Market close: Downbeat tone to markets as NZ stocks slip further

Port of Tauranga was down 2c to $5.94 despite overcoming a challenging shipping environment. Photo / Alex Cairns

An unforgiving New Zealand sharemarket slipped further on another busy day of company reporting that again saw a bunch of solid results.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index never got into gear and closed on 11,467.66, down 34.47 points or 0.3 per cent. The index finished the week with a decline of 1.23 per cent and is down nearly 5 per cent this month – the weakest since January last year. It is also flat for the year.

There were 82 decliners and 46 gainers on the main board with 25.85 million shares worth $87.7 million changing hands.

Mark Lister, investment director with Craigs Investment Partners, said there is definitely a downbeat tone to markets internationally, and New Zealand is no different.

“We haven’t seen too many terrible results but there hasn’t been anything encouraging for the local market to latch on to. Managements are playing their cards close to their chests on outlook because of the economic uncertainty,” Lister said.

“Vector had a solid result with a special dividend, Port of Tauranga’s was decent, NZX’s was commendable, Michael Hill was in line with expectation, Delegat was at the lower end of guidance, and Vista had a modest improvement but no change to its outlook,” he said.

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was down 17c to $22.28; Chorus declined 13.5c to $7.855; Auckland International Airport decreased 8c to $7.90; SkyCity shed 6c or 2.58 per cent to $2.27; and Skellerup was down 9c or 2.12 per cent to $4.19.

Sky TV declined 5c or 1.96 per cent to $2.49; Serko was down 3c or 1.83 per cent to $3.80; Scott Technology shed 10c or 2.9 per cent to $3.35; and Smartpay shed 5c or 3.03 per cent to $1.60.

Ebos Group was up 15c to $36.04; Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund increased 9c or 2.92 per cent to $3.17; and Mainfreight added 31c to $66.10.

Vector, gaining 2c to $4.03, reported an 8.1 per cent increase in annual revenue to $1.19 billion, operating earnings (ebitda) of $523.3m and a 9.8 per cent gain in net profit to $112.54m.

The 50 per cent sale of Vector’s metering business netted $1.509b which was used to reduce debt. But Vector is paying a final dividend of 14c a share on September 14 including a 5.5c special dividend.

Among other energy stocks, Genesis was down 4.5c or 1.8 per cent to $2.455; Contact declined 8c to $8.17; and Mercury was up 4c to $6.295.

NZX was up 3c or 2.56 per cent to $1.20 on a 16.9 per cent increase in first-half revenue and net profit was down 5.6 per cent to $6.987m. It is paying an interim dividend of 3c a share on October 5.

Operating earnings were $20m, up 15 per cent compared with the six-month period last year, and NZX told the market that full-year earnings were tracking towards the upper end of the $36m-$40m guidance.

Michael Hill, which has more than 2 million loyalty members, was up 3c or 3.13 per cent to 99c after reporting record revenue of $629.6m, up 5.8 per cent, for the 12 months ending June. Australia had $331m revenue, New Zealand $132.4m and Canada $158.9m.

Net profit was down from $46.7m to $35.2m and operating earnings (ebit) declined 6 per cent to $58.9m. Group sales for the first seven weeks of the 2024 financial year were up 1.2 per cent but sales on the core Michael Hill brand were down.

Cinema software management firm Vista Group fell 17c or 9.09 per cent to $1.70 after suffering an $8.5m net loss on revenue of $53.96m, up 16.9 per cent, for the six months ending June. Operating earnings (ebitda) were $2.5m, down 19 per cent, and Vista confirmed full-year revenue guidance of $142-$147m.

Vista said average monthly cash use was $1.2m and it expects to have free cash flow during the fourth quarter of the 2024 financial year – a year earlier than expected.

Port of Tauranga, down 2c to $5.94, overcame a challenging shipping environment with a 12.2 per cent increase in revenue to $420.92 and 5.2 per cent gain in net profit to $117.13m for the year ending June. It is paying a final dividend of 8.8c a share on October 6.

The port, the largest in the country, told the market that total trade of 24.7 million tonnes was down 3.6 per cent, with container volumes declining 5.1 per cent to 1.18 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units).

Fellow port companies Napier was down 5c or 2.19 per cent to $2.23, and Marsden Maritime Holdings, which reported a 39.5 per fall in annual net profit to $7.92m, declined 8c to $4.90.

Leading wine exporter Delegat Group declined 8c to $8.47 despite a 15 per cent increase in operating revenue to $375.8m, a 7 per cent gain in operating earnings (ebitda) to $120.4m and 3 per cent increase in net profit to $64.82 for the 12 months ending June.

Delegat sold a record 3.7 million cases globally and expects to increase the amount 4 per cent in the 2024 financial year. It also provided net profit guidance of $62m-$67m. Delegat is paying a final dividend 20c a share on October 13.

Publisher and broadcaster NZME was down 5c or 5.05 per cent to 94c after reporting a 6 per cent decline in revenue to $166.22m and 76 per cent fall in net profit to $1.978m for the six months ending June compared with the same period last year. It is paying an interim dividend of 3c a share on September 27.

NZME said overall subscriptions increased from 209,000 to 218,00, with 123,000 being digital only, and advertising revenue was down 7 per cent to $116.4m.