Investors knock $1b off F&P Healthcare valuation

New Zealand's main share index slumped as investors reacted poorly to Fisher & Paykel Healthcare’s full year result which failed to meet the high expectations priced into the stock.

Thursday, May 27th 2021, 6:14PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 104.1 points, or 0.8%, to 12,243.34. Within the index, 27 stocks fell, 16 rose and 7 were unchanged. The index has fallen more than 8% this year.

F&P Healthcare has been doing extraordinarily well during the pandemic as the exporter supplies hospitals around the world with equipment needed to treat covid-19.

This has seen the company’s share price leap from $22.20 at the start of 2020, to a peak of $37.68 in August that year.

Since then, the stock has been bouncing around a midpoint of roughly $33 as investors and analysts tried to predict how well the company would perform after the pandemic.

The company reported net profit for the year ended March, up 82% from last year at $524.2 million. While a staggering number, it was lower than analysts' forecasts at $540m due to weaker sales in the fourth quarter.

This perceived underperformance caused the shares to fall as much as 10%, before recovering to close down 5.5% at $29.64. By the end of the day, investors had wiped a billion dollars off the stock’s market capitalisation.

Other heavyweight stocks helped to balance out this loss, Mainfreight jumped 4.1% to $76.22 – as its share price had a delayed reaction to yesterday’s strong earnings result – Mercury NZ rose 4% to $6.94 and Synlait Milk bounced 4.4% to $3.10.

Restaurant Brands dropped 4.3% to $13.30 after holding an annual general meeting today.

The fast-food group’s chief executive said there were “strong signs of a resurgence in sales and profitability” but remained cautious as further covid outbreaks were “very likely”.

Rakon shares reversed an early surge – after the company said earnings could be as high as $32m in 2022 – and ended the day down 5.4% at 88 cents. Underlying earnings for 2021 were up 59% at $23.5.

Cancer diagnostics firm Pacific Edge slowed its cash burn on the strength of key wins in its core US market, trimming net losses after tax by a quarter, or $4.7m, to $14.2m for the year to March. Its shares declined 1.7% to $1.19.

The kiwi dollar was trading at 72.81 US cents at 3pm in Wellington, up from 72.57 cents yesterday. The currency briefly traded above 73 cents following the Reserve Bank’s policy statement, but has since moderated.

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