Fletcher Building and retailers Michael Hill and Hallenstein Glasson Holdings could show signs of a consumption crunch this NZ earnings season. Here's the stocks investors will be watching this month & why.
Higher customer sales, higher generation volumes and positive wholesale trading results helped Meridian Energy’s operating profit rise 10 per cent in the June year to $783 million.
A Bloomberg consensus of market expectations put earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation (ebitda) and financial instruments at $773m.
The power generator andretailer’s net profit dropped to $95m from $664m last year, which included the gain on the sale of its Australian business and positive non-cash movements in the value of hedge instruments.
Excluding the gain on the sale, and non-cash movements in hedge instruments, underlying net profit after tax was up 35 per cent to $315m.
Meridian declared a final dividend of 11.90 cents per share, up 3 per cent on the previous year’s, bringing the total dividend for the year to 17.9c, also up 3 per cent.
The board of Vulcan Steel today announced a smaller cut to the dividend than some analysts predicted as it reported earnings in line with its very recent forecast.
Vulcan Steel was awarded Best Growth Strategy.
The steel and metal distributor warned of a weaker result in July, saying it spent twice as much on integrating Ullrich Aluminium than it had expected and the tougher market was squeezing margins and sapping sales volumes.
The board declared a final dividend of 30.5 cents per share, payable on October 12 with a record date of September 28, taking the annual return to 55 cents.
That was down from the 65 cents paid a year earlier but was more than 45.5 cents Jarden analysts expected.
Chairman Russell Chenu said the payout represented a 76.1 per cent ratio of Vulcan’s profit, excluding significant items and in line with the board’s targeted ratio of 60 per cent to 80 per cent.
Net profit was $87.9m in the year ended June 30, down from $124m a year earlier, on a 28 per cent increase in revenue to $1.24b.
Adjusted ebitda, which stripped out one-off costs such as the Ullrich integration, fell 10 per cent to $218.9m.
Vulcan trimmed net debt to $328m at the end of July from $340m at the end of June. That was up from $186.9m a year earlier, reflecting the purchase of Ullrich and the increased credit facilities of $440m.
“Market conditions remain uncertain and may potentially weaken further in the near term,” chief executive Rhys Jones said.
“However, we are encouraged by the progress we have made in our business improvement programme, including for our aluminium unit, which positions us well to capitalise on the opportunities in the market and an uplift in the cycle.”
The company’s merger with Apollo Tourism and Leisure also bolstered profits.
The travel and tourism operator reported a statutory net profit of $49.9 million in the 12 months ended June, a change from several years of losses from the lingering impacts of the pandemic.
Total revenue bounced up to $663.8m, a 92 per cent or $318m increase from the 2022 financial year.
Earnings before interest and tax (ebit) were $88.9m, up from $6.9m in the previous corresponding period.
Board chairwoman Cathy Quinn said THL achieved many milestones in the last financial year, including a listing on the Australian securities exchange as a foreign-exempt entity and recommencement of dividends.
New Zealand wine is still sought after globally, a local winemaker says.
Marlborough Wine Estates reported increases in sales revenue, gross profit and cashflows.
Delivering results for the year ended June 30, the wine company said sales revenue grew strongly to $9.43m, up 18 per cent on the previous year.
“This was driven by a 27 per cent increase in branded wine revenue to $5.73m, which reflects the group’s ongoing focus on premiumisation,” the company said today.
It said gross profit increased 24 per cent from $2.91m to $3.63m and cashflow from operating activities improved by $1.24m.
“New Zealand wine continues to be sought after globally and, in the year ended June 2023, total wine exports reached $2.4 billion, an increase of 23 per cent on the previous year,” the company added.
