NZ shares fall on Auckland Airport guidance; F&P gives up gains

New Zealand shares fell on the back of a grim update from Auckland International Airport and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare gave up some of its recent gains.

Wednesday, July 1st 2020, 6:09PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 100.78 points, or 0.9 percent, to 11,350.27. Within the index, 30 stocks rose, 19 fell, and one was unchanged. Turnover was $163.4 million.

The benchmark started the second half of the year on a negative note as Fisher & Paykel Healthcare led the market lower, falling 4 percent to $34.19.

The stock had climbed almost 8 percent during the past two days following its record annual result as the pandemic spurred demand for its products. Its share price is up 54.6 percent this year.

“Following that blockbuster result we’ve seen some settling of their share price as enthusiasm wanes a little bit,” said Peter McIntyre, investment advisor at Craigs Investment Partners.

“When you see a heavyweight like Fisher & Paykel go down it's no surprise that our index is down.”

Fisher & Paykel now makes up almost 17 percent of the index.

A2 Milk, the second biggest company at about 12.5 percent of the index, also fell 0.3 percent to $20.14.

Auckland International Airport declined 2.3 percent to $6.42 after updating the market with “sobering” and “worse than expected numbers”, McIntyre said.

Airport chief executive Adrian Littlewood today said international passengers currently averaged 800 per day at the airport, less than 5 percent of what they were six months ago, the number of carriers operating had fallen from 29 to 11, and daily flight numbers were down 80 percent.

The airport expects a net adverse impact of between $50 million and $90 million from write-downs, redundancy costs, bad debts and other significant items in its full-year earnings.

Vista Group International fell 2.8 percent to $1.41, declining for the eighth consecutive day. The stock has dropped 15 percent in the past week as investors have become concerned about the continued spread of covid-19.

Spark New Zealand dropped 2.2 percent to $4.46 and Pushpay Holdings declined 1.9 percent to $8.62. Both stocks have been star performers, growing their market capitalisations throughout the market collapse.

Z Energy fell 0.7 percent to $2.68. Total fuel volumes for the week ended June 28 were flat compared to the prior week. Volumes are down approximately 27 percent, or 17 percent excluding jet fuel, compared to pre-lockdown levels.

SkyCity Entertainment posted the day’s biggest gain, rising 6.3 percent to $2.54.

Air New Zealand rose 2.7 percent to $1.35.

Napier Port rose 0.3 percent to $3.61. The government is to lend $20 million toward development of a new 12-hectare inland port, bringing forward the project by about five years.

Outside the benchmark index, Augusta advised shareholders to take no action while the company considers an improved takeover bid from Centuria. It yesterday increased its offer by 2 cents. Augusta shares rose 6.8 percent to 94 cents.

Tags: Market Close