Port of Tauranga leads sharemarket higher

Port of Tauranga closed up 4.1 per cent at $4.86. Photo / Alan Gibson

New Zealand shares rose, led higher by A2 Milk Co and Port of Tauranga, while Fisher & Paykel Healthcare weakened further after its first half results yesterday.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 16.51 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 8104.99. Within the index, 27 stocks rose, 12 fell and 11 were unchanged. Turnover was $173 million.

A2 Milk was the best performer for the second day in a row, up 5.2 per cent to $8.69. The milk marketer yesterday said that both revenue and net profit jumped in the first four months of the current financial year as it continues to benefit from strong demand for its infant formula.

"There have been a series of analyst upgrades after [Tuesday's] bullish AGM commentary, that's notwithstanding one of the larger brokers cutting their call back from buy to hold," said Matt Goodson, managing director at Salt Funds Management.

"These are markets where if you hit your numbers, there is no multiple high enough."

Port of Tauranga rose 4.1 per cent to $4.86 and Air New Zealand gained 2.1 per cent to $3.18.

Stride Property rose 1.2 per cent to $1.68. The property company plans to spend $43m transforming an Auckland bottling plant into a logistics site for the country's biggest rubbish collection and recycling firm, Waste Management NZ.

Restaurant Brands gained 1.2 per cent to $6.90. The stock has risen 34 per cent this year and has gained 6.2 per cent over the past four trading sessions.

"In a presentation they released about a week ago, for the first time they explicitly mentioned the potential purchase of KFC Hawaii, and that seems to have created a little bit of interest," Goodson said.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was the worst performer, down 4.9 per cent to $12.60, continuing yesterday's weakness.

New Zealand's biggest listed company increased first-half profit 4 per cent to $81.3m, widened its margins, and lifted its forecast for full-year earnings to the top end of its range.

"It was a slightly disappointing result at an underlying operating level," Goodson said. "They certainly made their numbers but that was from having slightly lesser litigation costs than expected, but mask sales were a little under expectations."

Xero dipped 0.5 per cent to $33.21. It's now trading 2.5 per cent lower than when it announced it would leave the NZX and be solely listed on the ASX, having recovered somewhat from the $30.74 low it reached after that announcement.

"There's ongoing angst from New Zealand investors about what appears to be a now-certain shift to Australia," Goodson said. Investore Property was unchanged at $1.39. The property investor, which was spun out of Stride Property last year, said first-half profit more than tripled to $11.6m.

Outside the benchmark index, Seeka dipped 0.5 per cent to $5.72.