Comvita and Tegel lead losses but Air NZ flying high

New Zealand shares inched lower, led by manuka honey producer Comvita, on jitters after the discovery of a plant fungal infection, and as Tegel Group declined on news its chairman was leaving after less than a year.

Gains in Air New Zealand helped offset the fall as the local market outperformed Australia.

The S& P/ NZX 50 index fell 13 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 7365.50 Within the index, 32 stocks fell, 12 gained and six were unchanged. Turnover was $ 113 million.

“The market has been relatively strong against a weak lead from Australia,” said Brad Gordon, investment adviser for Hobson Wealth Partners. He said the Australian market has been weighed down by a slide in iron ore and oil prices. Dual listed ANZ Banking Group was down 0.8 per cent to $ 32.94 while Westpac Banking Corp fell 0.3 per cent to $ 36.40.

Comvita led the market lower, falling 6.5 per cent to $ 6.45 as investment analysts cut their valuation for the manuka honey products maker, coinciding with yet another problem out of the Te Puke- based company’s control with the discovery of myrtle rust in the Far North. Comvita chief executive Scott Coulter said it is too soon to speculate on the potential impact on the industry.

Tegel shed 6 per cent to $ 1.10 after the company said chairman James Ogden has unexpectedly quit the board effective immediately after less than a year overseeing the poultry company’s direction as a publicly listed company, without an explanation. Ogden, who is also a director of Warehouse Group, Vista Group International, Summerset Group and Alliance Group, joined Tegel’s board ahead of its initial public offering in May last year when it raised $ 284 million selling shares at $ 1.55 apiece.

“It seems unusual, particularly when you are a company that’s missed its prospectus forecasts,” said Gordon. “It doesn’t read well,” he said.

Outdoor clothing retailer Kathmandu Holdings shed 1.9 per cent to $ 2.08, likely on some profit taking after it gained on Thursday on an uplift in third- quarter sales.

In the other direction, Air New Zealand added 2.7 per cent to $ 2.67. Gordon said investors were probably cheered by a recent investor update.

Oceania Healthcare ended up at 80c, 1.3 per cent higher than its offer price of 79c on its first day of trading. Gordon said the result was slightly disappointing but noted that some $ 450 million has been raised in the sector in recent weeks.

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