The New Zealand Herald

Fletcher result drags down sharemarke­t

A2 Milk stock falls as firm’s CEO and chair sell shares

- — BusinessDe­sk

New Zealand shares dropped, dragged lower after Fletcher Building’s first-half earnings disappoint­ed, with A2 Milk Co and Sky Network Television also falling.

The S&P/NZX50 Index fell 53.22 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 7,062.47. Within the index, 32 stocks fell, 16 rose and two were unchanged. Turnover was $148.7 million.

Fletcher Building,

the second biggest stock by market cap, led the index lower, down 5.2 per cent to $9.68. The company posted a 2 per cent gain in first-half profit to $176m.

dropped 4.5 per cent to $2.33. The milk marketer’s chief executive and chair have sold down their stakes, less than a week after reporting first-half profit more than tripled.

“It’s sent the market into a bit of a tailspin really, we’ve seen good

A2 Milk Co

volumes running through once news got out,” said Peter McIntyre, investment adviser at Craigs Investment Partners. “They had a sound result, so whether the market has perceived this to be top of the market stuff — we’ve seen this historical­ly with some companies as well when some CEOs or chairs sell their shares.”

Sky Network Television

fell 2.7 per cent to $4.35 and Spark New Zealand rose 0.6 per cent to $3.49. Spark and 2Degrees have been granted a stay on the proposed merger between rival Vodafone New Zealand and pay-TV operator Sky to consider their legal options. If the Commerce Commission clears the merger today, it won’t come into effect immediatel­y, giving the opposing parties time to read the reasoning behind the decision and decide whether they will pursue a legal challenge.

Separately, posted a 32 per cent drop in first-half profit to $59.3m as content costs increased, and

Sky

revenue and subscriber numbers fell.

was the best performer, up 1.3 per cent to $3.09, and gained 0.9 per cent to $5.49.

Mercury New Zealand Tower Metlifecar­e Ebos Group

advanced 0.5 per cent to $18.20. The pharmaceut­ical and animal health products maker’s recent acquisitio­ns helped it lift firsthalf profit 7.2 per cent to $68.8m and fatten its dividend to shareholde­rs, while also bolstering the outlook for annual earnings to be at the upper end of a previous projection for growth of 7-to-10 per cent.

rose 0.2 per cent

Meridian Energy

to $2.67. Outside the benchmark index,

jumped 16.7 per cent to $1.325. ASX-listed insurer Suncorp Group has built an 11 per cent stake in Tower and put forward a rival takeover offer for the NZX-listed general insurer.

The offer, worth a total $219.3m, trumps a $197m deal already on the table and backed by Tower’s board and major shareholde­rs Salt Funds Management and Accident Compensati­on Corp to sell to Canada’s Fairfax Financial Holdings at $1.17 apiece.

 ?? Picture / Alan Gibson ?? Mercury New Zealand was the best performer yesterday, up 1.3 per cent to $3.09.
Picture / Alan Gibson Mercury New Zealand was the best performer yesterday, up 1.3 per cent to $3.09.

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