Summerset shares fall after it delivers first-quarter sales figures - Market close

Summerset Group declined 15c to $11.33 after its first-quarter resale numbers were a fraction light.

The New Zealand sharemarket, down half a per cent, posted its sixth fall in a row, while Heartland Group was well on its way to completing a significant $210 million capital raise.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell at the opening and never got out of first gear to close at 11,916.78, down 56.81 points or 0.47 per cent.

There were 95 decliners and 37 decliners over the whole market on 31.03 million share transactions worth $112.97m.

Matt Goodson, managing director of Salt Funds Management, said the local market was “a little bit soggy and maybe it was focused on the Heartland equity raise”.

Heartland Group resumed trading and was down 7c or 5.98 per cent to $1.10 after completing its institutional placement that raised $131m, with 98 per cent of shareholders taking up their entitlements.

The retail offer of one new share for every 6.85 shares held, at $1 a share, opens on Thursday and will complete Heartland’s $210m capital raising to help fund the purchase of Australia’s Challenger Bank.

Goodson said Heartland’s institutional offer was well bid. “It was good to get the raise out of the way and in combination with pulling back the dividend to 50 per cent of net profit, Heartland won’t be back to the market for a considerable period of time, if ever.”

Summerset Group declined 15c to $11.33 after reporting 255 sales (134 new and 121 resale) for the quarter ending March 2024 – a 21 per cent increase on the same period last year.

Summerset told the market it is on track to deliver 675-725 homes this year, and the first Australian residents moved into Cranbourne North, Melbourne in March.

Goodson said the first-quarter new sales were fine but resales were a fraction light. “In the slow housing market, it’s hard for people to sell their houses for the price they want to move into a retirement village.”

Among fellow retirement village operators, Ryman Healthcare was down 9c or 1.97 per cent to $4.48, and Arvida Group declined 3c or 2.59 per cent to $1.13.

Chorus declined 10.5c to $7.49; Skellerup decreased 15c or 3.33 per cent to $4.35; Fletcher Building shed 7c to $4.01; Port of Tauranga was down 10c or 1.88 per cent to $5.22; Manawa Energy eased 16c or 3.41 per cent to $4.53; and Comvita fell 15c or 6.25 per cent to $2.25.

The property sector was weaker. Stride fell 5c or 3.7 per cent to $1.30; Investore shed 3c or 2.59 per cent to $1.13; Argosy was down 3c or 2.6 per cent to $1.125; and Property for Industry declined 5c or 2.16 per cent to $2.26.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, down 7c to $25.62, has launched its smallest and lightest mask, Nova Micro, for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. The new product is selling in New Zealand and will be available overseas later in the year.

Napier Port declined 8c or 3.35 per cent to $2.31 after reporting a 17.3 per cent fall in container volumes to 98,000 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units); a 21.6 per cent rise in bulk cargo to 1.88 million tonnes; and an increase in cruise ship visits from 62 to 88 for the six months ending March.

The port company told the market that during the second quarter it has seen a positive rebound in refrigerated exports of horticulture, meat and other chilled produce on favourable growing conditions.

Other decliners were Scales Corp down 6c or 1.8 per cent to $3.28; Tourism Holdings easing 6c or 1.95 per cent to $3.01; PGG Wrightson shedding 6c or 2.75 per cent to $2.12; Sanford decreasing 12c or 2.97 per cent to $3.92; and Winton Land down 4c or 1.78 per cent to $2.21.

Auckland International Airport gained 13c to $8.24; a2 Milk was up 9c to $6.39; CDL Investments increased 3.5c or 4.55 per cent to 80.5c; T&G Global gained 6c or 3.35 per cent to $1.85; and Smartpay added 3c or 1.97 per cent to $1.55.

New listing Being AI increased 3.5c or 53.85 per cent to 10c after earlier announcing it is buying the online learning platform of Villa Education Trust for $200,000.

Synlait Milk, down 2c or 3.17 per cent to 61c, has appointed Rob Stowell to a newly-created position of chief commercial officer to speed up the balance sheet restructuring.

Pacific Edge, unchanged at 8.2c, told the market that Cxbladder tests increased 0.4 per cent to 7210 in the fourth quarter compared with the previous quarter. Test volumes for the 12 months ending March 2024 were up 3.4 per cent to 32,633.