Ryman Healthcare leads market lower

New Zealand shares finished the week on a weak note with Ryman Healthcare leading the market lower after reporting half-year earnings.

Friday, November 19th 2021, 6:09PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 60 points or 0.5% to 12740.12. Turnover was $123 million.

Retirement village developer Ryman Healthcare dropped 4.8% to $12.99 in the day’s biggest fall having reported first-half underlying profit up 8.5%.

The company’s high debt levels are causing concern for investors and analysts who see the stock as overvalued compared to some of its peers.

Fellow retirement stock Arvida Group also fell 3.1% to $1.89.

My Food Bag climbed 1.7% to $1.22 after it reported a solid half-year result that showed growth in both margins and customer numbers.

Greg Smith, head of retail at Devon Funds, said since the shares have underperformed significantly it was starting to look like a promising value stock.

“It's trading at 14 times earnings and has a cash dividend yield of 5%, for those thinking long-term that is quite appealing,” he said.

Pushpay Holdings continued to trade at a year-long low, falling 2.7% to scrape $1.42 and only recovered to $1.44 at market close.

Auckland International Airport, which recently got a share price boost from a takeover offer for Sydney Airport, declined 2.7% to $7.93 today.

Shares in Steel & Tube Holdings jumped 4.1% to $1.28 after it issued earnings guidance “above $17m” which is more than double what it earned last year.

The significant uplift in expected earnings is being driven by volume growth, positive market conditions, improved margin, and ongoing reduction in operating costs.

“Market conditions look to remain positive for at least the medium term as the economic cycle is expected to be stronger for longer,” chief executive Mark Malpass said.

Shares in NZME were unchanged at $1.35 despite its strategy presentation to investors being well received yesterday.

Jarden analysts Arie Dekker and Vishal Bhula said they upgraded their forecasts after seeing NZME had made positive progress on digital subscriptions.

The media company has announced a $30m share buyback, which the analysts said was within its capacity but may end up significantly smaller.

“Given some of the challenges in executing a buyback, we factor in $15m at this point and note NZME has a number of alternatives for returning cash,” they said.

Rakon shares took another leap, up 7.2% to $1.78 today, bringing its gains this year to almost 200%.

The NZ dollar was trading at 70.36 US cents today, up from 70.05 cents yesterday.

Tags: Market Close