Market close: Tourism Holdings leads way after profit turnaround, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare volatile

The NZ sharemarket finished the day higher after a late surge.

Tourism Holdings shone brightly, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare had a volatile day after providing its latest guidance, and a calm New Zealand sharemarket produced a near half per cent gain.

After trading steadily for most of the day, the S&P/NZX 50 Index had a late surge and closed at 11,528.12, up 49.11 points or 0.43 per cent.

There were 76 gainers and 46 decliners on the main board, with 25.17 million shares worth $90.40 million changing hands.

Tourism Holdings was the day’s best performer, rising more than 12 per cent on a strong annual result that benefitted from the merger with Australian Apollo Leisure & Tourism.

Market heavyweight Fisher & Paykel Healthcare finished 6 cents ahead at $22.27 after reaching an intraday low of $21.30 on trade worth $11.15m. Fisher & Paykel provided first half guidance of $95m-$105m net profit and $790m revenue, up 14 per cent on the same period last year.

Fisher & Paykel said trading to date indicated no material change to the full-year revenue guidance of $1.7 billion. For the first four months of the 2024 financial year, revenue from obstructive sleep apnea masks was stronger but hospital hardware was marginally lower.

Matt Goodson, managing director of Salt Funds Management, said the revenue and net profit outcomes for the first half looked a little light, though Fisher & Paykel maintained its full-year guidance.

“The company has a tailwind in the second half from a weaker NZ dollar but the jury remains out for a while until we get further information from Fisher and Paykel,” he said.

A larger Tourism Holdings climbed 43c or 12.39 per cent to $3.90 after nearly doubling annual revenue to $663.84m, from $345.75m in the previous year, and producing net profit of $49.85m, from a loss of $2.12m.

The result included seven months of trading from Apollo after the two companies merged late last year. Operating earnings (ebit) were $88.9m compared with $6.9m last year, and Tourism Holdings resumed its final dividend with 15c a share payout on September 29.

Tourism Holdings has increased its camper van fleet by more than 3000 to 7233, and said it would continue to grow the fleet, bookings and volume in line with returning airline capacity and international tourism recovery.

Goodson said there was a surprising reaction considering Tourism Holdings’ numbers were in line with expectations. “Still, Tourism Holdings has some aggressive growth investors and the company talked up its outlook. The weaker NZ dollar should attract more tourists here.”

Meridian Energy gained 1c to $5.36 after reporting operating earnings (ebitdaf) of $783m, up 10 per cent for the year ending June. But revenue was down 15 per cent to $3.22b and net profit fell 86 per cent to $95m, though the previous year was boosted by the sale of its Australian business.

The latest result featured higher customer sales, generation volumes and positive wholesale trading. Meridian is paying a final dividend of 11.9c a share on September 22.

Manawa Energy, unchanged at $4.43, announced chief executive Dr David Prentice is leaving on September 8 and will be replaced on an interim basis by Clayton Delmarter, who is seconded from H.R.L. Morrison & Co.

Ebos Group was up 95c or 2.64 per cent to $37; Mainfreight collected $1.50 or 2.29 per cent to $67; Contact Energy increased 13c to $8.43; Port of Tauranga gained 6c to $6.02; and Chorus added 7c to $7.97 after announcing a new executive team in a company reorganisation.

Seeka rebounded 8c or 3.2 per cent to $2.58; Scott Technology increased 9c or 2.27 per cent to $3.34; Serko improved 7c or 1.88 per cent to $3.80; Smartpay was up 3.5c or 2.26 per cent to $1.585; and Third Age Health Services added 3c or 1.96 per cent to $1.56.

Vulcan Steel was up 5c to $8.42 on annual revenue of $1.245b, up 28 per cent, operating earnings (ebitda) of $209m, down 7 per cent, and net profit of $88m, decreasing 29 per cent, for the year ending June. It is paying a final dividend of 30.5c on October 12. Total sales volume was down 4 per cent to 251,400 tonnes (steel volumes fell 14.6 per cent and metals were up 39.6 per cent).

Heartland Group, gaining 2c to $1.74, reported a 6.6 per cent increase in revenue to $285.31m and steady net profit of $95.86m for the year ending June. It is paying a final dividend of 6c a share on September 20.

Heartland continues to be the leading provider of reverse mortgages in Australia with a market share of 38.4 per cent, up from 33.1 per cent. Group deposits grew 14.8 per cent or $533.9m to $4.131b. The banking group expects net profit for the 2024 financial year to be $116m-$122m.

Amongst the decliners, Sky TV decreased 8c or 3.21 per cent to $2.41; Rakon fell 4c or 5.33 per cent to 71c; Vista Group shed 5c or 3.16 per cent to $1.53; and The Warehouse Group was down 5c or 2.96 per cent to $1.64.

CDL Investments declined 3c or 4.05 per cent to 71c; Task Group was down 2c or 4 per cent to 48c; and Greenfern Industries shed 0.006c or 11.32 per cent to 4.7c.