Market commentaries
WELLINGTON: New Zealand shares rose as Scales and Mercury gained and Comvita dropped after its earnings report.
The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 16.19 points, or 0.2%, to 7115.69. Within the index, 23 stocks rose, 20 fell and seven were unchanged. Turnover was $132.5 million.
Scales Corp was the best performer, up 3.7% to $3.63, with Sky Network Television rising 2.3% to $4.47 and Stride Property gaining 1.7% to $1.81.
Mercury NZ advanced 1% to $3.05. The electricity generator and distributor increased firsthalf profit 53% to $113 million, bolstered by favourable North Island hydro conditions. It lifted the full year ebitdaf guidance it gave in November to $500 million versus prior guidance of $495 million. Among other elements, the annual guidance assumes 4250GWh of hydro production, flat operating expenditure on the year and the inclusion of $5 million from the divestment of carbon credits.
‘‘It was pretty much in line with expectations, there were a couple of small oneoffs with maintenance capex being lighter and they sold some of their carbon credits so had cashback and gain on sale, so the quality wasn’t quite as good as the headline numbers,’’ said James Lindsay, senior portfolio manager at Nikko Asset Management.
Metro Performance Glass was the worst performer, down 2.7% to $1.45, and Chorus fell 1.7% to $4.
Comvita dropped 2.2% to $6.75. (see story page 17). Heartland Bank was unchanged at $1.57. The lender increased firsthalf profit 14% to $29.1 million as its loan book grew at the same time as it benefited from cheaper funding costs, with rural and business loans expanding at a faster pace than household lending.
Tourism Holdings rose 0.3% to $3.89. The camper van rental company lifted firsthalf profit 38% to $11.3 million with strong tourist demand in New Zealand and Australia, and said it would at least deliver its forecast annual profit of $27 million.
Outside the benchmark index, PGG Wrightson gained 1.9% to 55c. Its profit growth stalled at $16 million in the first half, which the rural services company blamed on low prices for dairy and wool and reduced production of red meat which had made farmers more cautious about spending. Sales declined to $608 million from $623 million.
Colonial Motor Co was unchanged at $7.60. It reported a 5.2% drop in firsthalf profit to $10.5 million and while it was guardedly positive about the immediate future it signalled several risks. Trading revenue dipped 0.3% to $437.46 million.
Energy Mad was unchanged at 2.9c. SuperLife, the funds management business owned by NZX, has swapped 2.25 million convertible notes for just under 70 million shares in Energy Mad, giving it 71.4% of the energy efficient lightbulb marketer.
A The Australian sharemarket has edged lower as a flurry of earnings reports resulted in a mixed performance from many sectors.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index fell 0.07%, with weakness mainly coming from the financial, health care and utility sectors.
The big four banks were weaker for most of the day, though National Australia Bank surged late in the session to rise by 0.8%. ANZ was the worst performer, losing 0.8%.
‘‘There has been a bit of profit taking going on as the banks have had a really good run after their strong results,’’ Morgans Brisbane senior private client adviser Bill Chatterton said.
‘‘BHP and Rio Tinto have been well supported because iron ore performed strongly overnight.’’
BHP Billiton gained 1%, ahead of the release of its half year results after the market closed, while Rio Tinto surged 2% and Fortescue Metals was 2.7% stronger. — BusinessDesk/AAP