NZ sharemarket up 0.3% after three falls

Transport and logistics company Mainfreight and clothing retailer Hallenstein Glasson led the way as the New Zealand sharemarket bounced back from three consecutive falls.

Wednesday, December 11th 2024, 6:29PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index had an up-and-down day and closed at 12,761.35, gaining 37.98 points or 0.3%, after trading between a low of 12,715.37 and a high of 12,778.49.

The index had fallen in five of the last six trading days.

Volumes were steady, with 32.75 million shares worth $151.74m changing hands. Across the Tasman, the S&P/ASX 200 Index was down 0.48% to 8,353.1 points at 6pm NZ time.

'Sit and think'

Paul Robertshawe, chief investment officer with Octagon Asset Management, said it feels like the local market is already winding down for the Christmas season.

“Over the past week, the research and (company) news flow has slowed earlier than normal. It’s a time to sit and think about what is going to move the current market sentiment," he said.

“The market is transitioning between the quality, defensive and consumer-oriented cyclical stocks – but it hasn’t made up its mind over who is going to win.”

Robertshawe said cyclicals such as Mainfreight, Hallenstein Glasson and Restaurant Brands were some of the best-performing stocks on the day.

“The Reserve Bank was less dovish than expected (in its latest monetary policy statement), and it was toning down a cyclical recovery in the economy next year. The market still wants an interest rate cut in February but the bank has reduced the number of cuts during next year.

“Maybe the retailers are doing better, and the property sector has definitely hit the bottom with values going up and dividend yields compared with the five-year bond rate looking attractive,” he said.

Local stocks

Mainfreight had one of its biggest single-day rises for some time, increasing $1.28 or 1.79% to $72.84.

Hallenstein Glasson gained a further 15c or 2% to $7.64 following its solid 18-week trading update, with group sales up 10%.

Fellow retailers The Warehouse was up 2c or 1.98% to $1.03, and Briscoe Group was down 11c or 2.06% to $5.24.

Restaurant Brands climbed 22c or 5.84% to $3.99 after earlier announcing an unexpected dividend of 18c a share following a review of its current and projected financial position. The dividend will be paid just before Christmas on December 23.

Auckland International Airport was up 16c or 1.98% to $8.25, with trade worth $23.72m, on a day when an IT fault caused lengthy delays to check-in and flights at the international terminal.

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare gained 26c to $37.40; Freightways increased 14c to $10.41; Port of Tauranga was up 9c to $6.35; Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund added 10c or 1.95% to $5.24; Delegat Group improved 10c or 2.04% to $5; and Green Cross Health collected 7c or 8.86% to 86c.

Scott Technology increased 8c or 3.77% to $2.20 after announcing its biggest appliance automation contract in China worth $20m. Scott is automating top and front loader production lines among several projects for the global Chinese whiteware manufacturer.

Retirement village operators Summerset Group was up 9c to $12.75, and Ryman Healthcare was down 8c or 1.85% to $4.25. Summerset has bought four new sites, with new villages in Belmont Auckland and Paraparaumu and extensions to the Lower Hutt Boulcott and Blenheim villages.

Chorus declined 14c to $8.94; NZX decreased 4c or 2.7% to $1.44; 2 Cheap Cars eased 2c or 2.63% to 74c; and Blackpearl Group shed 4c or 3.01c to $1.19.

Third Age Health was down 4c or 1.74% to $2.26; Santana Minerals fell 6c or 11.11% to 48c; Steel & Tube eased 2c or 2.33% to 84c; and Being AI fell 3c or 9.09% to 30c.

A significant restructuring

Channel Infrastructure, last trading at $1.82, went into a trading halt while it completed the bookbuild for the shortfall of 3.8m new shares from its retail entitlement offer. Channel has raised $21.4m, with 77.9% of shareholders taking up the 1 for 12.12 offer at $1.60 a share.

AoFrio (formerly Wellington Drive Technologies) increased 1.9c or 20.88% to 11c after telling the market that its full-year earnings guidance is expected to be at the top end of its range – revenue $75m-$80m and operating earnings (ebitda) of $2.5m.

The company said the software-as-a-service solution for food retail customers was progressing well. AoFrio provided 2025 financial year guidance of $85m-$95m revenue, up 14% on the previous years, and $3.5m-$4m ebitda.

Solution Dynamics, unchanged at 77c, has begun a significant restructuring after its largest customer moved to a multi-vendor model where contracts are decided on a project-by-project basis.

Taking into account the restructuring costs – the directors are reducing their fees- Solution expects first-half earnings of $1.9m-$2.5m.

Tags: Market Close