Market lifts slightly despite rattled investors

The New Zealand sharemarket ended a roller-coaster week with a small gain, but Synlait Milk slumped after significantly downgrading its earnings forecast.

Friday, March 17th 2023, 6:19PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index rebounded late in the day and closed at 11,714.69, up 15.67 points or 0.13% after reaching an intraday low of 11,665.63.

Trading was extended to meet the quarterly rebalancing of the NZX and FTSE Russell Indices, with Arvida Group, Serko, Tourism Holdings and Vista Group falling out of the FTSE Small Cap Index, and Channel Infrastructure entering the NZX 50 in place of Restaurant Brands.

There were 67 gainers and 64 decliners over the whole market on a volume of 130.6 million share transactions worth $425.3m. Spark topped the individual trading with $48.29m worth of its shares changing hands.

Shane Solly, portfolio manager with Harbour Asset Management, said the weaker NZ gross domestic product was rattling investors because of the risk to economic activity.

And the constant interest rate hikes by central banks have put cracks in the global economy and financial sector, he said.

“We will have a period of time where investors will be wary about where markets roll.”

US rebound

Wall Street rebounded strongly overnight following further banking support. The Swiss National Bank is lending Credit Suisse up to US$54 billion (NZ$86.5b) to steady short-term liquidity, and 11 banks in the US are depositing US$30b into regional bank First Republic.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.17% to 32,246.55 points; S&P 500 increased 1.76% to 3960.28; and Nasdaq Composite rose 2.48% to 11,717.28 and is up 11.95% for the year.

Synlait Milk fell 31c or 9.87% to $2.83 after downgrading its full-year net profit guidance to $15m-$25m and telling the market its two-year recovery plan will now take three years. The profit for the previous year was $38.5m.

Synlait said the advanced nutrition demand and production has been reduced or delayed following forecast changes by Synlait’s largest customer during the first half of the financial year and more recently by other customers.

Global marketer a2 Milk, Synlait’s biggest customer, also suffered, falling 21c or 3.03% to $6.71.

Solly said the re-certification for Synlait in China is bubbling away in the background and obviously product demand from a2 Milk is slower.

Napier Port, unchanged at $2.64, had to withdraw its full-year earnings guidance from operating activities of $42m-$48m following the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle and the uncertainty with trade volumes.

Despite the reduced levels of trading, the port company still expects to better the previous half-year result from operating activities of $16.4m.

Auckland International Airport was up 10c to $8.89 after announcing a $3.9b development programme including spending $2.2b on a combined domestic and international terminal. The construction will create up to 2,000 jobs and the terminal is expected to be completed by 2028. It is the single biggest redevelopment since the airport opened in 1966.

Market leader Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was up 26c to $25.31; Ryman Healthcare rebounded 9c or 1.83% to $5.02; Summerset Group gained 9c to $8.69; Restaurant Brands increased 16c or 2.72% to $6.04; and Hallenstein Glasson added 8c to $5.24.

Fellow retailer The Warehouse Group, reporting its latest financial result next week, was down 6c or 2.46 to $2.38.

Heartland Group gained 3c or 1.89% to $1.62; Solution Dynamics increased 5c or 2.25% to $2.27; Allied Farmers collected 2c or 2.78% to 74; and Channel Infrastructure edged ahead 1c to $1.44.

Ebos Group was down 48c to $46.01; PGG Wrightson shed 8c or 1.79% to $4.40; Comvita decreased 6c or 1.81% to $3.25; and Pacific Edge declined 2c or 4.44% to 43c.

South Port NZ shed 15c or 1.9% to $7.75; Smartpay Holdings was down 3c or 2.5% to $1.17; MHM Automation decreased 2c or 2.11% to 93c; and Colonial Motor Company declined 23c or 2.42% to $9.27m.

Kiwi Property, up 1c to 88c, has set its $125m six-and-a-half-year green bond at an interest rate of 6.24% following the bookbuild.

Fellow property companies Investore was down 3c or 2.05% to $1.43, Goodman Trust decreased 3c to $2.05, and Precinct declined 2c to $1.24.

NZ Rural Land Company, down 1c to 96c, has raised $24m after completing its retail share offer which attracted $7.9m. There was a shortfall of $14.5m.

Tags: Market Close