New Zealand shares were mixed with Metro Performance Glass falling while Kiwi Property Group and Evolve Education Group gained following their first-half earnings.
The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 8.89 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 6,848.95. Within the index, 23 stocks rose, 22 fell and six were unchanged. Turnover was $154 million.
"We really are waiting for direction from offshore markets," said Rickey Ward, NZ equity manager at JBWere. "We've got a market that's very bond-like, bond-sensitive, and that hasn't been a thematic of choice since the end of August. Until we see a bit of clarity about what's happening in the US and Europe, we're going to be a market out of favour so we're just going to drift a little bit."
Metro Performance Glass dropped 3.3 per cent to $2.08. The glass supplier lifted first-half profit 5 per cent to $11.5 million as it benefited from a strong local construction market and booked a gain on an Australian acquisition. The company said it had invested in extra capacity in Auckland where its market is growing and was making good progress at cutting processing costs. The 3.6 cent interim dividend was at the low end of guidance, which chair John Goulter said reflected both the company's opportunities and its increased gearing level after its foray across the Tasman.
"It opened up a little firmer and is weakening into the close - there's no real reason for that, the result was pretty much in line with what people expected, but they didn't really provide a reason on the conference call for people to go out and continue buying it, despite the background being really strong," Ward said. "They made a couple of throwaway comments that the outlook is strong, but the issue is we're not seeing any leverage from recent spend on their facilities in Auckland. You'd expect to get out of revenue growth significant margin expansion, and you're just not getting that. People also might've been disappointed by the dividend, but I view it as fiscally prudent as they want to reduce gearing levels."
