Napier Port buoyant as NZ sharemarket rises

The New Zealand sharemarket was up on Wednesday, with shares in Napier Port Holdings rising steadily following reports of a positive outlook ahead for the business.

Wednesday, May 21st 2025, 6:48PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index closed up 0.47% or 58.87 points, rising to 12,703.10, with 34.9 million shares changing hands to the value of $109.4m.

The S&P/NZX 20 index closed at 7,525.34, up 0.40%, while the S&P/NZX 10 index closed at 1,926.32, up 0.64%.

There were 63 gainers on the main board and 58 decliners.

Napier Port announced strong earnings growth for the six months ended March 31, 2025, underpinned by a solid uplift in container cargo volumes.

It reported a 10.6% increase in revenue to $78.1m, while net profit after tax rose 40.8% to $20.2m. This included a one-off insurance settlement of $7.5m related to damage and business interruption from Cyclone Gabrielle.

Big things ahead for port

Shares in Napier Port rose by 6.69% to $3.03, up 19c, with 719,116 shares trading hands to the value of $2,178,615.84.

Devon Funds' head of retail, Greg Smith, said he sees big things ahead for the business.

“They’ve upgraded their earnings guidance, so container volumes are up strongly. Logs are going well, too. It seems like they’ve somehow been able to get less road freight and more ship freight,” Smith said.

“They’ve obviously announced a special dividend, which has gone down very well with investors.”

Smith also thought the business was on track for inclusion in the NZX’s key index.

“I believe with Manana Energy exiting that they are the front runner to get included in the NZX50, or a front runner along with Briscoes.”

Elsewhere, Ryman Healthcare saw its share price rise 2.46% to $2.50, up 6c, with 3,365,422 shares trading hands to the value of $8,266,976.71.

“They’ve got results next week. The balance sheet’s obviously been cleaned up, but investors may be holding their breath a little bit.

“Investors are looking for a bit more clarity around the growth path, but perhaps giving them the benefit of the doubt.”

Conversely, Comvita saw its share price fall 9.52% to $0.57, down 6c, with 73,597 shares trading hands to the value of $41,955.04.

Looking ahead to Budget day on Thursday, Smith said he expected it to have an austere tone.

Wall Street retreat

Wall Street stocks retreated on Tuesday (US time) as markets tracked congressional debate on President Donald Trump’s tax cut proposal while monitoring US Treasury yields.

Major indices spent the entire session in negative territory as the S&P 500 finished lower after six straight positive sessions.

“The main driver is a consolidation day,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare. “The market has just been so red hot.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.3% at 42,677.24.

The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.4% to 5,940.46, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index also fell 0.4% to 19,142.71.

Trump visited Capitol Hill on Tuesday, where he faced challenges to unify a House Republican caucus that included lawmakers from high-tax northeastern states seeking a bigger tax deduction and members who were worried about increasing the deficit.

Investors have also been fixated on higher yields in the Treasury market. Moody’s highlighted the deficit last week in downgrading the US credit rating.

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