Earlier, Australian private equity firm BGH Capital and US-based Sixth Street Partners disclosed they together hold 20.34 per cent in Pushpay and had established a co-operation agreement for the potential purchase of Pushpay. Neither party would sell their shares while negotiations continued.
Matt Goodson, managing director of Salt Funds Management, said since buying in Pushpay was taking place on-market, due diligence hasn't been granted to any of the interested parties.
"We will have to wait and see if this develops into a bidding contest amongst multiple parties. In Australia lately, we've seen some contested bids and others that have fallen over and failed to materialise as a takeover."
Goodson said the local market reversed the previous day's gain and US futures were down after social media firm Snap told the market after hours that it will miss its revenue and adjusted earnings targets in the current quarter. Snap's share price plunged 30 per cent.
At home, all eyes will be on the Reserve Bank's latest monetary policy statement with the market expecting a 50 basis points rise in the official cash rate (OCR) to 2 per cent.
Goodson said everyone will be reading the tea leaves around the tone of the comments. "I'd expect the bank will make a balanced statement and keep their options open on the magnitude of further OCR moves."
Turners Automotive rose 10c or 2.66 per cent to $3.86 after reporting record full-year earnings of $342m in revenue, up 15 per cent, and net profit of $31.3m, up 16 per cent. The auto retail, finance and insurance divisions operating in the used car market all reached new heights.
Turners said its auto retail market share was growing with new branches opening in Tauranga, Rotorua, Napier, Nelson and Timaru, and April's results were ahead of the same month last year. Turners is paying a final dividend of 7c a share on July 28.
Synlait Milk continue to rise, gaining 6c or 1.83 per cent to $3.34; AFT Pharmaceuticals increased 26c or 7.12 per cent to $3.91 following its bumper result the day before; Eroad was up 6c or 2.11 per cent to $2.90; and Rakon picked up 6c or 4.11 per cent to $1.52.
Briscoe Group gained 15c or 2.63 per cent to $5.85, The Warehouse Group was up 6c or 1.82 per cent to $3.36 and Michael Hill International was down 6c or 5.08 per cent to $1.12 after latest statistics showed retail sales volumes declined 0.5 per cent in the March quarter, following an 8.3 per cent increase in the December quarter.
Mainfreight decreased $1.15 to $75.81; Chorus was down 10.5c to $7.16; Freightways fell 36c or 3.31 per cent to $10.50; Summerset Group Holdings declined 20c or 1.84 per cent to $10.67; and SkyCity Entertainment shed 6c or 2.16 per cent to $2.72.
Energy companies Meridian declined 16c or 3.48 per cent to $4.445; Contact shed 12c to $7.67; and Mercury was down11c or 1.89 per cent to $5.72. Genesis was unchanged at $2.71.
Other decliners were Infratil down 10c to $8.10; Delegat Group decreasing 40c or 3.23 per cent to $12; Vista Group shedding 5c or 3.23 per cent to $1.50; and Sky Network Television down 5c or 1.96 per cent to $2.50.
Napier Port declined 5c or 2.8 per cent to $2.80 after reporting a fall in revenue to $50.71m, down 3.6 per cent, and in net profit to $8.98m, down 15 per cent for the six months ending March. Container volumes fell 16.6 per cent to 113,000 TEUs (20 foot equivalent units) and bulk cargo was down 8.7 per cent to $1.7m tonnes.
The port company confirmed full-year operating earnings at $38m-$42m, and is paying an interim dividend of 2.8c a share on June 23.
Gentrack, providing software solutions for utilities and airports, reported a net loss of $5.83m for the six months ending March. Revenue, driven by a 15.2 per cent rise in the utilities business, increased 12 per cent to $57.07.
Gentrack confirmed full-year guidance of $115m in revenue and its share price was down 4c or 2.65 per cent to $1.47.
