NZ sharemarket starts new week up 0.2%

The New Zealand sharemarket had a very late rise ahead of some important company results and trading updates later this week and next week.

Monday, November 17th 2025, 6:33PM

by BusinessDesk

The S&P/NZX 50 Index shot ahead in the last half hour of the brokers’ matching session and closed at 13,499.04, up 34.58 points or 0.26% after reaching a lunchtime low of 13,420.14. The index has risen nearly 3% so far this year.

There were 82 gainers and 63 decliners on the main board with 30.4 million shares worth $105.1m changing hands.

'World unfolds'

Matt Goodson, managing director with Salt Funds Management, said the market was reasonably flat ahead of a bigger week of results. There was no real meaning to some of the share price movements, and it continued to be flow-driven.

Turners Automotive reports its first half results on Thursday, while Gentrack, Fisher and Paykel Healthcare and Ryman Healthcare are reporting next week. There are also investor days from the gentailers and annual meetings, said Goodman.

Goodson said food and administration prices and local authority rates were still strong, but rental inflation was pulling back nicely.

He said the RBNZ was set for a further 25 basis point cut in the official cash rate on Nov 26.

“It’s quite possible there will be no interest rate cut next, but not impossible – we have to see how the world unfolds.”

ANZ Research said if the bank doesn’t cut, the market reaction could be violent, putting upward pressure on interest rates. That could harm confidence and put the nascent recovery at risk.

Local shares

Turners Automotive was down 10c to $7.70; Gentrack declined 38c or 4.71% to $7.69; and Fisher and Paykel Healthcare decreased 71c or 1.88% to $36.98 on trade worth $16.95m.

Goodman said a broker cut Turners’ rating to neutral from a buy.

“Turners has had a tremendous run and the business has performed incredibly well. It’s just a question of what is the right share price.”

Ebos Group increased 63c or 2.19% to $29.45; Freightways was up 17c to $13.88; Meridian gained 12c or 2.06% to $5.95; Scales Corp rose 19c or 3.32% to $5.91; and Winton Land was up 10c or 5% to $2.10.

Auckland International Airport was up 10c to $7.90 on trade worth $14.41m after reporting a 2% increase in total passengers to 1.6m for October compared to the same month last year.

Summerset increased 40c or 3.27% to $12.65; Sky TV was up 9c or 2.62% to $3.52; while Serko was down 14c or 5.41% to $2.45; and Seeka declined 14c or 3.04% to $4.46.

Manuka honey producer Comvita, down 4c or 7.55% to 49c, has fallen more than 18.5% in the last two trading days after a group of shareholders scuppered the takeover proposal from Florenz at 80c a share.

The final results from Friday’s special meeting were 54.34% of votes cast in favour of the scheme of arrangement and 45.66% against. Of the total shares in Comvita, 44.25% favoured the scheme and 37.19% didn’t – not enough to meet the threshold of 75% and 50%.

Comvita and Florenz have agreed to terminate the scheme implementation agreement, and the Comvita board is now working on a recapitalisation plan before the annual meeting on December 17.

Comvita said the board is working closely with its lenders and advisers to determine the most appropriate next steps following this outcome. This work is progressing with urgency and discipline to secure a solution that stabilises the business, positions it to grow again, and reduces ongoing risk to shareholders.

Blackpearl Group was down 2.5c or 2.16% to $1.13 after telling the market it raised A$10.2m (NZ$11.74m) through a placement for new shares.

Property for Industry, unchanged at $2.49, has bought two properties on Auckland’s Mt Wellington Highway for $36m with annual rent of $2.069m. The company now has 3.3ha of contiguous property fronting the highway.

The Warehouse Group, down 0.005c to 79.5c, reported a 0.9% increase in sales to $674.1m for the 13 weeks ending October 27. Group gross profit margin was down 40 basis points compared with the same period last year.

The iconic retailer said Noel Leeming, sales up 0.7% to $230.7m, and Warehouse, sales increasing 2.6% to $52.2m, improved their gross profit margins. The Warehouse margin remains under pressure with sales at $389m, up 0.7%.

Online sales increased 8.2% and comprised 7% of total sales in the first quarter compared with 6.5% in the prior period, driven by sales growth in Noel Leeming.

Tags: Market Close