NZ sharemarket down as My Food Bag sees green shoots

The New Zealand sharemarket fell slightly on Thursday, reflecting declining markets in the United States, Japan and Australia.

Thursday, May 22nd 2025, 6:20PM

by BusinessDesk

However, My Food Bag and WasteCo shares rose after the companies delivered positive news.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index closed down 0.32% or 40.85 points, falling to 12,662.25, with 37.4 million shares changing hands to the value of $109.2m.

The S&P/NZX 20 index closed at 7,501.95, down 0.31%, while the S&P/NZX 10 index closed at 1,921.36, down 0.26%.

There were 49 gainers on the main board and 90 decliners.

Food business shows growth

My Food Bag posted full-year revenue of $162.1m for the 12 months ended March 31, down slightly on the prior year. Net profit after tax (npat) rose 5% year-on-year to $6.3m.

The second half of revenue for the 2025 financial year reached $79.9m, a 5% increase on a normalised basis and a 1.9% increase from the first half.

On an earnings call after the result, chief executive Mark Winter said demand growth had continued in the first eight weeks of the 2026 financial year.

Shares in My Food Bag rose 6.99% to $0.19, up 1c, with 638,172 shares trading hands to the value of $127,606.55.

Craigs Investment Partners investment director Mark Lister said that while the company is much smaller these days, the result was better than expected.

“It was a positive response from the share price, but [it] still has a very long way to go to get back to anywhere near where it traded when it first listed,” Lister said.

“I think on the first day, it traded up a little bit around $1.85, so it’s lost the majority of that value, but still the result was better than expected today.”

Oceania treads water

Elsewhere, Oceania Healthcare posted its own result, with total comprehensive income of $74.6m, up from $70.5m in the previous year, while reported npat was $30.4m, down from $31.5m.

Its share price remained flat at the end of market close at 64c, with 717,465 shares trading hands to the value of $461,668.17.

“It was an okay result, but they still have a bit of work to do as well.

“Our market is really looking ahead to next week when you get all the heavyweights from this reporting cycle report, including Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, Ryman Healthcare and Mainfreight.”

Council contract

In late news on Thursday evening, WasteCo confirmed it had been awarded a nine-year contract by Ashburton District Council to deliver comprehensive waste management services to more than 12,000 households and facilities across the district, a contract worth $40m.

Shares in WasteCo rose 10% to $0.02, up 0.2c, with 308,844 shares trading hands to the value of $6,555.72.

Wall Street

Wall Street stocks slid on Wednesday (Thursday NZT) as US Treasury yields surged amid investor unease over President Donald Trump’s giant tax cut legislation moving through Congress.

The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note approached 4.6% as Trump seeks to unify Republicans in the House of Representatives to approve a sweeping bill that would slash taxes and roll back federal spending.

The yield on the 10-year note reached its highest level since February after a weak US Treasury bond auction pointed to tepid demand.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 1.9% at 41,860.44.

The broad-based S&P 500 fell 1.6% to 5,844.61, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 1.4% to 18,872.64.

– Additional reporting AFP.

Tags: Market Close