Heartland Bank leads southern gains

The Deloitte South Island Index of listed companies reveals Heartland Bank was the biggest percentage winner while Windflow Technology trailed the losers over the September quarter.

The index ranks companies by their market capitalisation plus how much they gained or lost over the period.

Overall, the index was up 5.8 per cent compared with the NZX 50 Capital Index gain of 5.1 per cent.

Heartland’s market capitalisation grew 29 per cent, Kathmandu was up 32 per cent, and PGG Wrightson 27 per cent. Skyline was next with an 11 per cent gain, while Synlait and Scales gained 10 per cent and 8 per cent respectively.

Topping the losers, Windflow Technology lost 55 per cent of market capitalisation as its UK wind turbine venture battles headwinds.

SLI Systems lost 39 per cent, LED light bulb marketer Energy Mad lost 34 per cent with its share price testing new lows, while takeover target and fish oil producer SeaDragon lost 23 per cent as its shares slipped below 1c. Pacific Edge fell 15 per cent.

When judged by sectors, retailing companies had 32 per cent growth (based largely on the performance of Kathmandu and Smith City), manufacturing 14 per cent, and primary production was up 13 per cent, while biotechnology lost 4 per cent.

The biggest companies in the index are traditionally Ebos, Meridian and Ryman Healthcare. Because of their predominant weighting, Deloitte separates them into their own group.

Ebos enjoyed the biggest dollar gain among the three of $388 million, or 15 per cent, to $2.8 billion.

The index rankings by size put Meridian well in the lead at $6.6b market capitalisation, Ryman $4.8b, Ebos $2.8b, Skyline $851m, Heartland $726m, and Synlait $530m.