NZ shares fall amid poor earnings results
New Zealand shares fell, with several disappointments in the earnings season, as rental RV operator Tourism Holdings posted weaker than expected earnings, Vector warned on dividend growth, and Gentrack downgraded its outlook.
The S&P/NZX50 index decreased 21.5 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 9323.13. Within the index, 27 stocks fell, 17 rose, and six were unchanged. Turnover was $137.1 million.
Earnings season continued with a negative tone yesterday. Tourism
Holdings fell short of earnings expectations in posting a 23 per cent decline in first-half profit. The shares fell 6.7 per cent to $4.32, its lowest close since August 2017.
“It wasn’t a terrible result, although it was a softer six months,” said Mark Lister, head of private wealth research at Craigs Investment Partners. “They sounded upbeat about the full year, but people will believe that when they see it.”
Gentrack didn’t report yesterday, but downgraded its guidance, predicting earnings will be about 20 per cent lower in the six months to March due to extra spending on staff. It led the market lower, down 7.3 per cent at $4.69.
Vector fell 1.1 per cent to $3.50,
with 405,000 shares changing hands, more than twice its average. The company lifted first-half earnings 5.9 per cent.
Mercury NZ declined 3 per cent to $3.60 on a volume of 257,000, less than half its average. It reported flat, albeit near-record, first-half earnings on reduced hydro generation.
In contrast, Vista soared almost 13 per cent to $4.50, on 1.7 million shares, more than seven times its 224,000 90-day average. The cinema software developer lifted annual profit 27 per cent. It also anticipates another year of 20 per cent-plus sales growth. Outside the benchmark index, earnings were even grimmer. Comvita sank 20 per cent to $4.14, the lowest close in almost four years, after posting a first-half loss and saying plans to turnaround the business were taking longer than expected. Spark New Zealand was the most active stock, with 7.2 million shares changing hands, compared to its 4.1 million three-monthly average. It fell 1.6 per cent to $3.64. Sky Network Television was unchanged at $1.48. Fletcher Building slipped 0.8 per cent to $4.97, Trade Me decreased 0.2 per cent to $6.37, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare increased 0.5 per cent to $14.44, Meridian Energy fell 0.9 per cent to $3.76, and Kiwi Property Group declined 0.7 per cent to $1.41.
Kathmandu was up 4.1 per cent at $2.54 on volumes of 822,000, compared to its 246,000 average.
Air New Zealand fell 1 per cent to $2.62 on a smaller volume than usual of 732,000.