First-day gain for split airport shares

Auckland International Airport's share price had a boost yesterday, on its first day of split stock trading.

Shares rose 2c from their new price of $2.12 to close at $2.14, after the completion of a one-for-four share split on Friday. The closing price equated to a pre-split price of $8.56.

Shares hit a record high of $8.70 last month, before easing to $8.48 by close of trade last Friday.

Yesterday's trading saw 1.8 million shares change hands.

The airport disclosed plans for the split in February as a way to ensure the company's shares "remained attractive" to investors who it feared might be intimidated by the $8-plus price tag.

The number of shares on the register has increased to more than 1.2 billion.