Property investor leads stocks up

Michael Hill shares dropped 1.5 per cent yesterday to close at $1.30.

Companies with exposure across the Tasman slip as investors ponder impact of spending cuts in Oz Budget

New Zealand shares rose yesterday, led by Goodman Property Trust, after the property investor said full-year net profit rose 72 per cent. Trade Me and Xero paced the gains while Ryman Healthcare fell ahead of reporting earnings today.

The NZX 50 Index rose 14.02 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 5213.36. Within the index, 26 stocks rose, 14 fell and 10 were unchanged. Turnover was $83.6 million.

Goodman Property, the largest property investor by market value, climbed 3 per cent to $1.035 after saying full-year profit rose to $134 million, driven by a 25 per cent increase in rental revenue and accounting adjustments.

The trust, which is managed by Goodman (NZ), announced governance changes including paying more of its management fees via units rather than cash and funding new developments through asset sales rather than equity raising.

"There was a good result out of Goodman today," said Robert Garden, an investment adviser with Craigs Investment Partners. That "provides support to the property sector, which has run up a bit in recent weeks".

DNZ Property Fund rose 1 per cent to $1.595. Property for Industry advanced 0.4 per cent to $1.325 ahead of its annual general meeting tomorrow. Argosy Property, which is due to report full-year results next week, was unchanged at 95c.

Retirement village operator Ryman fell 0.2 per cent to $8.88 and has advanced 13 per cent this year.

"Investors are waiting for a bit more meat in the sandwich to come into the market in terms of earnings," Garden said.

"They'll be watching Ryman keenly, particularly for some more concrete news out of their Australian operations and how their sales in Melbourne are going."

Rival retirement village operator Summerset Group Holdings rose 0.6 per cent to $3.58. Metlifecare advanced 0.7 per cent to $4.25.

Stocks with exposure across the Tasman slipped as investors mulled the impact of spending cuts in the Australian federal Budget.

Dual-listed lender Westpac Banking Corp was the NZX 50's worst performer on the day, down 3.4 per cent to $37.18. Fletcher Building, which gets 50 per cent of its earnings from Australian operations, fell 0.8 per cent to $9.32. SkyCity Entertainment Group, which operates Darwin and Adelaide casinos, declined 1.2 per cent to $4.11. Brisbane-based jeweller Michael Hill International dropped 1.5 per cent to $1.30.

"Most of New Zealand's big companies have some kind of exposure to the Australian economy," said Shane Solly, director at Harbour Asset Management. "There have been some elements of the Australian Budget which will require belt tightening but not as much as expected." Solly and Garden both said they did not expect surprises out of New Zealand's Budget today, which was likely to affirm the track of economic growth.

Trade Me Group, the online auction site, advanced 2.5 per cent to $4.05. Warehouse Group, New Zealand's largest listed retailer, climbed 2.1 per cent to $3.38. Kathmandu Holdings, the outdoor goods retailer, rose 0.5 per cent to $3.90.

Telecom, New Zealand's largest telecommunications provider, rose 0.2 per cent to $2.69. Xero, the cloud-based accounting software firm, was up 1.4 per cent to $31.85.

Auckland International Airport advanced 0.6 per cent to $4.135. Port of Tauranga climbed 0.6 per cent to $14.43.