NZ sharemarket: year's gains lost in single day

It was confession day on the New Zealand sharemarket with earnings revisions, a civil legal proceeding and further uncertainty surrounding Fletcher Building, all adding to a near 1% fall.

Monday, February 12th 2024, 6:25PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index tumbled all day and closed at 11,757.97, down 104.98 points or 0.88%, wiping out the gains for the year.

The index started the week ahead by 0.8%. There were 50 gainers and 89 decliners over the whole market on light volumes of 20.25 million shares transactions worth $66.48m.

Jeremy Sullivan, investment adviser with Hamilton Hindin Greene, said it was an eventful day and an indication of further things to come.

“The reporting season has got off to a bumpy start, and we are likely to see mixed company results with a few more surprises springing up. It seems the [company] outlooks will be more variable than normal,” Sullivan said.

The United States markets continued to steam on, with the S&P 500 closing above 5,000 points for the first time, after gaining 0.57% to 5,026.61 during the weekend and rising in 14 of the past 15 weeks – a run not seen for more than 50 years.

The technology-driven Nasdaq Composite is now 70 points away from its record close after rising 1.25% to 15,990.66 points. Its peak was 16,057.44 in November 2021.

Since late October, the value of the S&P 500 has risen US$9 trillion, more than the entire value of China’s sharemarket.

At home, SkyCity was down 4c or 1.92% to $2.04 after telling the market that the Department of Internal Affairs is filing high court civil penalty proceedings alleging breaches of the anti-money laundering act.

The operator of casinos in Auckland, Hamilton and Queenstown, SkyCity could face liability of up to $8m. SkyCity said since late 2021, it has implemented a significant anti-money laundering enhancement programme to address compliance systems and correct historical shortcomings.

Fletcher Building, which announced $180m of additional provisions last week, went into a trading halt while it finalised half-year accounts before reporting its results on Wednesday. Fletcher last traded at $4.16.

Sullivan said further write-downs are likely but not certain.

“It seems there will be a material divergence from Fletcher’s previous guidance. Fletcher had $15m in the kitty for the Iplex pipeline issue in Western Australia, and they may have to increase that provision.”

Turners Automotive increased 9c or 2% to $4.60 after upgrading its full-year gross profit to at least $48m compared with $45.5m for the 2023 financial year.

The full-year dividend forecast has been increased to 25c a share, up from the previous guidance of 24c. Turners said it is approaching a decade of sustainable dividend growth, with an 11% compound growth rate since the 2015 financial year, and it will be reporting its fourth consecutive record profit.

Synlait Milk fell 10c or 12.05% to 73c, a new 10-year low, after telling the market it is expecting a net loss of $17m-$21m for the half-year, compared with a net profit of $4.8m for the previous corresponding period. Synlait said the half-year result has been affected by increasing financing and operational costs and margin reductions for ingredients and advanced nutrition.

T&G Global, up 2c to $1.95, is forecasting a net loss of $60m-$70m for the 2023 financial year compared with the previous guidance of $28m-$34m. T&G said there had been a hold-up in the insurance claim for the damage caused by Cyclone Gabrielle.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare declined 65c or 2.66% to $23.77; Mercury Energy was down 14c or 2.04% to $6.71; Meridian decreased 6c to $5.55; Freightways shed 24c or 2.88% to $8.09; Infratil gave up 16c to $10.45; and Serko was down 12c or 2.86% to $4.08.

Heartland Group decreased 6c or 4.69% to $1.22; Steel & Tube was down 3c or 2.54% to $1.15; Ventia Services declined 10c or 2.78% to $3.50; Restaurant Brands shed 16c or 4.22% to $3.63; Winton Land was down 9c or 3.49% to $2.49; and Bremworth fell 3c or 4.69% to 61c.

Global marketer a2 Milk was up 10c or 1.8% to $5.67; ANZ Bank gained 94c or 3.28% to $29.60; Foley Wines rose 5c or 4.76% to $1.10; 2 Cheap Cars increased 5c or 6.1% to 87c; Green Cross Health collected 3c or 2.44% to $1.26; and Chatham Rock Phosphate added 1.1c or 9.57% to 12.6c.

Tags: Market Close