Earnings season countdown begins as RBA hikes 25 basis points

The Reserve Bank of Australia hiked its cash rate by a much-expected 25 basis points as the New Zealand market considered a flurry of small company announcements ahead of next week’s earnings season.

Tuesday, February 7th 2023, 6:28PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 index fell 68.17 points, or 0.6%, to 12,128.98. Across the main board, 77 stocks fell and 62 rose. Turnover was $169.9 million.

Peter McIntyre, an investment adviser from Craigs Investment Partners, said NZ’s market was cautiously looking ahead to earnings season with Contact Energy the first company out of the gate.

Contact was up 0.1% at $7.75 today, while Genesis Energy fell 1.8% to $2.79.

Genesis said it purchased a large fully-consented solar site in the Canterbury plains and expects to start generating electricity by next year. 

Retirement village operator Ryman Healthcare led the index lower, falling 6% to $6.30. Fletcher Building was also down, falling 2.7% to $5.35, while Precinct Properties declined 2.4% to $1.24. Argosy Property fell 3% to $1.14.

Air New Zealand rose 1.3% to 79.5 cents after investment firm Jarden lifted its rating and 12-month target price on the airline and said it expects the airline to announce a full-year dividend in August, its first since covid hit.

Meanwhile, Auckland International Airport shares fell 1.2% to $8.47.

Index heavyweight Mainfreight rose 3.1% to $76.40.

Property developer CDL Investments was up 0.7% to 76.5 cents in very light trading after saying that none of its residential or industrial subdivisions in Auckland had been “adversely” affected by recent extreme weather in the upper North Island.

“Save for some minor tidying up on-site, we are very fortunate that our sites escaped major damage from the recent flooding,” managing director Jason Adams said.

“We have not needed to make any insurance claims and we’re pleased that our stormwater management systems for our sites worked well.”

Rival developer Winton downgraded its earnings outlook and said it lost 83% of its summer earthwork season and incurred water damage to pre-ordered supplies which would delay the delivery of pre-sold projects. The company was also bracing itself for supply chain implications to hit the industry due to the flooding. The stock fell 1% to $1.92. Shares of church management software company Pushpay Holdings ended the day unchanged at $1.30, with more than $17.7m of stock changing hands after narrowing its forecast for annual earnings to be between US$54m and US$57m in the March year. 

A new chief financial officer is joining My Food Bag, Leanne Dekker, at the end of March. Chief executive Mark Winter said he was delighted to have someone like Dekker join My Food Bag at this “critical time” for the meal-kit company. The shares fell 1.3% to 38 cents.

SkyCity Entertainment said the South Australian regulator put its review of the Adelaide casino on hold pending the outcome of legal action brought by the federal anti-money laundering regulator. SkyCity fell 1.6% to $2.53.

Shares of utility pole-management company ikeGPS rose 2% to $1.01 after saying revenue more than doubled in the first nine months of its financial year.

Today, the NZ dollar was trading for 63.15 US cents at 3pm in Wellington, down from 64.73 US cents at the same time on Friday before the long weekend.

Tags: Market Close

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