Market close: Sharemarket slips despite spark in energy stocks

Vector Group chief executive Simon Mackenzie. Photo / File

The New Zealand sharemarket slipped more than half a per cent as the holiday season kicked in – though a spark in the energy stocks and the latest travails of the milk companies provided plenty of interest.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index drifted to 12,607.74, down 74.26 points or 0.59 per cent, on volume of 51 million shares worth $191.15 million There were 64 gainers and 83 decliners over the whole market which includes another debutant, New Zealand Rural Land Company.

Shane Solly, portfolio manager with Harbour Asset Management, said there wasn't a lot of volume and news on the market, and the holiday mood is definitely kicking in.

"There was still support for the gentailers with the global green energy funds continuing to grow and New Zealand stocks ranking highly. And people are still digesting the impact of a2 Milk's net earnings downgrade," Solly said.

Contact Energy climbed 30c or 3.75 per cent to $8.30; Mercury gained 13.5c or 2.28 per cent to $6.06; Trustpower rose 19c or 2.53 per cent to $7.70; Genesis was up 9.5c or 2.79 per cent to $3.50; and Vector increased 11c or 2.68 per cent to $4.22.

After telling the market Friday that its earnings in the present financial year will fall by more than 20 per cent, a2 Milk hit an intraday low of $10.46 before recovering to a close of $10.94 – down 6c for the day – on heavy trade worth $32.7m.

Solly said the company knows where the problems are with the daigou and cross-border ecommerce sales channels, and it will take some time to work through them and win back the confidence of the investor.

Synlait Milk trod a rocky path as well, falling as low as $4.50 during the day after providing a profit downgrade following the revised revenue forecast from its 20 per cent shareholder, a2 Milk. Synlait's share price finally closed unchanged at $4.85.

Synlait told the market that it expects net profit for the 2021 financial year to plunge about 50 per cent from $75.2m achieved in the previous year. It also expects total consumer-packaged infant formula volumes to be about 35 per cent lower than the 2020 financial year.

Solly said the profit downgrade was not as bad as some people expected. "At the start of the day there was a pause on Synlait as people reviewed the risk and its share price bounced back."

Market leader Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was down $1.46 or 4.27 per cent to $32.75 on trade worth nearly $18m; Ryman Healthcare unexpectedly plunged 55c or 3.61 per cent to $14.70; Meridian Energy shed 7c to $6.51; and Port of Tauranga was down 12c to $7.20.

Seeka gained further ground, rising 20c or 4.37 per cent to $4.78; Fletcher Building was up 13c or 2.32 per cent to $5.73; and Briscoe Group gained 14c or 2.68 per cent to $5.37. But fellow retailer Kathmandu Holdings was down 4c or 3.15 per cent to $1.23.

Chairman Bruce Plested is nearing a billion-dollar shareholding in transport and logistics operator Mainfreight after buying another 100,000 shares on-market last week for $62.38 each. Mainfreight fell 56c to $62.10 and Plested's 15.93m shares are worth $989.44m.

New Zealand Rural Land Company listed at $1.25, and though there were 170 trades, the price remained unchanged. Rural Land, 50 per cent owned by Allied Farmers, will buy farming properties, initially dairy, and lease them to experienced operators under long-term leases. Allied Farmers' share price edged ahead 1c to 67c.

Tilt Renewables rose 18c or 3.16 per cent to $5.88 after receiving clearance from the Australian Energy Market Operator to increase its Western Victoria Dundonnell Wind Farm's output to 295MW using all 80 turbines. Tilt expects to reach full output of 336MW during the first quarter of next year.

Pacific Edge continued its recent resurgence, rising 6c or 5.56 per cent to $1.14. The cancer diagnostic company released an independent review that suggested its Cxbladder test can be included in a new standard of care for mainstream clinical use. The report said the test reduces the burden of an invasive and expensive cystoscopy without compromising detection rates for bladder cancer.