Market close: NZ power generators, Chorus, drive sharemarket lower

NZ King Salmon held its annual meeting. Photo / Supplied

Weakness in the power generating stocks and other utilities drove the sharemarket down after patchy day's trade on light volume.

The S&P/NZX50 Index dropped 114.79 points, or 0.9 per cent, to close at 12,581.60.

Turnover came to 41.6 million shares, worth $165 million.

Contact Energy dropped by 20c, 2.3 per cent, to $8.29; Mercury fell by 13c, 2 per cent, to $6.32; Meridian fell by 5c, 0.9 per cent, to $5.29; and Trustpower edged 3c lower to $8.23.

Salt Funds managing director Matt Goodson said it looked like firming bond yields had put pressure on the yield-sensitive utilities but he said the day's trade had largely been directionless.

Other large cap stocks to ease included Chorus which fell by 20c or 3.1 per cent to $6.26 and EBOS, which dropped by 50c or 1.5 per cent to $33.30.

Shares in churchgoer's donation software company Pushpay finished 4c cents down at $1.75 after the company's annual meeting, at which it said it expected to achieve EBITDAFI for the year ending 31 March 2022 of between US$64.0m and US$69.0m.

Pushpay said uncertainties and impacts surrounding Covid-19 and the broader US economic environment remained.

Salt's Goodson said Pushpay had a good run going into its AGM "so maybe people were hoping for a small upgrade, which did not eventuate".

For much of the day, respiratory products maker Fisher and Paykel Healthcare continued to benefit from the woes of its competitor Philips, which has had to recall three to four million sleep apnea breathing devices, but sellers later emerged, taking the stock down by 27c to $30.48.

Goodson said it looked like the market had over-reacted to the Philips news.

Retirement village company Ryman dropped by 14c or 1 per cent to $13.05, continuing to underperform its peers.

"I think the market is a little concerned at its debt, relative to the other players," Goodson said.

"Historically Ryman has very much carried a premium valuation, and I think the market is just re-assessing the relative valuations of the names in this space," he said.

New Zealand King Salmon fell by 6c to $1.49 after its annual meeting, where it told shareholders the anticipated harvest volumes of around 7500 tonnes this year - slightly lower than previously expected.

"We continue to experience some disruptions in markets and shipping due to the continuing effects of Covid and, whilst we anticipate an increase in average prices to pre-Covid levels this year, we expect margins to be affected by increased operational costs," the company said.

NZ King Salmon expects to clear excess frozen inventory by the middle of the year and said capex will be under $12m.

The company's dividend policy remains under review.

Agribusiness firm Scales gained 10c or 2 per cent to $4.85 as investors breathed a sigh of relief that it had pulled out of the running for Villa Maria, whose parent company went into receivership last month.

Utility software company Gentrack, which had an investor day, dropped 7c or 3.2 per cent to $2.08.

Fletcher Building, which put in a strong performance over May, saw its share price pull back by 11c or 1.4 per cent to $7.82.

Infrastructure investor Infratil dropped 11c to $7.60.

Restaurant Brands dropped by 5c to $14.00 newly-listed Third Age lost 10c or 4 per cent to $2.30.

Among the few gainers were pharmaceuticals company AFT, up 5c to $4.58, Freightways 8c to $12.52, Port of Tauranga 7c to $7.36 and Z Energy, up 3c at $2.55.