By Grant Shepherd

SYDNEY: Fisher & Paykel Appliances and the ASX announced this morning that the shares of the company will be in trading halt for two days, due to an iminent announcement about the companies financial situation.

“As previously announced to the market, FPA has been working with its banking syndicate with a view to refinancing the total bank debt of the Appliances Group by 29 May 2009. At the same time, FPA has been reviewing the Group’s capital structure and examining alternative sources of capital,” said John Bongard, managing director, Fisher & Paykel.

Bongard requested the trading halt due to growing speculation in the media.

“These initiatives have been subject of press speculation over the weekend. The trading halt is requested because these capital management initiatives, in their totality, remain incomplete and FPA is not currently in a position to announce these initiatives.”

The ASX approved the request and provided the following statement, “The securities of Fisher & Paykel Holdings Limited will be placed in pre-open at the request of the company, pending the release of an announcement by the company”.

“Unless ASX decides otherwise, the securities will remain in pre-open until the earlier of the commencement of normal trading on Wednesday 27 May 2009 or when the announcement is released to the market.”