NZ sharemarket takes a tumble
Kathmandu, Synlait Milk fall, but Spark a brighter spot
New Zealand shares dropped, giving up gains from Friday, with Kathmandu Holdings and Synlait Milk leading the index lower. The S&P/NZX50 Index fell 74.7 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 8921.38. Within the index, 42 stocks fell, six rose and two were unchanged. Turnover was $82.9 million.
“On Friday there was a market-onclose buy, which wasn’t particularly large but because the market is relatively illiquid the movements were accentuated. A lot of the stocks that had the big jumps on Friday have given them up,” said David Price, broker at Forsyth Barr.
Market-on-close orders are executed at the last traded price for a stock.
“When the volumes are larger they tend to influence the market. It wasn’t particularly large volumes but relative to what had turned over, it gave the market a bit of a shunt,” he said.
Kathmandu Holdings was the worst performer, down 3.4 per cent to $3.13, with Synlait Milk dropping 3.2 per cent to $10.81 and Sky Network Television falling 2.2 per cent to $2.66. Auckland International Airport fell 2.2 per cent to $6.70 and Metlifecare fell 1.9 per cent to $6.08. NZX dropped 0.9 per cent to $1.10. The stockmarket operator saw more trades in the first half of 2018, though new listings dropped off significantly, as the company works on its five-year strategy to recapture enthusiasm in the market. Capital raised from initial public offerings and compliance listings plunged to just $20m in the six months to June 30, from $480m in the first half of 2017.
Gentrack Group edged down 0.1 per cent to $6.89. The stock was halted for most of the day as the company conducted a retail shortfall bookbuild, with the halt lifted at 3.42pm.
The bookbuild got a clearing price of $6.84 per share, a 10.5 per cent premium from the $6.19 offer price and a 4 cent discount from the theoretical ex-rights price of $6.88, Gentrack said. Earlier in the day, Gentrack announced it had raised about $25.8m in a stock offer to retail investors, in the second part of a $90m capital raise to repay debt used for a recent flurry of acquisitions.
Spark New Zealand was the best performer, up 1.1 per cent to $3.83.
Skellerup Holdings rose 1 per cent to $2.04 and Infratil gained 0.3 per cent to $3.425. Outside the benchmark index, Pacific Edge surged 19.2 per cent to 28 cents. Manchester Management Company, a US-based privately owned fund, will take a 1.7 per cent stake in the company. It bought the shares for 32 cents each, a 24.75 per cent premium over the volume weighted average price for the five-day trading period prior to July 27.