Market commentary
WELLINGTON: Retirement village operator Ryman Healthcare — one of the more favoured stocks — suffered the most when the New Zealand sharemarket fell nearly 1% in a late dive.
The S&P/NZX 50 Index moved in a narrow range for most of the day and then fell more in the last hour of trading to finish at 12,441.81, down 115.32 points, or 0.92%. A total of 45.5 million shares worth $161.7 million changed hands, and there were 60 gainers and 69 decliners over the whole market.
Ryman Healthcare reported its latest halfyear result and though it was not too bad, its share price fell 38c, or 2.45%, to $15.13.
Harbour Asset Management portfolio manager Shane Solly said it was a soft end to the week, and it was all about rotation of stocks and financial results.
‘‘The rotation is a tough one. There’s positive news on vaccine development one day and people are trying to invest in stocks that will benefit. And then the next day it’s different with information that Covid cases are surging. It’s a reminder that there’s still some time before a vaccine gets in the market.’’
The market will get a clearer picture next week of how the business world is performing, nine companies reporting and Fletcher Building holding its annual meeting.
Mr Solly said Ryman had produced a good result, despite its underlying profit being 14% down. It had done a great job during the Covid19 crisis and it would take a little longer to see good growth come through.
‘‘I think the market is taking time to digest the result.’’
Ryman had a 9.1% increase in revenue to $423.19 million for the six months ending September and its underlying profit fell 14.2% to $88.38 million. Its net profit, however, rose 12.8% to $212.4 million, which includes property revaluation gains.
Ryman is paying an interim dividend of 8.8c a share on December 18, and is at present developing 12 new villages in New Zealand and Australia. It has sold 121 new occupation rights worth $90 million, down from 229 worth $160.7 million in the previous first half.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, which reports on Wednesday, fell 42c to $33.02, while a2 Milk rose 7c to $14.61. Another retirement village operator, Summerset Group Holdings, fell 24c, or 2.23%, to $10.51.
The energy stocks again came under pressure, Mercury falling 8c to $5.80, Meridian down 8.5c to $5.885, Contact slipping 2c to $7.72, and Genesis losing 10c, or 3.18%, to $3.15.
Mainfreight finished the week down $1.45c, or 2.42%, to $58.50; Port of Tauranga fell 12c to $7.15; and Sanford declined 14c, or 2.77%, to $4.91.
Serko recovered 30c, or 5.66%, to $5.60, Restaurant Brands gained 26c, or 2.18%, to $12.20, and Air New Zealand was up 2.5c to $1.705.
AFT Pharmaceuticals slumped 25c, or 4.81%, to $4.95 despite delivering a sixmonth result of increased revenue and profit. Pushpay Holdings, which is making a fourforone share split by November 27, fell 10c to $7.19.
Personal lending firm Harmoney, which had a mixed listing on the NZX and ASX markets the day before, rose 13c, or 3.64%, to $3.70 — just above its listing price of $A3.50 ($NZ3.68).
Heartland Group Holdings said it was reassessing the valuation of its 8.44% stake in Harmoney in preparation for its latest halfyear financial result. Heartland’s share price was unchanged at $1.39. —