He said the first half of the 2022 financial year will be impacted by Covid lockdowns but the second half will show good progress towards the 10 per cent target, with a strong pipeline of activity in New Zealand and Australia.
Ebos Group, Australasia's largest distributor of healthcare products, said revenue and earnings increased more than 10 per cent for the three months ending September, compared to the previous corresponding period. The healthcare and animal care divisions were strong and the group's portfolio was very resilient throughout the Covid pandemic.
Mark Lister, head of private wealth research at Craigs Investment Partners, said Fletcher may be suffering from the lockdowns in some ways but it has made good progress over the past two years and is managing its risk better than it has done.
"Ebos has been nothing short of exceptional over the past two decades. It delivers year in, year out without any fanfare. It is simply a quiet performer."
Lister said with the local inflation figures out of the way, the market will turn to the earnings results from the United States heavyweight companies – which will set the market tone for the rest of the week.
ANZ economists are now predicting the New Zealand official cash rate will hit 2 per cent next August with additional 25 basis points increases in the April and July Reserve Bank monetary policy reviews. They also believe annual inflation will peak at 5.8 per cent at the end of the March quarter.
Rural services company PGG Wrightson rose 14c or 3.5 per cent to $4.14 after also giving a positive update, saying its strong trading performance has continued in the first quarter of the new financial year and it expects operating earnings (edbitda) to match last year's $53m.
Dairy nutrition company a2 Milk had another burst, rising 27c or 3.88 per cent to $7.23. UBS Group AG has increased its stake in a2 Milk to 7.4 per cent, from 6.35 per cent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has decreased its shareholding to 4.81 per cent, from 5.36 per cent.
Fisher and Paykel Healthcare rebounded 55c or 1.83 per cent to $30.57; Mainfreight gained $1.79 or 2 per cent to $91.14; DGL Group gained 8c or 2.63 per cent to $3.12; Accordant Group rose 4c or 2.15 per cent to $1.90; and Evolve Education was up 3c or 4.35 per cent to 72c.
Freightways, down 10c to $12.65, is buying fresh and frozen delivery firm ProducePronto for $10m, and will grow its temperature-controlled express parcel market niche.
AFT Pharmaceuticals was up 6c to $4.10 after gaining regulatory approval to sell the intravenous form of its Maxigesic IV pain relief medicine in the UK and Ireland.
In its operational update for the September quarter, Mercury Energy's hydro and geothermal generation both fell, but customer numbers were steady at 328,000, ending a trend of declining market share. Mercury's share price was down 5c to $6.15.
In a notice to the market, BlackRock has increased its shareholding in Contact Energy to 6.14 per cent, from 5.01 per cent. Contact was down 5c to $8.02, and Trustpower fell 12c to $7.28.
Port of Tauranga fell 12c to $6.77; Delegat Group lost 28c or 1.96 per cent to $13.97; Infratil was down 12c to $8.22; Gentrack declined 6c or 3.21 per cent to $1.81; New Zealand Oil & Gas shed 4c or 6.78 per cent to 55c; and NZ King Salmon Investments decreased 5c or 3.38 per cent to $1.43.
T&G Global was down 5c to $2.90 after providing an earnings downgrade the day before; and Solution Dynamics declined 6c or 2.04 per cent to $2.88.
Vital, holding its annual meeting, plunged 12c or 17.65 per cent to 56c after telling shareholders it missed out on the contract to provide the Land Mobile Radio network, part of the new public safety system for emergency services across New Zealand.
