Shares rise with NZ Refining leading the way

New Zealand shares rose, led by New Zealand Refining Co and Port of Tauranga. Sky Network Television dropped back after it turned to a loss in 2018. The S&P/NZX50 index gained 19.76 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 9159.63. Within the index, 26 stocks rose, 18 fell and six were unchanged. Turnover was $136 million.

New Zealand Refining was the best performer, up 3.6 per cent to $2.60. The company, which on Thursday reported a $2.8m loss for the six months to June 30, paid a halfyear dividend and forecast record production in 2019.

Port of Tauranga rose 3 per cent to $4.90. New Zealand’s biggest port operator posted a 13 per cent rise in annual profit to $94.3m. It will pay a final ordinary dividend of 7c per share, and a special dividend of 5c a share.

“That was a standout. Its profit was in line with our expectations but the mix of cargoes was slightly different,” said Greg Easton, investment adviser at Craigs Investment Partners. “The slight surprise was another special dividend.”

Trade Me Group, which declared a 22c a share special dividend on Wednesday, rose 2.6 per cent to $5.23. The online auction company’s shares have gained 11 per cent since it reported annual revenue of more than $250m. Metlifecare rose 2.5 per cent to $6.254, and NZX gained 1.8 per cent to $1.11. Sky Network Television fell 3.4 per cent to $2.56. The pay-TV provider wrote down its value by $360m, resulting in a $240.7m annual loss. Sky wrote down the value of its goodwill to $1.07 billion from $1.43b. Excluding the writedown, underlying profit for the June year rose 2.6 per cent to $119.3m. Sales revenue fell 6 per cent to $839.7m.

Vector dropped 3 per cent to $3.26. It reported flat operating earnings for the year ended June, with growth in its smart meter business and a better performance in gas unable to offset higher costs in its electricity distribution arm.

Westpac Banking Corp fell 1.7 per cent to $30.55, Heartland Bank dropped 1.7 per cent to $1.74 and Goodman Property Trust fell 1.7 per cent to $1.465. Infratil dipped 0.4 per cent to $3.43. The infrastructure investor sees earnings in the current financial year “bouncing around the top end of guidance” of between $500m and $540m, chief executive Marko Bogoievski told the company’s annual meeting.

Outside the benchmark index, IkeGPS surged 14 per cent to 57c. The company raised $5m in an oversubscribed share placement at 52c per share. Metro Performance Glass dropped 6 per cent to 79c. The company downgraded its guidance at its annual shareholders’ meeting yesterday due to weakness at its Australian division.