AMP had talked about selling or listing its New Zealand wealth management arm as a separate business last year but put it on hold until the life insurance sale was completed.
Now it seems a sale will be more likely than a float.
The Australian reported this week that NZ life insurer Fidelity Life was a potential bidder.
Fidelity Life is the largest NZ-owned life insurer in New Zealand and also has the backing of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund which owns a 41.1 per cent stake.
It bought the stake in November 2017 and at the time Fidelity said it would use the $100 million investment to help grow the business.
This week a spokeswoman for Fidelity Life said it would not comment on the speculation that it was a potential bidder for AMP's NZ Wealth arm.
"It's our policy not to comment on market speculation."
Another party which was rumoured to be in the mix - Partners Life - has ruled itself out.
A spokesman said there was no substance at all to the speculation in the Australian media.
Jarden, formerly known as First New Zealand Capital, is said to be running the sales process, although a spokeswoman for the firm said it did not wish to comment on this.
AMP's NZ Wealth business manages around A$11.9 billion - made up of A$5.4b in KiwiSaver and A$6.6b in other employer superannuation schemes and retail funds.
It is the fourth largest KiwiSaver provider according to Morningstar data with around 10 per cent of the total market.
But it also has the largest number of default members following the merger between AMP and AXA's default KiwiSaver scheme which could make it hard to value the business given the default providers are up for review at the moment.
Messy but steady SkyCity
SkyCity Entertainment Group isn't yet seeing the impact of a slowdown in tourism yet although chief executive Graeme Stephens says he's braced for the challenge.
In what was described by one analyst as "messy results", SkyCity reported a 1.9 per cent increase in normalised profit to $173 million for the June year, largely on the strength of its New Zealand properties in Auckland, Hamilton, and Queenstown.
And while it predicted more growth in the current financial year, the company warned that the wider economic and tourism conditions may deteriorate.
"We haven't yet seen it actually occur and with a bit of luck it doesn't, but we are prepared for it," Stephens said following the result.
"We've had a pretty solid set of results, so you are not seeing it in our numbers," he said. "Early trade in the new year seems to say it's still going."
Normalised group ebdita of $342.7m was up 4.5 per cent on the previous corresponding period and broadly in line with analyst expectations.
Wade Gardiner at Craigs Investment Partners said it was a reasonable result with no material surprises, although somewhat messy with a number of adjustments for asset sales.
He noted the company's guidance was for "some growth" in normalised ebitda, which could be pared back to $303m after adjusting for the sale of SkyCity Darwin, the Auckland car park concession and the Federal Street car park Darwin.
A potential roadblock to that growth assumption was a challenging domestic and international economic environment and continuing cost pressures, Gardiner said in a research note.
He maintains a "Buy" recommendation on the stock though, based on SkyCity's defensive characteristics, share buyback programme and steady dividend.
The company may have been overlooked in the rush for defensive yield while the share buyback provides ongoing share price support, Craigs noted.
Stephens told BusinessDesk one area of softness, and expected to continue, was the hotel sector in Auckland. "I think that is probably as much a feature of fewer tourists as it is of more hotels."
Data this week showed New Zealand's accommodation operators reported the fewest monthly international guest nights for three years in June, traditionally a quiet month for international visitors. The monthly hotel occupancy rate was also the lowest it's been in four years.
Overall, Stephens is more cautious about the current financial year. "Everything you read and try to understand would point a more challenging environment," he said.
