MARKET CLOSE: NZ shares rise, led by Warehouse, Ryman while Orion, Chorus keep falling

Wednesday 31st August 2016

New Zealand shares rose as investors reshuffled their portfolios following earnings season, with Warehouse Group and Ryman Healthcare up while Orion Health Group dropped.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index gained 10.88 points, or 0.2 percent, to 7,398.83. Within the index, 24 stocks rose, 23 fell and four were unchanged. Turnover was $186.3 million, a recovery from two quiet days earlier in the week.

"There's again a little profit taking today, reporting season is now over and it was a bit of a case of 'buy the rumour, sell the fact' - now investors have decided to take a few profits," Grant Williamson, director at Hamilton Hindin Greene said. "We're not going to see too much news for a while now, but we could see people coming back in closer to the dividend dates."

Warehouse Group was the biggest gainer, up 2.5 percent to $1.91.

Retirement stocks improved today, with Ryman Healthcare rising 1.9 percent to $9.60, Summerset Group gaining 1.5 percent to $5.50 and Metlifecare advancing 0.8 percent to $6.10.

"They're coming in for a bit of buying today, both Metlifecare and Summerset beat market expectations," Williamson said. "That's a sector that seems to be outperforming the rest of the market."

Sky Network Television gained 1.7 percent to $4.86 and Trustpower rose 1.3 percent to $7.85.

Orion Health Group was the worst performer, down 3.5 percent to $4.10. The stock is up 32.8 percent this year, having reached a 13-month high of $5.31 in June, but has fallen back since then.

"Orion has been under pressure for a while, they perked up earlier in the year after announcing a few contract wins but investors are conscious they can burn through cash quickly," Williamson said.

Chorus dropped 3.2 percent to $4.25. The telecommunications network operator's shares have dropped 8.2 percent since Monday when the company said lower regulated pricing for access to its copper services were to blame for its full-year profit stalling, although it sees a resumption of growth in 2017.

"It continues to come under some profit-taking pressure, the results maybe didn't meet some investors' expectations," Williamson said. Profit was $91 million in the 12 months ended June 30, unchanged from a year earlier while operating revenue barely budged at $1.008 billion from $1.006 billion.

Steel & Tube Holdings fell 1.3 percent to $2.34. According to media reports, Adina Thorn is launching a class action against steel mesh suppliers who have supplied products which don't meet the required earthquake standards. Steel & Tube is being investigated by the Commerce Commission over its claims that its products had been independently tested when they had not.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp declined 2.1 percent to $9.67 and Westpac Banking Corp was down 1.6 percent to $30.56.

Outside the main index, Veritas fell 17 percent to 39 cents. The listed hospitality group, which owns the Mad Butcher franchise and the Nosh food markets, suffered after its unaudited full-year results showed heavy losses and a board weighing up whether the business is still a going concern. The share price fall takes the company's market capitalisation to just $16.8 million, less than half its debt of $33 million.

Comvita dropped 1.5 percent to $10.10 while SeaDragon was unchanged at 1.2 cents. SeaDragon shareholders have overwhelmingly voted in favour of funding arrangements with Comvita that will result in the manuka honey company becoming the biggest investor in the fish oil refiner, controlling as much as 36.5 percent of the company.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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