Market close: NZ shares upbeat to close the week

Photo / NZME

The New Zealand sharemarket was in an upbeat mood ahead of a pivotal week of corporate results and the latest Reserve Bank monetary policy statement – with Fisher and Paykel Healthcare leading the rebound.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 82.24 points or 0.65 per cent to 12,782.82 after steadily climbing in afternoon trading. The index exactly erased the falls of the previous two days.

There were 69 gainers and 58 decliners over the whole market, with 56.54 million shares worth $143.7 million changing hands.

Greg Smith, head of research for Fat Prophets, said the United States and Australian markets have been hitting record highs and "we caught some of this tailwind.

"It looks like the Reserve Bank will raise interest rates next week but this is already priced into the market – and we get into the reporting season proper which will add interest," he said

Market leader Fisher and Paykel Healthcare caused a turnaround in sentiment and trading, rising 73c or 2.36 per cent to $31.63 after falling more than 6 per cent in the previous two days.

The dual-listed banks were again strong, ANZ Banking Group gaining 33c to $30.93, and Westpac Banking Corporation up 49c to $27.38.

Mercury Energy rose 17c or 2.53 per cent to $6.885; a2 Milk continued to climb back, rising 13c or 2.10 per cent to $6.33; and well-positioned retirement village operators Ryman Healthcare increased 19c to $13.90 and Summerset Group Holdings gained 10c to $13.20.

Reopening stocks Serko rose 15c or 2.2 per cent to $6.96; and SkyCity Entertainment was up 7c or 2.24 per cent to $3.20.

Air New Zealand told the market it was deferring its billion-dollar capital raise till the first quarter of next year after the government indicated that it could not at this stage provide a firm pre-commitment because the current environment was not sufficiently certain and stable.

The airline had planned to raise funds before the end of September. Air NZ's share price gained 1.5c to $1.485.

Smith said it's not an ideal time to raise money with uncertainty over the resumption of the transtasman travel bubble, and the market took Air NZ's announcement in its stride.

Z Energy fell 5c to $3.04 after a good run fuelled by takeover speculation. Smith said it's hard to see where a takeover is coming and from and if the speculation comes to nothing, then the stock could come off the boil a bit more.

The Colonial Motor Company rose 45c or 4.79 per cent to $9.85 after reporting a 61 per cent increase in net profit to $27.9m million on revenue of $901m, up 19.4 per cent, for the year ending June. Colonial is paying a final dividend of 40c a share on October 4.

Colonial said demand for all new vehicles has been very strong but supply has been variable, arrivals are often late and lumpy and sometimes significantly so. Total new registrations for the first six months of this calendar year were a record 84,598 vehicles.

Other gainers were Delegat Group, up 20c to $13.25; Infratil increasing 11c to $7.51; South Port New Zealand rising 21c or 2.51 per cent to $8.56; Gentrack picking up 6c or 2.99 per cent to $2.07; AFT Pharmaceuticals collecting 9c or 2.04 per cent to $4.50; and Vital Healthcare Property Trust up 4c to $3.28.

Fintech firm Paysauce increased 2.5c or 8.06 per cent to 33.5c; Enprise Group rose 27c or 10 per cent to $2.97; and Rakon was up 3c or 3.23 per cent to 96c.

Ebos Group was down 69c or 2.14 per cent to $31.50; Hallenstein Glasson shed 10c to $7; Fonterra Shareholders' Fund declined 7c or 1.84 per cent to $3.73; and Sanford decreased 10c or 2 per cent to $4.90.

Utilities software firm ikeGPS Group has signed a contract extension, generating revenue of $630,000, with a communications company supporting fibre installation on the east coast of the United States. Its share price slipped 1c to $1.08.

Radius Residential Care told the market its $5m retail offer closed oversubscribed at $8.2m and it will accept all the subscriptions. Radius' share price declined 1c to 55c.

Third Age Health Services chief executive Michael Haskell is stepping down after nine years in the role, and its share price was unchanged at $2.32.