Market close: Sky TV leads market higher

The NZX had its best day in weeks

It was a colourful day for the benchmark equities index as Sky TV and Scott Technology shares surged after news reports suggested Sky is the target of a rumoured $500m buyout and Scott Technology signed a US$35m deal with a Canadian beef giant.

Turnover was $958 million, with the S&P/NZX 50 index rising 162.8 points, or 1.5 per cent, to 11,308.34. Within the broader equity market, 58 stocks fell and 89 rose.

Sky Television was one of the stronger performing stocks after news of private equity interest broke.

The Australian Financial Review revealed two private equity groups have been "encouraged" to look into a buyout of Sky TV in a deal worth over $500m, as the company looks for more channel growth.

The shares jumped and stayed up high over the course of the day, ending the day up 8.5 per cent to $2.68.

Automation and robotics company Scott Technology also had a strong day, jumping 15.1 per cent to $3.20 after it said it had signed a US$35 million (NZ$53m) deal with a Canadian beef giant.

The deal – which Scott Technology is describing as its largest-ever project – is with beef processing company JBS Foods Canada and will see Scott design and build a fully automated warehousing system for a plant in Brooks, Alberta, capable of handling 85,000 cartons.

Tech and energy stocks like SmartPay and Vista also had a good run, with SmartPay climbing by 6.6 per cent to 73 cents and Vista also up 4.3 per cent to $1.70.

Aged-care company Radius Residential Care was up 2.7 per cent to 38 cents, after it reported its annual net profit had jumped by 52 per cent to $2.6m earlier in the week.
Aged-care provider Promisia Healthcare also rose after it reported a net profit of $2.4 million in the 12 months ended March 31.

But retirement village and rest home operator giant Ryman Healthcare was down 1.6 per cent to $10 as it was removed from a major global index.

Software company Plexure plummeted the hardest after it reported a $24.1 million net loss for the financial year ending March 31, and fell 14.9 per cent to 20 cents.

Probiotic strains manufacturer Blis Technologies also had a big fall after it revealed its bottom line was squeezed by supply chain challenges amid the ongoing pandemic.
The company ended the day falling 12.8 per cent to 34c.

Telecommunications network provider Chorus also fell, dropping 0.3 per cent to $7.13, along with carpet manufacturer Bremworth, which dropped 7.1 per cent to 52 cents.
ANZ Bank also fell 0.8 per cent to $27.85 and infrastructure group Infratil dropped 1.3 per cent to $7.74.

Tina Teng, an analyst at CMC Markets, said in a note this morning that the US dollar had fallen further as bond yields continue to slide.

She said commodity currencies – like the New Zealand, Australian and Canadian dollars – were on the rise as China starts to reopen its cities and traders see an uptick in demand.
The NZ dollar was trading at 65.40 US cents at 3pm in Wellington, down from 65.49 cents yesterday.