hospital bills questioned

 

   
  US nears 1,000th execution since 1977
   
  Austrian politician wants wider CIA probe
   
  EU strikes landmark sugar reform deal
   
  Peace still elusive as Russia's Chechnya votes
   
  Violence ebbing ahead of Haiti elections
   
  Colombian volcano spews ashes on town
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  Related Stories  
   
Xinjiang reports 7th outbreak in 10 days
   
China reports new bird flu outbreak
   
One new bird flu outbreak reported in Xinjiang
  News Talk  
  Are the Republicans exploiting the memory of 9/11?  
Manufacturers, Exporters, Wholesalers - Global trade starts here.
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 偷看各类wc女厕嘘在线观看| 亚洲一卡2卡3卡4卡国产网站| 69福利视频一区二区| 小受被多男摁住—灌浓精| 久久中文字幕久久久久91| 最近中文字幕无| 亚洲精品欧美综合| 精品一区二区三区av天堂| 国产中文欧美日韩在线| 国产精品久久自在自线观看| 国产精品日本一区二区不卡视频| aa毛片免费全部播放完整| 恋老小说我和老市长| 久久久久久夜精品精品免费啦 | 国产精品久久久小说| 91精品视频网| 天天看片天天爽_免费播放| 一级免费黄色大片| 成年免费A级毛片免费看| 久久久国产精品| 日韩中文字幕网| 久青草视频在线播放| 樱桃视频影院在线观看| 亚洲妇女水蜜桃av网网站| 欧美黄色一级片免费看| 亚洲精品无码人妻无码| 爱情岛论坛亚洲品质自拍视频网站| 免费中文字幕一级毛片| 精品久久久久久久99热| 北条麻妃一本到高清在线观看 | 中文字幕日韩欧美一区二区三区| 日本高清视频色wwwwww色| 久久精品国产精品亚洲色婷婷 | 日本亚洲精品色婷婷在线影院| 久久精品日韩Av无码| 暴力调教一区二区三区| 亚洲2022国产成人精品无码区| 校花被扒开尿口折磨憋尿| 亚洲va久久久噜噜噜久久 | 日韩不卡高清视频| 久久无码无码久久综合综合|