NZX50 drifts as investors chew over week’s highs and lows

New Zealand’s sharemarket went into the weekend on a flat note as investors chewed over the big news of the week which included companies cutting guidance and some dramatic share price movements.

Friday, June 23rd 2023, 6:31PM

by BusinessDesk

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The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 1.5 points, or 0.01%, to 11,737.55.

Turnover on the entire market was $119.2 million and 49 stocks rose while 74 fell.

Octagon's chief investment officer Paul Robertshawe said the market had been quiet on Friday with little news after Thursday was dominated by ERoad’s share jump and Pacific Edge’s decline yesterday.

ERoad ended the day flat at $1.23 per share after leaping almost 60%, or 46 cents, yesterday over the news of its takeover bid offer at $1.30 a share.

Robertshawe thought ERoad’s share price could have gone 20% higher today but the stock had edged up only slightly.

The company sells vehicle fleet tracking and management software and is dual-listed on the ASX and NZX.

Rakon fell 2 cents, or 2.2%, to 90 cents after the tech firm said its board had approved a dividend reinvestment plan. The plan will apply to Rakon’s 1.5 cent per share dividend which was announced in late May.

In a letter to shareholders, chair Lorraine Witten said the plan offered shareholders the opportunity to reinvest the net proceeds of all or part of their cash dividends in additional shares, without paying any brokerage fees.

Serko fell 13 cents, or 3.6%, to $3.47. Joydip Das was announced as the company's new chief product officer. Das was previously the chief product officer of Iress, a financial services software firm based in Australia.

In another staff appointment, telco Spark also told the market it had appointed Renee Mateparae to the role of network and operations director, and part of Spark’s leadership team. Spark was up 3 cents, or 0.6%, to $5.12.

My Food Bag was flat at 18.5 cents per share after confirming that its delisting application from the ASX had been accepted. My Food Bag’s ASX shares will be taken off the official list of the ASX at the end of Friday trading.

Oceania Healthcare was down 1 cent, or 1.3%, to 74 cents, Summerset rose 1 cent, or 0.1%, to $9.56 and Ryman Healthcare was flat at $6.50 per share.

Pacific Edge, which fell 14% yesterday in response to the cancer diagnostics firm’s annual report, edged down half a cent or 1.4% to 7.2 cents.

Rural Land Co was flat at 89 cents after it held its annual meeting today, with Rob Campbell, Christopher Swasbrook and Sarah Kennedy re-elected as directors to its board.

Campbell, who is also Rural Land Co’s independent chair, thanked investors during his speech for being “supportive” of the listed rural landlord journey so far.

“A little patience goes a long way in this world and we all believe this will be rewarded in the years ahead as NZL continues to increase its scale and earnings,” he said.

He also told attendees that RLC is confident in having PwC NZ as their auditors – despite the scandal surrounding the Australian arm of the advisory firm.

Fonterra Shareholders' Fund Units were down 3 cents, or 0.9%, to $3.50, Synlait Milk fell 2 cents, or 1.2%, to $1.66 and A2 Milk was down 7 cents, or 1.3%, to $5.37.

Fonterra is exploring an NZ Steel-style deal to decarbonise its industrial heat processes, with an enormous request in the market for electricity supply later this decade.

Industry sources told BusinessDesk that Fonterra has a request for proposals (RFP) for 1.3 terawatt hours of new electricity, for delivery in 2026 or 2027.

Robertshawe said Fonterra’s electricity tender could accelerate discussions between Tiwai Point aluminium smelter and electricity generators.

“If there is a really viable alternative that should encourage the aluminium smelter to make up its mind a bit quicker,” he said.

“It might sharpen their pencil.”

Contact Energy was up 7 cents, or 0.8%, to $8, Meridian Energy was down 3 cents, or 0.6%, to $5.40, while Mercury rose 3 cents, or 0.5%, to $6.41.

Genesis Energy edged down 1.5 cents, or 0.6% cents, to $2.725 and Manawa Energy up 1 cent, or 0.2%, to $4.75.

Winton Land rose 4 cents, or 2%, to $1.85. The property developer told the market yesterday that Steven Joyce, a former finance minister and MP between 2008 and 2018, had joined its board.

Other gainers today were Comvita which edged up 8 cents, or 2.9%, to $2.88 and Fletcher Building up 5 cents, or 1%, to $5.26.

Amongst the decliners were ANZ Group, falling $1.01, or 3.9%, to $24.73, Tourism Holdings was down 7 cents, or 1.9%, to $3.70, and Westpac fell 82 cents, or 3.5%, to $22.49.

The NZ dollar was trading at 61.68 US cents at 3pm in Wellington, from 62.18c on Thursday.

Tags: Market Close