At an investor day, Mainfreight said trading through September had shown good momentum and all divisions, transport, air and ocean, and warehousing, were ahead year to date.
There is strong expansion in Australia with 32 property projects underway, taking Mainfreight's number of branches to 98, from 71, and warehousing space will increase 36 per cent over the next 12 months to 318,320 sq m, from 233,989 sq m.
Greg Smith, head of retail with Devon Funds Management, said Mainfreight's performance was well received by the market and investors.
"Freight rates are coming down from their peak levels, supply chains are freeing up, and Mainfreight is getting new customers and market share. They are expanding their warehousing which has been over-utilised by 90 per cent and they have positioned themselves well by handling non-discretionary items."
Smith said overall the market had held up well despite the latest hot inflation numbers released earlier this week.
Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was down 32c or 1.71 per cent to $18.41, Ebos Group declined 32c to $35.99; Auckland International Airport decreased 5c to $7.32; and Spark shed 9.5c or 1.86 per cent to $5.005.
Contact Energy fell 15c or 2.07 per cent to $7.10 on trade worth $20m, and the market's biggest stock, Meridian, was down 4c to $4.51.
Ryman Healthcare was up 8c to $8.45; a2 Milk gained 6c to $5.94; and Hallenstein Glasson increased 10c or 1.92 per cent to $5.30.
Mercury Energy, up 1c to $5.28, upgraded its full-year operating earnings (ebitdaf) by $40m to $620m because of higher hydro generation, now forecast at 4500GWh from the previous 4350GWh guidance, and higher yields in commercial sales.
Mercury told the market that September quarter mass market sales rose strongly to 1325GWh compared with the same period last year – the number included the Trustpower retail business. Total connections for electricity, gas and telco grew by 4000.
Vector, up 12c or 3.03 per cent to $4.08, reported a 1.7 per cent increase in electricity network connections to 603,183 in Auckland for the September quarter compared with the same period last year and 1.3 per cent rise in gas connections to 118,392. More than two million advanced meters are now installed across New Zealand and Australia.
Pushpay Holdings increased 2c or 1.71 per cent to $1.19, and there was speculation that a takeover bid was coming through as possible bidders have established a shell company in New Zealand.
Oceania Healthcare was down 3c or 3.45 per cent to 84c; Rakon declined 2c or 1.82 per cent to $1.08; Ventia Services shed 8c or 2.76 per cent to $2.82; Serko decreased 8c or 2/.65 per cent to $2.94; and Goodman Property lost 4c or 2.04 per cent to $1.92.
Air New Zealand was down 1c to 76.5c; South Port NZ declined 39c or 4.38 per cent to $8.74; Enprise Group fell 8c or 7.21 per cent to $1.03; and Chatham Rock Phosphate decreased 1.5c or 5.77 per cent to 24.5c.
Retailers Michael Hill declined 4c or 3.17 per cent to $1.22; KMD Brands was down 2c or 1.9 per cent to $1.03; and Briscoe decreased 8c or 1.8 per cent to $4.90.
New Zealand Rural Land increased 2c or 1.9 per cent to $1.07 after telling the market it is buying a 2400ha forestry estate, comprising five properties, in the Manawatu-Whanganui region for $63m. The purchase will be settled in April and NZ rural will lease the estate to New Zealand Forest Leasing for 20 years.
Other gainers were Winton Land up 4c or 1.72 per cent to $2.36; Tourism Holdings adding 5c to $3.20; Napier Port improving 5c or 1.75 per cent to $2.90; Arvida collecting 4c or 3.15 per cent to $1.31; Tower up 2c or 3.23 per cent to 64c; and Kingfish fund, investing in New Zealand stocks, rising 8c or 6.35 per cent to $1.34.
