Fletcher Building requests transtasman trading halt
Consumer confidence index registers slight downturn
Fletcher Building, the country’s biggest construction firm, is in a trading halt pending a review of the financial performance of its construction division and the impact on earnings guidance previously provided to the market.
The Auckland- based company’s shares rose 1 per cent to $ 9.22 before the halt was put in place yesterday.
The company requested the halt on the NZX and ASX exchanges.
“An announcement regarding earnings guidance for the 2017 financial year i s expected to be made prior to the NZX and ASX exchanges opening on Monday, March 20. Until then the trading halt will remain in New Zealand consumer confidence dipped in March as net optimism towards the economy eased, but remained above average.
The ANZ- Roy Morgan consumer confidence index decreased to 125.2 from 127.4 in February, still above the average of 118. The current conditions index slipped to 125.9 from 128 while the future conditions index eased to 124.8 from 127.
“The data continues to signal a good tempo for spending trends and economic momentum,” said ANZ Bank New Zealand chief economist Cameron Bagrie.
New Zealand’s economy has been underpinned by an expanding population, strong tourism, and a buoyant property market stoking consumer spending.
ANZ’s composite confidence gauge, which combines the business and consumer indicators, continues to estimate annual GDP growth rising past 4 per cent through the rest of the year. Bagrie said the bank did not think the economy would grow that fast — at least not for long — but the overall message indicated “little sign of a turn”.
Government figures on Thursday showed the economy grew at an annual 2.7 per cent in the December quarter, slowing as a wet spring weighed on agricultural production. Still, forward- looking indicators including place,” Fletcher Building said.
Last month, the company posted a 2 per cent gain in first- half profit, disappointing expectations with a weak performance from its construction division which included a loss running to the “tens of millions” on a major contract.
At the time, it said it expected full- year operating earnings before interest, tax and significant items to be in the range of $ 720 million to $ 760m.
The building company’s stock had been outperforming on the expectation it would benefit from the construction boom in Auckland. yesterday’s Bank of New Zealand- BusinessNZ performance of manufacturing index saw a recovery in the first three months of 2017.
Yesterday’s ANZ report showed a net 13 per cent of the 1004 people surveyed said they were better off now than a year ago versus a net 15 per cent in February. However, a net 32 per cent expect to be in a stronger financial position 12 months from now, compared with 31 per cent a month ago.
More people still see the economy improving this year with a net 21 per cent predicting better times for the nation in the next 12 months, compared with 26 per cent in February, while 22 per cent have an upbeat five- year outlook, down from 24.
Households were still optimistic about spending with a net 38 per cent saying now was a good time to buy a big- ticket item, down from 41 per cent in February. Annual inflation expectations eased to 3.4 per cent from 3.6 per cent. House price inflation expectations for the next two years rose to 4.6 per cent from 4.3 per cent in February.