NZ sharemarket lifts as results brighten investors' mood

Tourism Holdings shone brightly, Fisher and Paykel Healthcare had a volatile day after providing its latest guidance, and a calm New Zealand sharemarket produced a near half percent gain.

Tuesday, August 29th 2023, 6:37PM

by BusinessDesk

After trading steadily for most of the day, the S&P/NZX 50 Index had a late surge and closed at 11,528.12, up 49.11 points or 0.43%.

There were 76 gainers and 46 decliners on the main board, with 25.17 million shares worth $90.40m changing hands.

Tourism Holdings was the day’s best performer, rising more than 12% on a strong annual result that benefited from the merger with Australian Apollo Leisure & Tourism.

Market heavyweight Fisher & Paykel Healthcare finished 6c ahead at $22.27 after reaching an intraday low of $21.30 on trade worth $11.15m.

Fisher and Paykel provided first-half guidance of $95m-$105m net profit and $790m revenue, up 14% on the same period last year. Fisher & Paykel said trading to date indicated no material change to the full-year revenue guidance of $1.7 billion. For the first four months of the 2024 financial year, revenue from obstructive sleep apnoea masks was stronger but hospital hardware was marginally lower.

Matt Goodson, managing director of Salt Funds Management, said the revenue and net profit outcomes for the first half looked a little light, though Fisher & Paykel maintained its full-year guidance.

“The company has a tailwind in the second half from a weaker NZ dollar but the jury remains out for a while until we get further information from Fisher & Paykel,” he said.

A larger Tourism Holdings climbed 43c or 12.39% to $3.90 after nearly doubling annual revenue to $663.84m, from $345.75m in the previous year, and producing net profit of $49.85m, from a loss of $2.12m.

The result included seven months of trading from Apollo after the two companies merged late last year. Operating earnings (Ebit) were $88.9m compared with $6.9m last year, and Tourism Holdings resumed its final dividend with 15c a share payout on September 29.

Tourism Holdings has increased its camper van fleet by more than 3,000 to 7,233 and said it would continue to grow the fleet, bookings and volume in line with returning airline capacity and international tourism recovery.

Goodson said there was a surprising reaction considering Tourism Holdings’ numbers were in line with expectations.

“Still, Tourism Holdings has some aggressive growth investors and the company talked up its outlook. The weaker NZ dollar should attract more tourists here.”

Energy news

Meridian Energy gained 1c to $5.36 after reporting operating earnings (Ebitdaf) of $783m, up 10% for the year ending June. But revenue was down 15% to $3.22b and net profit fell 86% to $95m, though the previous year was boosted by the sale of its Australian business.

The latest result featured higher customer sales and generation volumes, and positive wholesale trading. Meridian is paying a final dividend of 11.9c a share on Sept 22.

Manawa Energy, unchanged at $4.43, announced chief executive David Prentice is leaving on Sept 8 and will be replaced on an interim basis by Clayton Delmarter who is seconded from HRL Morrison & Co.

Ebos Group was up 95c or 2.64% to $37; Mainfreight collected $1.50 or 2.29% to $67; Contact Energy increased 13c to $8.43; Port of Tauranga gained 6c to $6.02; and Chorus added 7c to $7.97 after announcing a new executive team in a company reorganisation.

Seeka rebounded 8c or 3.2% to $2.58; Scott Technology increased 9c or 2.27% to $3.34; Serko improved 7c or 1.88% to $3.80; Smartpay was up 3.5c or 2.26% to $1.585; and Third Age Health Services added 3c or 1.96% to $1.56.

Vulcan Steel was up 5c to $8.42 on annual revenue of $1.245b, up 28%, operating earnings (Ebitda) of $209m, down 7%, and net profit of $88m, decreasing 29%, for the year ending June. It is paying a final dividend of 30.5c on Oct 12. Total sales volume was down 4% to 251,400 tonnes (steel volumes fell 14.6% and metals were up 39.6%).

Heartland Group, gaining 2c to $1.74, reported a 6.6% increase in revenue to $285.31m and steady net profit of $95.86m for the year ending June. It is paying a final dividend of 6c a share on Sept 20.

Heartland continues to be the leading provider of reverse mortgages in Australia with a market share of 38.4%, up from 33.1%. Group deposits grew 14.8% or $533.9m to $4.131b. The banking group expects net profit for the 2024 financial year to be $116m-$122m.

Among the decliners, Sky TV decreased 8c or 3.21% to $2.41; Rakon fell 4c or 5.33% to 71c; Vista Group shed 5c or 3.16% to $1.53; and The Warehouse Group was down 5c or 2.96% to $1.64.

CDL Investments declined 3c or 4.05% to 71c; Task Group was down 2c or 4% to 48c; and Greenfern Industries shed 0.006c or 11.32% to 4.7c.

Tags: Market Close