Ryman Healthcare decreased 37c or 4.63 per cent to $7.62 after reporting a 31.1 per cent fall in net profit to $193.98m on operating revenue of $274.24m, up 10.6 per cent, for the six months ending September. The profit was affected by a lower revaluation gain on investment property, and it has 15 new retirement villages under construction.
Analysts were concerned that Ryman’s debt has reached $3.022 billion, up $405m from March 30 and representing a 45.2 per cent debt to equity ratio. Ryman is paying an interim dividend 8.8c a share on December 16, and its share price has fallen from a high of $15.95 in mid-March last year.
Meal kit company My Food Bag fell 9c or 15.52 per cent to 49c (it listed at $1.85) after reporting a 37.7 per cent decline in net profit to $5.87m on revenue of $94.41m, down 4.09 per cent, for the six months ended September. It is paying an interim dividend of 3c a share on December 15.
My Food Bag said trading at the start of the 2023 financial year was slower than expected. It made 732,000 deliveries with an average order value of $129 compared with 808,000 and $121.80 for the same six-month period last year. Customer numbers increased to 61,731, from 69,091.
Investors were frustrated that they got few specifics in a2 Milk’s update at its annual meeting and its share price declined 14c or 2.11 per cent to $6.50. The global marketer said it expected continued growth in the 2023 financial year and full-year revenue is likely to be a low double-digit, rather than high single-digit, increase. It was on track to reach $2b in sales by 2026.
Director Pip Greenwood will take over as a2 Milk chair when David Hearn steps down at the annual meeting in November next year.
Main said it doesn’t pay to disappoint in a market like this one. “Ryman has high debt in the business and poor cash flows, and it wasn’t the best result. My Food has seen a revenue slowdown in the last few months. The update by a2 Milk was a touch disappointing on margin compression.”
Some of the leading stocks had strong days. Fisher and Paykel Healthcare rose a further 52c or 2.6 per cent to $20.50; Mainfreight collected 45c to $69.70; Auckland International Airport added 10.5c to $7.915; Chorus was up 11c to $8.11; and Summerset Group improved 19c or 1.99 per cent to $9.74.
In a strong day for the energy sector, Contact was up 23c or 3.11 per cent to $7.62; Mercury increased 22.5c or 4.14 per cent to $5.66; and Genesis was down 5c or 1.81 per cent to $2.705.
Meridian gained 10c or 2.17 per cent to $4.70 after reporting retail sales volumes in October rose 11 per cent compared with the same month last year. In the month to November 15 national hydro storage increased from 146 per cent to 149 per cent of historical average.
Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund was up 12c or 3.95 per cent to $3.16 after the dairy co-operative announced it has sold the Chilean Soprole business to Gloria Foods for $1.055b. Soprole doesn’t now rely on New Zealand milk or expertise.
Property companies Stride was up 3c or 1.91 per cent to $1.60, and Vital Healthcare Trust increased 5.5c or 2.36 per cent to $2.385.
Other gainers were Foley Wines up 6c or 2.21 per cent to $1.39; Millennium & Copthorne Hotels NZ increasing 5c or 2.63 per cent to $1.95; and Paysauce up 1.5c or 5 per cent to 31.5c.
Napier Port shed 8c or 2.8 per cent to $2.78; Sanford decreased 9c or 2.11 per cent to $4.17; Tourism Holdings was down 7c or 1.98 per cent to $3.47; and Comvita declined 6c or 1.84 per cent to $3.20.
Vista Group slipped a further 3c or 1.94 per cent to $1.52; Cooks Coffee declined 1.5c or 4.62 per cent to 31c; Embark Education shed 3c or 4.76 per cent to 60c; and Eroad was down 8c or 5.88 per cent to $1.28 – far away from its high of $6.69 in mid-July last year.
