NZX edges lower as Infratil, profit-taking weigh

New Zealand’s sharemarket closed broadly flat on Thursday as investors indulged in a mild profit-taking amid a dearth of news to provide firm direction.

Thursday, November 13th 2025, 7:34PM

by BusinessDesk

“There’s a bit of profit taking across the market,” Hamilton Hindin Greene investment advisor Grant Davies said, adding that this extraction of funds followed the market's recent run-up.

Infratil, Heartland and Blackpearl were the notable movers to the downside, while Mainfreight, SkyCity Entertainment and Santana Minerals reciprocated on the other side of the ledger.

At the close, the S&P/NZX 50 Index was down 73.86 points, or 0.54%, to 13,597.87 as sellers outnumbered buyers. More than $157.6 million of shares were traded on a volume of more than 37.4m

Falls in indices for financial, energy and information technology eclipsed gains among consumer discretionary, consumer staples and all-industrials.

ANZ went ex-dividend today, its shares finishing the session down 2.85% at $42.35.

Elsewhere, US President Donald Trump has signed legislation that ends the longest government shutdown in US history, with Davies commenting that this news might provide a fillip higher for offshore market outturns overnight.

“Hopefully we get a bit of a rally in overseas markets tonight to get the ball rolling back in the right direction [for Friday’s open],” said Davies.

Detail

Infrastructure investor Infratil was down 5.52% to $11.97 after news it had sold mobile tower owner Fortysouth and Infratil Property investments for a combined $250m.

Infratil also posted net profit from continuing operations of $351.3m, from a year-earlier loss of $238.2m, for the six months to Sept 30.

Heartland Group eased 1.82% to $1.08 as it said it was beginning to see the benefits from changes introduced after it booked an almost $50 million impairment charge early in 2025, and reiterated previous guidance for full-year profit.

Software firm Blackpearl Group was down 14.04% to $1.16 on news of a $11.8 million capital hike to invest in its Pearl Engine data platform and swiftly execute on emerging opportunities.

This time, it would be listed on the ASX. The placement was to institutional shareholders and an offer for new institutional investors.

Meridian Energy, down 1.01% to $5.88, has reported a significant increase in national hydro storage and inflows for the month of October 2025.

National hydro storage rose from 110% to 143% of the historical average, with South Island storage reaching 148% and North Island storage at 121%.

Comvita fell 0.83% to $0.60 as its shareholders appeared on track to reject Florenz’s bid for the company, despite a simple majority being in favour.

On the plus side of the ledger, Mainfreight led the leaders’ board with an 8.73% rise to $68.50 as investors continued to savour its better-than-expected results for the first half.

Mainfreight, the transport and logistics company, posted a six-month profit of $93.4m, down from $114.6m previously.

SkyCity Entertainment was up 6.37% to $0.84 as investors continued to like its securing of a 15-year extension to its Queenstown casino licence. A $240m capital hike in August had weighed.

“A capital raise is usually a short-term impact or depression of the share price, and maybe that's just flowing through now as well,” said Davies.

Shutdown

President Trump signed a bill ending the shutdown, accusing rival Democrats of “extortion” over the 43-day standoff, reported Agence France-Presse.

“Today we are sending a clear message that we will never give in to extortion,” Trump said.

The shutdown paralysed Washington and left hundreds of thousands of workers unpaid while Donald Trump’s Republicans and Democrats played a high-stakes blame game.

Tags: Market Close