Market commentary

WELLINGTON: The New Zealand sharemarket opened the new week on a solid note, albeit on light trading.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose steadily initially and then drifted off as news filtered through of an increase in Covid cases in Beijing. The index finished 49.06 points ahead at 11,316.46.

There were 63 gainers and 72 decliners on the main board, with 26.55 million shares worth $93.65 million changing hands.

AFT Pharmaceuticals surged 44c or 13.71% to $3.65 after reporting a 155% rise in net profit to $19.8 million on revenue of $130.3 million, up 15.2% for the year ending March.

Fletcher Building reached a 17month low after falling 5c to $5.70.

The a2 Milk company rose 16c to $4.89 after receiving a broker upgrade from sell to neutral and suddenly having the opportunity of increasing infant formula sales in the United States where there is a nationwide shortage.

Synlait, which processes a2 increased 10c to $3.28.

Milk products,

Skellerup Holdings, under pressure lately from selling by a local institutional investor, rebounded 19c to $5.44.

Mainfreight increased $1.86 to $76.96; Pushpay Holdings rose 4c to $1.24; Eroad rose 15c to $2.83; and Accordant Group was up 5c to $2.12.l

Marsden Maritime Holdings gained 11c to $5.95; Green Cross Health rose 6c to $1.29; and Burger Fuel gained 1.5c to 30.5c.

Of the energy companies, Meridian was up 10c to $4.60; Contact gained 11c to $7.79; and Mercury increased 7c to $5.83.

Kiwi Property was up 3.5c to $1.05 after reporting a 14.1% increase in net profit to $224.27 million and 5.5% increase in revenue to $246.82 million for the year ending March.

There was a $120.5 million revaluation gain to its $3.6 billion portfolio.

It is paying a final dividend of 2.85c a share on June 22.

Stride Property increased 3c to $1.73; Precinct Properties was up 3.5c to $1.395; and Argosy gained 3c to $1.285.

Tourism Holdings increased 6c to $2.83 after narrowing its fullyear guidance to a net loss of $2 million$4 million.

The Fisher funds were stronger. Barramundi (investing in Australian stocks) gained 4c to 89c; Marlin (global) increased 2c to $1.19; and Kingfish (New Zealand stocks) was up 3c to $1.74 despite posting a net loss of $17.3 million for the March year.

Marlin is paying a final dividend of 3.16c a share on June 23.

TradeWindow was down 6c to $1.40. The transport and logistics software company is buying Auckland software firm Rfider for a maximum price of $10 million.

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Other decliners were Ampol, down 58c to $38.10; Ebos Group shedding 49c to $39.51; Scales Corporation decreasing 12c to $4.68; DGL Group falling 13c to $3.37; Scott Technology losing 10c to $3.05; and Gentrack down 7c to $1.51. —