NZ sharemarket continues see-sawing, down 0.5%

One day up and the next day down. That’s been the story of the New Zealand sharemarket lately as it dipped more than 0.5%, while Mainfreight and Goodman Property Trust posted steady half-year results.

Wednesday, November 13th 2024, 6:21PM

by BusinessDesk

It was all downhill from the opening for the S&P/NZX 50 Index and it closed at 12,674.49, down 74.87 points or 0.59%.

There were 33.9 million share transactions worth $148.05m.

'Recovery'

Paul Robertshawe, chief investment officer with Octagon Asset Management, said NZ was decoupled from the United States markets and was driven by interest rates.

“The market is anticipating a further 50 basis points cut in the official cash rate (at the end of the month), and I do think the market is building a base for recovery,” he said.

“The Mainfreight result was fractionally better than what it provided at its Investor Day, and Goodman was kind of solid without anything shattering.”

Robertshawe said companies have been reducing costs and strengthening their balance sheets.

“I do feel we have reached the bottom. I’m still modestly positive about the market.” Mainfreight, down 12c to $72.49, reported an 8.4% increase in revenue to $2.55 billion and an 8% fall in net profit to $114.56 for the six months ending September.

Mainfreight is paying an interim dividend of 85c a share on Dec 20.

The global transport and logistics company said challenging trading conditions continue across all the regions.

“We remain very active in our sales activities, and associated revenue and tonnage increases provide confidence of further improvement in our results for the next six months and beyond.”

Mainfreight’s transport division revenue was $1.1b, up 2% and gross profit steady at $73.6m. Warehousing revenue was up 4.4% to $411m and gross profit $21.1m, down 22.4%. The Air and Ocean division increased revenue by 18% to $1.03b, and gross profit was down 10.4%.

Goodman Property Trust was up 1c to $2.12 after reporting an 11.3% increase in property income to $111.4m and net profit of $45.5m for the six months ending September.

Goodman had a net loss of $163.2m in the previous corresponding period. Goodman said the completion of three development projects, with a value of $214.8m, added 50,282 sq m of warehouse and logistics space to the $4.6b portfolio, which has 98.1% occupancy.

Other stocks

The local market was driven down by Fisher and Paykel Healthcare, falling 79c or 2.08% to $37.20 on light volumes. Fisher and Paykel has a near 18% weighting on the NZX index.

Auckland International Airport was down 14c or 1.89% to $7.28; Meridian Energy decreased 7.5c to $5.87; Mercury declined 14.5c or 2.15% to $6.595; Vista Group fell 10c or 3.36% to $2.88; and Restaurant Brands shed 12c or 3.45% to $3.36.

Other decliners were Seeka shedding 8c or 2.84% to $2.74; NZX decreasing 3c or 1.99% to $1.48; Steel & Tube easing 3c or 3.23% to 90c; 2 Cheap Cars down 2c or 2.38% to 82c; The Warehouse giving up 2c or 1.96% to $12; and TradeWindow slipping 1c or 3.7c to 26c.

Fletcher Building, up 2c to $3.20, told the market that its subsidiary Iplex Pipelines Australia has finalised the industry response to addressing plumbing failures impacting some Western Australian homes. Funding of the agreed work programme is available to participating builders.

Iplex confirmed a pre-tax provision of A$155m (NZ$170.8m) in its 2025 financial year relating to its obligations under the industry response, approved by the Western Australian Government.

The biggest builder Buckeridge Group of Companies is not currently a participant in the industry response and is instead suing Iplex for faulty materials.

Contact Energy increased 10c to $8.58 after confirming the construction of the $172m, 101MW geothermal plant Te Mihi Stage 2, to be completed mid-2027.

This is the first step in replacing the 1950s-built Wairakei geothermal power station.

Contact told shareholders at the annual meeting that it expects a regulatory and Commerce Commission decision on its purchase of Manawa Energy by the middle of next year.

Infratil added 12c to $10.41; Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund climbed a further 18c or 3.45% to $5.39; Allied Farmers gained 2c or 2.56% to 80c; and Private Land and Property Fund increased 4c or 3.03% to $1.36.

Santana Minerals was up 2c or 2.99% to 69c before going into a trading halt to finalise and release its pre-feasibility study for the Bendigo-Ophir Gold Project in Central Otago.

TruScreen, up 0.001c or 5% to 2.1c, said in a market update that unit sales of single-use sensors to China exceeded the six-month budget by more than 55%.

The company has been selected as the exclusive cervical screening method for Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, and its product has been registered in Indonesia.

Tags: Market Close