NZX50 sinks as Gentrack tumbles on earnings downgrade; Mainfreight stumbles
RBA hikes cash rate for a third time.
Tuesday, May 5th 2026, 5:54PM
by Paul McBeth
New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index snapped a four-day rally as Gentrack shed a third of its value after the software company cut its earnings outlook and said it plans to buy back shares on market, which are trading near three-year lows.
Mainfreight was among the bigger drags on the NZX50 as oil prices shot up amid the heightened tensions between the US and Iran and as Amazon unveiled a new service to businesses wanting to tap into its global logistics network.
Westpac Banking Corp declined as Australian financial stocks remain unloved, with the big red bank joining rivals ANZ Group Holdings and National Australia Bank in beefing up its credit provisioning in case the Middle East conflict tips the trans-Tasman nations into recession and drives up bad debts.
And the kiwi dollar held its decline against its trans-Tasman counterpart after the Reserve Bank of Australia hiked its target cash rate a quarter-point as expected in its quest to tame inflation.
Confession season
The NZX50 fell 61.98 points, or 0.5%, to 13,035.7, with 25 stocks falling, 18 gaining and seven unchanged. Turnover across the main board was $148.9 million, of which Contact Energy accounted for $13.3 million as it rose 0.9% to $9.79 after presenting to the Macquarie conference in Sydney.
Gentrack led the local market lower, sinking 35% to $3.94 and wiping $235 million from the company’s market capitalisation after the software firm pared back its expectations for annual revenue, saying it would probably be flat this year and that it would give up earnings to chase customers, as it faces an increasingly competitive rival in the form of Kraken.
The board also announced plans to buy back up to $20 million of stock on market over the next 12 months, with the share price less than a third of its peak in 2024 as it joined the selloff in software-as-a-service companies of the past year-and-a-half.
“They’re basically Salesforce with a skin put on the front of it – they have their specialised software then integrate it all with CRM,” said Jeremy Sullivan, an investment adviser at Hamilton Hindin Greene. “It generally doesn’t take much to push that one around – it’s a material move, but not a material volume.”
Mainfreight was the biggest drag on the NZX50, joining US transport and logistics firms lower, as it dropped 3.4% to $59.40. Oil prices rose in the latest flare-up in the Middle East while Amazon opened its global logistics network to third-party businesses to use. Freightways declined 2.3% to $13.05, while Move Logistics fell 6.4% to 22 cents. Brent crude oil futures eased 1.6% to $112.80 a barrel at 5pm in Auckland.
Dual-listed lender Westpac slipped 3.7% to $45.50 after the Australian bank reported a 1% gain in first-half profit, while lifting provisioning for credit impairments, noting the Middle East conflict as threatening to weigh on some customers. Westpac followed earnings from ANZ – which dipped 0.9% to $43.90 on the NZX – and NAB, which also showed the heightened threat to their respective loan books.
Class suit
Separately, ANZ’s New Zealand had a summary judgment ordered against it in the High Court as part of a representative action against the country’s biggest lender. The bank is considering whether to appeal the ruling, which could cost up to $125 million if applied to all members in the class suit.
Meanwhile, across the Tasman the RBA raised the target cash rate to 4.35% as expected, saying the energy shock fuelled already growing inflationary pressures and that there were indications that a second round of price increases would follow the initial spike in fuel costs. There was one dissenting vote on the board, with that member preferring to keep the cash rate at 4.1%.
The kiwi dollar traded at 81.92 Australian cents at 5pm, largely unchanged after the RBA review and down from 82.12 cents yesterday. The local currency fell to 58.57 US cents from 59.19 cents yesterday.0
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index was down 0.4% in late trading in a mixed day for Asia, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 index up 0.4% and Hong Kong Hang Seng dipping 1.3%.
Among other drags on the NZX50, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare slipped 0.8% to $36.50 and Auckland International Airport declined 0.5% to $8.41.
Kiwi Property Group was the most heavily traded stock with a volume of 6.4 million shares changing hands as it increased 0.5% to 96 cents.
Fletcher Building slipped 0.3% to $2.91 after acknowledging speculation about the sale process of its residential arm, and noting the unit’s strategic review was still underway.
Tourism Holdings posted the biggest gain on the day, up 4.5% at $2.10.
Vista Group International advanced 2.4% to $1.945 and Sky Network Television increased 2.2% to $3.23. New York-listed Paramount Skydance beat analysts’ expectations when it reported after the bell, with streaming and studio gains offsetting a decline in its TV segment.
Outside the benchmark index, Trade Window Holdings rose 5.3% to 20 cents after lifting annual revenue 20% and widening gross margin in the March quarter.
Paul is a staff writer for Good Returns based in Wellington.
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