NZX asks three stocks to explain soaring prices

Three listed companies have been issued with ‘‘speeding tickets’’ by the NZX’s regulatory body in the past 10 days.

Meridian, Rakon and Marlborough Wine Estates said they had been keeping in line with disclosure requirements, meaning they knew of no non-public reason that accounted for the hikes in share price.

Electricity generator Meridian’s share price jumped 10 per cent on Thursday, potentially influenced by the confirmation of Democrat leader Joe Biden as US President. The Democrats are expected to invest heavily in clean tech.

But NZ RegCo’s ‘‘please explain’’ applied to a 20 per cent jump in its share price, from December 21 when it stood at $6.51 to $7.83 on December 29. It peaked on Thursday at $9.40 and slid 5 per cent yesterday to $8.91.

Richard Stubbs, a partner at Castle Point Funds, said there were two possible explanations for Meridian’s rise – low volumes on the NZX and strong buying by overseas passive funds because of Meridian’s green power generation.

Low holiday trading volumes on the exchange also meant share prices could be ‘‘knocked about’’ quite easily, he added.

Marlborough Wine Estates’ share price rose from 32c on December 18 to 51c on January 6, a hike of nearly 60 per cent. The price yesterday was trading around 56c.

One reason could be news just before Christmas that the wine company had reached a settlement with its insurance company regarding inventory that was destroyed under the supervision of the Ministry for Primary Industries.

Electronics company Rakon’s price shot up 21 per cent from 61c at Wednesday’s open to 74c on Thursday. Currently the share price is 83c. The company also booked a first half net profit of $4.6 million for the six months to September 30, compared with $1.3m in the previous year.

Rakon said the increase in demand occurred mainly in the New Zealand business.