Market close: Mainfreight hits historic $70 mark

Mainfreight rose 70c to $70.30. Photo / Supplied

Transport and logistics favourite Mainfreight made an historic move, breaking through the $70 mark for the first time as the steady-as-you-go New Zealand sharemarket made a small gain.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index increased 25.61 points or 0.2 per cent to 12,646.14, again trading in a narrow range of between 12,598.03 and 12,664.42. There were 87 gainers and 47 decliners across the whole market, with 45 million shares worth $189.35 million changing hands.

Mainfreight, by far the market's most expensive stock, rose 70c to $70.30 after hitting an intraday high of $70.57. The company reached $69.89 on December 30 and has roared back from $25.10 on the market's low of March 23 last year, when Covid-19 took hold. Fisher and Paykel Healthcare is the nearest costliest stock to Mainfreight but at nearly half the price.

Jeremy Sullivan, investment advisor with Hamilton Hindin Greene, said Mainfreight is operating in a challenging sector with logistics costs having increased, including shipping up 400 per cent, and it is doing a good job of it by reaching an all-time high with its share price.

He said the market is drifting sideways at the moment with eyes on the United States reporting season and the proposed capital gains tax by President Joe Biden. Also, inflation and interest rates are starting to creep up a little bit.

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare continued its strong run, rising 27c to $35.75, but a2 Milk had another wild ride before closing at $7.52, up 6c for the day on trade worth $19.23m.

The a2 Milk company fell as low as $7.06 during the day but recovered when the Australian ASX market opened and some buying support surfaced.

Sullivan said the Australians are very big into a2 Milk and that's where most of the share trading is done. "It's a global company based in New Zealand but does its business in Australia. Some analysts are expecting another downgrade for a2 Milk – that's been priced in over the last few days - and volatility will remain in the stock."

Synlait Milk, which supplies cornerstone shareholder a2 Milk, made its own move by launching a premium product for the Asian market and its share price was unchanged at $3.36. The Made With Better Milk range, beginning with whole milk and skim milk powder, has value-added ingredients based on sustainability.

AFT Pharmaceuticals surged 50c or 12.5 per cent to $4.50 after announcing an expansion into the United States market. Hikma, the third largest supplier of generic injectable medications in the US, will exclusively license, market and distribute the intravenous Maxigesic pain relief medicine for an initial payment of US$18.8m ($26.12m) to AFT.

Trustpower, which rose 13c to $8.80, told the market it has received a number of offers to buy its retail business and due diligence is now taking place. Fellow energy stocks Vector gained 4c to $4.17, but Contact declined 5c to $7.53, Meridian was down 8c to $5.41, Mercury declined 7.5c to $6.90; and Genesis fell 8c to $5.41.

Other gainers were Chorus, up 10c to $6.79; Skellerup rising 20c or 4.5 per cent to $4.64; Summerset Group Holdings increasing 28c or 2.31 per cent to $12.39; Napier Port recovering 8c or 2.28 per cent to $3.59; Seeka picking up 8c to $5.65; and Turners Automotive up 13c or 3.64 per cent to $3.70.

Pushpay Holdings was down 4c or 2.16 per cent to $1.81; Scott Technology declined 7c or 2.68 per cent to $2.54; Plexure Group decreased 4c or 4.88 per cent to 78c; and The Colonial Motor Company shed 29c or 3.24 per cent to $8.65.

Investore gained 3c to $2.09; Precinct Properties increased 2c to $1.65; and fellow property company Argosy slipped 2c to $1.50.

Restaurant Brands' total sales for the first quarter ending March increased 11.2 per cent to $259.7m. Taking into account trading from its recent Californian purchase, total sales were up 29.8 per cent. The sales increased in New Zealand, Australia and Hawaii 17.6 per cent, 11.1 per cent and 6.8 per cent respectively, and Restaurant Brands share price was unchanged at $13.09. The company now has 353 stores including 69 in California.

Delegat Group increased 22c to $14.38 after recently announcing an excellent quality 2021 harvest, though slightly down in volume. The harvest of 37,470 tonnes was 2 per cent lower than the previous vintage of 38,129 tonnes because of cool spring weather during flowering in Hawke's Bay and Marlborough. Delegat's revised sales forecast is 3.2m cases in 2022 and 3.78m in 2023.

Sky Network Television eased 0.002c to 17.4c after chief executive Sophie Moloney announced a slimmed-down management team.