First $20 billion New Zealand company minted

New Zealand shares extended yesterday’s gain, following Wall Street's lead overnight and as Fisher & Paykel Healthcare become the NZX’s first $20 billion company.

Tuesday, June 30th 2020, 6:14PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 198.51 points, or 1.8 percent, to 11,451.05. Within the index, 30 stocks rose, 12 fell, and eight were unchanged. Turnover was $293.4 million.

Investors continued to react to F&P Healthcare’s record result yesterday, driving its share price up 6.3 percent to $35.60 and giving it a market capitalisation of $20.46 billion - the first homegrown listed company to cross the $20 billion threshold.

Yesterday, the medical device maker reported a 37 percent lift in annual profit to $287.3 million and forecast that to rise to between $325 million and $340 million in the March 2021 year.

Sam Trethewey, a portfolio manager at Milford Asset Management, said the covid-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of F&P Healthcare's products and had been extremely well-received.

“They have increased production of some product lines three times in response to covid,” he said.

“I know they have been prioritising product to where it is needed most, not just filling every order, but filling orders that are actually going to patients.”

And, with F&P Healthcare's products only reaching 10 percent of the addressable market, there was still potential for further growth ahead.

The strong performance on the local bourse was underpinned by Wall Street bouncing back from Friday night’s sell off. US investors were again “buying the dip” in hopes of further monetary stimulus supporting the economic recovery.

“The positive lead overnight from Wall Street showed there was still cash out there and people that are willing to put money to work on dips,” Trethewey said.

That upbeat sentiment encouraged investors to buy risker stocks that have been underperforming in recent days as the resurgence of new covid-19 cases dampened moods.

Fletcher Building rose 4.8 percent to $3.70 after saying it would make an early repayment of US$300 million of its most expensive debt, USPP notes. That will reduce its funding costs by $17 million per year, and still leave the company with $1.1 billion of liquidity.

Air New Zealand rose 4.8 percent to $1.32 and Auckland International Airport advanced 2.2 percent to $6.57.

Kathmandu Holdings snapped a three-day decline, rising 3.7 percent to $1.13.

The dual-listed lenders also gained ground. Westpac Banking Corp rose 3.1 percent to $19.40 and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group increased 2.4 percent to $20.15.

Oceania Healthcare increased 3.5 percent to 90 cents, Metlifecare rose 2.2 percent to $5.14, Ryman Healthcare advanced 2 percent to $13.08 and Summerset Group Holdings climbed 1.6 percent to $6.46.

Among blue chip stocks, A2 Milk Co rose 2.2 percent to $20.19 and Spark New Zealand was up 1.8 percent to $4.56.

Meridian Energy fell 2.6 percent to $4.81 after the Electricity Authority said the country's biggest electricity generator potentially created an 'undesirable trading situation' that cost consumers as much as $80 million.

SkyCity Entertainment posted the day’s largest drop, falling 4 percent to $2.39 in the stock's fifth straight decline. Vista Group International dropped 2.7 percent to $1.45.

Outside the benchmark index, Cooks Global Foods fell 5 percent to 5.7 cents after it said it didn’t expect trading at its cafe franchises to return to normal until the second half of the 2021 financial year.

Tags: Market Close