NZ investors remain wary, sharemarket ends week flat

Consistent performer Mainfreight stumbled and New Zealand shares finished the week on a flat note with investors remaining wary about where markets are heading.

Friday, March 24th 2023, 6:25PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 had a choppy session and closed 14.13 points or 0.12% down to 11,580.81. The index lost 1.2% for the week.

There were 64 gainers and 71 decliners on the main board with 23.36 million shares worth $99.79m changing hands.

Shane Solly, portfolio manager with Harbour Asset Management, said there was still some volatility to work through and investors were operating in a pretty fragile environment.

He said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen clarified that the US government was prepared for additional banking deposit action if warranted. “The global banking system has a lot of band-aids on and hopefully it will settle down.

“Bond yields fell overnight, and there are signs that economic activity is slowing rapidly in NZ and Australia. This puts company earnings forecasts at risk.”

Analysts have already cut Mainfreight’s earnings outlook and the stock was down $1.47 or 2.12% to $68.03 after climbing $1.70 the day before.

Merger and acquisition activity in Australia sparked the retirement village sector here. US investment firm Bain Capital has made a A$775m (NZ$829m) takeover offer for aged-care provider Estia Health at $3 a share, a 28% premium to its latest price of A$2.66.

Summerset Group was up 10c to $8.65; Arvida Group increased 1c to 95c and Ryman Healthcare gained 3c to $5.05. Ryman has repaid its US private placement notes for a cost of $855.5m following its $902m capital raise.

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was up 18c to $26.16; Chorus gained 14.5c or 1.83% to $8.08; Serko increased 12c or 5.26% to $2.40; Smartpay Holdings added 2.5c or 2.07% to $1.2135; Kingfish fund rose 5c or 3.91% to $1.33; and Gentrack improve 9c or 3.36% to $2.77.

In the energy sector, Mercury was up 7c to $6.07; Manawa gained 10c or 2.08% to $4.90; Meridian was down 4.5c to $5.025; and Contact declined 11c to $7.22.

Winners and losers

Spark, up 7.5c to $4.945, is re-organising its leadership team with chief operating officer Mark Beder becoming customer director of enterprise and government, and Greg Clark moving into the SME and Consumer director role. A new network operations director will be appointed. Utilities investor Infratil, gaining 7c to $8.87, held its investor day in Auckland and told the market it has narrowed its operating earnings (ebitdaf) guidance for the year ending March to $520m-$5635m, from $510m-$540m.

Infratil outlined to shareholders significant investment opportunities in key portfolio sectors such as renewables through US-based Longroad Energy and digital growth through CDC Data Centres and One/Voda NZ (Vodafone). There was work to be done on its diagnostics investment.

Retailers The Warehouse Group was down a further 11c or 5.19% to $2.01 following its disappointing first-half result; Briscoe Group declined 10c or 2.23% to $4.39; and Hallenstein Glasson decreased 8c to $5.24. Michael Hill increased 4c or 3.8% to $1.09, and KMD Brands was up 2c to $1.04.

Skellerup Holdings shed 10c or 2% to $4.90; Freightways also declined10c to $9.20; Stride Property was down 3c or 2.31% to $1.27; Seeka decreased 5c to $2.90; and Pacific Edge slipped 2c or 4.65% to 41c.

Ebos Group was down 70c to $45.12; Eroad declined 4c or 5.13% to 74c; Bremworth shed 1.5c or 4.76% to 30c; and Carbon Fund fell 5c or 2.7% to $1.80.

Leading banks ANZ was down 26c to $24.14, and Westpac declined 29c to $22.71.

Synlait, up 1c to $2.40, is reporting the details of its first-half result on Monday after earlier warning the market about a significant earnings downgrade.

NZ King Salmon Investments, unchanged at 20.5c, is announcing its latest annual result on Wednesday. Solly said “the litmus test will be the demand for soft commodities. The company has had a tough run lately and investors will be looking to see if it needs additional capital.”

Millennium & Copthorne Hotels NZ, up 4c or 1.86% to $2.19; is buying Sofitel Brisbane Central hotel from Brookfield Asset Management for A$177.7m (NZ$189m) in a joint venture arrangement with its parent company. Rua Bioscience, down 1c or 4.76% to 20c, is stopping its local manufacturing operations and will work with partners to build its medicinal cannabis portfolio.

Rua’s cultivation team in Ruatoria will continue to develop unique genetics for existing and new products.

Tags: Market Close