Market close: Cyber attack stumps NZX's advance to all-time high

Despite announcing a net loss of $43.2m, Vista Group shares soared 26c or 19.3 per cent to $1.61 before trading was brought to a halt. Photo / 123RF

A third successive day of cyber attacks on the New Zealand stock exchange stumped the market advance, just when it was nearing its all-time high.

There was only 70 minutes trading when the NZX website went down at 11.10am. It never came back and the exchange called it quits for the day at 4pm.

In that very short trading day, the S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 21.92 points or 0.18 per cent to 12,053.43. There were 75 gainers and 55 decliners over the whole market, and 14.68 million shares worth $35.72 million had been traded.

Fisher and Paykel, the biggest listed company on market capitalisation, was down 1c to $36.99 but on the Australian market the stock had risen 33c to A$34.10 ($37.19) at 5pm New Zealand time.

Then, the S&P/ASX 200 Index was having a positive day, up 19.6 points or 0.32 per cent to 6136, and market followers here were expecting the NZX index to follow suit.

Spark has been upgraded by the analysts and it rose 8c to $4.93; Ryman Healthcare was up 6c to $13.50; and Meridian gained 2.5c to $5.175.

In New Zealand a2 Milk was up 5c to $20.11 but across the Tasman the stock had fallen 13c to A$18.13 ($19.78) at 5pm.

Air New Zealand, probably the hardest hit by the Covid crisis, reported a net loss of $454m for the year ending June, down 264.5 per cent from a profit of $276m in the previous year. Revenue was $4.83 billion, down 16.5 per cent after the total network capacity fell 21 per cent, while cargo income was up 15 per cent at $449m.

The result was expected by the market and Air New Zealand's share price edged ahead 0.5c to $1.415. The national airline is not paying a dividend and said it expected to make a further loss in the 2021 financial year.

Energy company Vector produced a strong result, with full-year net profit rising 15.8 per cent to $97.3m, from $84m, and revenue steady at $1.294b. Vector's adjusted operating earnings (ebitda) was $490m and it forecast ebita of $480-$500m for the 2021 financial year.

Vector, which has formed an alliance with Amazon Web Services, is paying a final dividend of 8.25c a share on September 21 and its share price rose 2c to $4.26.

Cinema software firm Vista Group soared 26c or 19.3 per cent to $1.61 despite announcing a net loss of $43.2m, down 1153.7 per cent, for the half year ending June. Vista's revenue fell 33.6 per cent to $44.8m and it is not paying a dividend, but it said it was in a stronger and more competitive position within the cinema business.

New Zealand King Salmon Investments, the world's largest producer of premium King Salmon species reported a 58.6 per cent increase in net profit to $18m, from $11.35m, for the year ending June, and revenue of $155.34m, down 10 per cent. King Salmon is not paying a dividend and its share price gained 2c to $1.81.

Foley Wines had a record year, with revenue increasing 15.6 per cent to $55.16m and net profit 96.7 per cent to $6.92m and its share price rose 3c or 1.80 per cent to $1.70. Foley is paying a final dividend of 3c a share on October 23.