A2 Milk leads Kiwi sharemarket higher

A2 Milk hit a new record. Photo / File

New Zealand shares gained today, led by A2 Milk's continued rise after an earnings upgrade, with Ebos Group and Comvita also up.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 39.28 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 7592.03. Within the index, 28 stocks rose, 17 fell and five were unchanged. Turnover was $156.8 million.

Turnover was $279m on Friday as the NZX benchmark index was reshuffled, with Tegel Group Holdings replaced by CBL Corp, while changes to the FTSE Russell index pushed volumes higher.

A lot of today's activity had been left over from Friday, with volume pretty scant, said David Price, broker at Forsyth Barr.

A2 Milk Co continued its gains, rising 5.7 per cent to $4.07, a new record. The Auckland-based, Sydney-headquartered milk marketer last week lifted annual sales guidance for the second time in as many months as it beefed up production to meet Chinese demand for infant formula.

It expects revenue to be $545m in the 12 months ending June 30, a $20m increase from its April update which was itself an upgrade. A2 reported annual revenue of $352.8m in 2016.

Ebos Group gained 2.4 per cent to $17.64, Comvita rose 2.3 per cent to $5.38 and Vista Group International advanced 1.9 per cent to $5.86.

CBL Corp was the worst performer, down 2.6 per cent to $3.33, while Investore Property fell 2.2 per cent to $1.35 and Precinct Properties dropped 1.6 per cent to $1.225.

Kiwi Property Group was unchanged at $1.43 and has risen 3 per cent this year. The largest property company listed on the NZX plans to raise $161m to fund expansion in Auckland where it sees strong growth continuing.

Spark New Zealand was unchanged at $3.815 and has gained 12 per cent this year. The telecommunications provider is planning to buy back all its stores from external management. Spark directly owns 36 stores, while 26 are under management by its dealer partners Leading Edge and Orb, and now plans to own all 62 retail stores by late 2017.

Outside the benchmark, SeaDragon jumped 20 per cent to 0.6c. The company, which manufactures fish oils for health supplements, said a customer has confirmed an order for its refined Omega-3 fish oil and it was in discussions to meet their future demand.

The order - for two full shipping container loads of refined Omega-3 fish oil representing 32,000kg - was the first "significant order of refined tuna oil Omega-3 product from our new refinery and represents the culmination of months of discussions and product testing by the customer", the company said. Discussions were ongoing regarding future demand. BusinessDesk