NZ shares fall as earnings disappoint

New Zealand's benchmark share index declined on Thursday as earnings reports from Eroad, Rakon, and Pacific Edge failed to impress investors.

Thursday, May 26th 2022, 7:18PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 70 points, or 0.6%, to 11,102.84. Turnover was $153 million.

Eroad led the decline, tumbling 8.7% to $2.72 as it gave back half of its pre-result rally.

The stock has almost halved in value this year, driven lower by higher interest rates and the unexpected resignation of its chief executive in April.

Jarden analysts said then that the “immediate timing and nature” of the resignation increased the risk the company would fail to deliver growth.

“Eroad offers significant growth potential through its expansion in North America; however, to date it has failed to deliver on the promise,” they wrote in April.

Consensus expectations for revenue were for $130.9m of revenue in the year ended March, but Eroad only delivered $113.5m. The market had forecast a net loss of $2.8m but the actual result was a $9.6m loss.

The company said revenue growth in 2023 will be “lumpy” but would likely land in the $150m to $170m range. Underlying earnings would be somewhere between break-even and negative $5m, compared to negative $900,000 this year.

This puts Jarden’s pre-result forecast – for $168m of revenue in 2023 – at the very high end of the range.

Eroad said today it was in the “final stages” of appointing a replacement chief executive and an announcement was expected soon.

Shares in Pacific Edge also fell 7.2%, to 77 cents, despite the company approximately meeting consensus expectations, with total revenue up by a third at $13.9m and a net loss of $19.8m

However, total revenue includes research incentives and interest revenue. Total income from sales of its Cxbladder product was lower at $11.4m.

Some investors were hoping for an update on the adoption of the product by large US health provider Kaiser. Pacific Edge didn’t give much detail but said volume growth was “steady”.

“This is viewed as a marathon, not a sprint,” the company said on a presentation slide.

Computer chip maker Rakon reported a net profit of $33.1m, up from $9.6m last year, but its shares still slid 6.8% to $1.52 amid general weakness for technology stocks.

Mainfreight shares climbed 1.3% to $76 after the logistics company reported a record result, boosted by strong demand for air and ocean shipping across the world.

Revenue lifted 47.2% to $5.22 billion while net profit was up 89% to $355.4 million.

The company said trading in the first seven weeks had continued to be strong, but it was expected to revert to normal soon.

The NZ dollar held onto most of its central bank boost and was trading at 64.70 US cents at 3pm in Wellington, down marginally from 64.75 cents yesterday.

The trade weighted index was slightly higher at 72.12 from 71.97, yesterday.

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