Shares rise, undeterred by political shift
Kathmandu Holdings and Fletcher Building lead rise in S&P/NZX 50 Index as market expects status quo Kiwi gains ground
NZ shares rose, led by Kathmandu Holdings and Fletcher Building, with investor confidence not dented by political turbulence following Prime Minister John Key announcing his intention to resign.
The S&P/NZX50 Index gained 55.66 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 6910.37. Within the index, 32 stocks rose, 12 fell and seven were unchanged. Turnover was $133.1 million.
“There are no discernable market changes to the political changes here, status quo expectation is policy as usual,” said Matt Goodson, managing director at Salt Funds Management. “The market hasn’t factored in the very slight chance there could be some sort of split in the National caucus, and it’s probably too early to factor in the next election and any impact on those as yet.”
Kathmandu Holdings
led the index, up 3.8 per cent to $1.90, while gained 2.9 per cent to $10.42 and
Fletcher Building Tegel Group Holdings SkyCity Entertainment Group
to $1.79. rose 2.7 per cent to $1.55. rose 0.5 per cent to $3.85.
New Zealand’s dominant casino company has named John Mortensen to the new role of group chief operating officer.
was the worst performer on the index, down 3.7 per cent to $1.80.
Renewables Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Stride Property Trustpower Tilt
declined 2.3 per cent to $8.20 while dropped 1.7 per cent
fell 1.1 per cent to $4.44. The Electricity Authority is ending subsidies to power stations that are embedded in local electricity networks rather than connected to the national grid in a move the regulator says will save consumers around $25m to $35m a year.
“In essence this means Trustpower will receive less revenue than under the way the old costs were worked out. It had been widely expected this would be the case, but certainly a negative for Trustpower, ” Goodson said.
Scales Corp
dipped 0.3 per cent to $3.49. The company raised its forecast for annual earnings citing improvement across all its divisions and a standout performance from its horticulture unit. “It’s quite a sharp upgrade, really a favourable confluence of harvest volumes, harvest quality and apple prices, particularly in Asia,” Goodson said.
gained 0.6 per cent to $3.46. ASX-listed Bapcor has accused Hellaby’s directors of overreaching in their guidance to shareholders after they sought a further dividend payment before they’d back a sweetened takeover offer. Bapcor raised its takeover offer to $3.60 a share from $3.30, but the board wants an 18c dividend added.
was unchanged at $5.80 after saying it will need to increase prices of its wines in the UK because of the falling pound.
Hellaby Holdings Delegat Group
The NZ dollar gained on expectations prices would rise in the GlobalDairyTrade (GDT) auction overnight, adding to the positive story of the domestic economy. The Kiwi dollar rose to US71.33c as at 5pm in Wellington from US70.98c late on Monday. The trade-weighted index edged up to 78.20 from 78.10. The Reserve Bank has forecast the domestic economy picked up pace this quarter and New Zealand interest The kiwi fell to €66.44c from €67.34c on Monday. It rose to A95.82c from A95.38c and gained to ¥81.36 from ¥80.59.