A2 Milk jumped 6.1 per cent to $11.81. The milk marketer more than doubled net profit to $195.7m in the June 2018 year, as it widened margins and increased infant formula sales.
Revenue rose 68 per cent to $922.7m and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation also more than doubled to $283m. A2 already gave that revenue figure last month, just beating its $900m-to-$920m forecast from May. At the time it said ebitda was about 30 percent of sales, implying a figure of about $277m.
"It was a minor beat on the revenue and earnings line, which has helped the performance of the stock," Lindsay said.
"It's probably a bit of a relief rally as well - it has been growing so fast that people have been worried and they've had the change in labelling et cetera. There has been some concern in the market it had the potential to disappoint and it's proven people wrong."
Despite those results, the best performing stock today was Pushpay Holdings, up 10.3 per cent to $3.76. The stock had dropped 18 per cent since August 1, when the company delivered first-quarter revenue within guidance and reshuffled its senior management after another abrupt executive exit.
Lindsay said the stock was benefiting from a positive research note by a broking house, and was coming off a "bad few weeks."
Meridian Energy gained 1.1 per cent to $3.285. New Zealand's biggest power generator reported a slight lift in full-year earnings to $201m despite weak hydro conditions for much of the period.
Chief executive Neal Barclay said the result reflected a recovery in the firm's hydro storage in the final quarter of the year and good management throughout the firm's toughest year for generation since 2013. The company also signalled it may return $250m to investors over two years once the current capital management programme ends in 2020.
"It was a solid result, hydrology is the principal driver of all the gen-retailers," Lindsay said.
"They have extended out the capital management programme a couple of years, likely on the basis things are performing pretty well for them and confidence around the Tiwai smelter."
Fletcher Building was the worst performer on the index, down 5.7 per cent to $6.51, a three-month low. The construction company reported a net loss of $190m for the 12 months to June 30, from a profit of $94m in the prior year.
Operating earnings before significant items - excluding Building + Interiors - were $710m, within the $680m to $720m range the company forecast.
"Operationally it looked to be a pretty poor number if you looked through the divisions: while some business lines are seeing some growth, certainly from a cost perspective they are really struggling in the pricing environment," Lindsay said.
"It's quite widely owned by Australians and I think the sheer weakness in the operational result will have come as a bit of surprise."
Mercury NZ dropped 3.1 per cent to $3.30, Australia and New Zealand Banking Corp fell 1.9 per cent to $32.03, and Westpac Banking Corp declined 1.7 per cent to $31.96.
Spark New Zealand fell 0.8 per cent to $3.95. The country's biggest telecommunications company posted a 7.9 per cent decline in annual profit to $385m as it booked restructuring costs on its efforts to become the lowest cost operator.
