Market commentary

WELLINGTON: New Zealand shares rose yesterday, led by New Zealand Refining Co and Port of Tauranga. Sky Network Television dropped after it reported a loss.

The S&P/NZX50 Index gained 19.76 points, or 0.2%, to 9159.63. Within the index, 26 stocks rose, 18 fell and six were unchanged. Turnover was $136 million.

New Zealand Refining was the best performer, up 3.6% to $2.60. The company, which yesterday reported a $2.8 million loss for the six months through June 30, paid a halfyear dividend and forecast record production in 2019 amid strong ongoing margins.

Port of Tauranga rose 3% to $4.90. New Zealand’s biggest port operator posted a 13% rise in annual profit to $94.3 million, driven by record cargo volumes, and plans further capacity expansion. The company will pay a final ordinary dividend of 7c per share, and a further special dividend of 5c a share.

‘‘That was a standout. Their profit was in line with our expectations but the mix of cargoes was slightly different,’’ said Greg Easton, investment adviser at Craigs Investment Partners. ‘‘The slight surprise was another special dividend.’’

Trade Me Group, which declared its a 22c per share special dividend on Wednesday, rose 2.6% to $5.23. Its shares have gained 11% since it reported annual revenue of more than $250 million for the first time. June year net profit rose 3.9% to $96.6 million.

Metlifecare rose 2.5% to $6.254, and NZX gained 1.8% to $1.11.

Sky Network Television fell 3.4% to $2.56. The payTV provider wrote down its value by $360 million, resulting in a $240.7 million annual loss.

Sky wrote down the value of its goodwill to $1.07 billion from $1.43 billion. Excluding the writedown, underlying profit for the June year rose 2.6% to $119.3 million. Sales revenue fell 6% to a sixyear low of $839.7 million.

‘‘It wasn’t all bad. The headline number obviously reflected just how far behind they are in respect of technology,’’ Mr Easton said. ‘‘They have slowed the shrinkage of the client base, obviously repacking the basics package into those cheaper options has worked.

‘‘They’re facing global giants and even locally, with Spark putting up contest for sporting contracts,’’ Mr Easton said. ‘‘Sky’s real strength is still that they’re a proven broadcaster, particularly of sport, and that they’ve got the content which is what people really want — they don’t care how they get it, they want the content.’’

Vector dropped 3% to $3.26. It reported flat operating earnings for the year ended June, with growth in its smart meter business and a better performance in gas unable to offset higher costs in its electricity distribution arm.

Westpac Banking Corp fell 1.7% to $30.55, Heartland Bank dropped 1.7% to $1.74 and Goodman Property Trust fell 1.7% to $1.465.

Infratil dipped 0.4% to $3.43. The infrastructure investor sees earnings in the current financial year ‘‘bouncing around the top end of guidance’’ of between $500 million and $540 million, chief executive Marko Bogoievski said.

Outside the benchmark index, IkeGPS surged 14% to 57 cents. The company raised $5 million in an oversubscribed share placement at 52 cents per share. The capital will be used in an effort to accelerate growth for its new project and smooth lumpy sales. It has a further $1.25 million share purchase plan in the works, and that is likely to open on September 6. —BusinessDesk