** Shares of Steel & Tube Holdings Ltd STU.NZ fall as much
as 5.8% to NZ$0.820, their lowest since Sept. 18
** Steel products maker says adverse trading conditions are
continuing and its first-half results are expected to be lower
than in the prior year urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nNZWbRVW9l
** Says an increase in debt write-offs and provisioning is
expected to affect earnings by about NZ$2 million ($1.27
million) in the first half of the year
** Stock posts its biggest intraday percentage fall since
May 20
** Over 373,000 shares change hands, compared with the
30-day average volume of 95,281
** Stock down 28.7% this year, as of last close
($1 = 1.5773 New Zealand dollars)
(Reporting by A K Pranav; Editing by Peter Cooney)
((Pranav.AK@thomsonreuters.com;))