Market commentary

THE New Zealand sharemarket continued to lack real direction and closed the week flat as it waited for the latest economic messages and any moves from the meeting of the world’s central bankers at Jackson Hole in the United States.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index eased in the afternoon, closing down 18.84 points or 0.16% to 11,608.29 after reaching an intraday high of 11,683.32.

The index is up nearly 1.3% this month but has fallen nearly 11% this year.

There were 77 gainers and 63 decliners on the main board, with trading volume reaching 110.72 million transactions worth $360.88 million, boosted by the sale of 48.12 million Smartshares S&P/NZX 50 exchange trade fund units at $117.81 million.

The New Zealand dollar was weaker at 89c against the Australian after being above 90c for the past four months.

Port of Tauranga rose 15c to $6.90 after overcoming chain supply disruption with a solid annual result, recording an 8.7% increase in net profit to $111.31 million on revenue of $375.28 million, up 10.1%.

Its overall trade was steady at 25.6 million tonnes, with imports reaching 9.7 million tonnes and exports 15.9 million tonnes. It is paying a final dividend of 8.2c a share on October 7.

Fellow port operator Marsden Maritime Holdings increased 10c to $5.50 after reporting an 8.08% fall in net profit to $13.1 million on revenue of $17.15 million, up 2.4% for the year ending June. Marsden is paying a final dividend 10c a share on September 30.

Auckland International Airport was up 16.5c to $7.68 on trade worth $18.8 million; Contact Energy increased 11c to $7.88; and a2 Milk, which is reporting on Monday, improved 5c to $5.47.

PGG Wrightson gained 11c to $4.51, and NZME was up 4c to $1.27. Hallenstein Glasson slipped 22c or 3.84 to $5.51 after telling the market its net profit for the year ending August 1 will fall by nearly 27% to $23.9 million$24.9 million and its group sales were $351.21 million, an increase of 0.1%.

Tourism Holdings gained 5c or 1.89 to $2.70 after reporting a 4% decrease in revenue to $345.75 million for the 12 months ending June but improving its bottom line with a loss of $2.12 million compared with $14.5 million in the previous year.

Wine exporter Delegat Group was down 19c to $12 despite selling a record 3.36 million cases around the world in the last financial year. Sales revenue increased 8% to $319.3 million and net profit was up 2% to $63 million. Delegat is paying a final dividend of 20c a share on October 14.

Other decliners were Ryman Healthcare down 16c to $9.19; Summerset Group Holdings decreasing 20c to $11; and Sky Network Television shedding 5c or 1.91 percent to $2.57. —