NZ stocks: Shares slip as investors remain unimpressed by results

6.00pm

The sharemarket closed lower today as investors remained overall unimpressed by results to emerge from the current reporting season.

The NZSX gross index finished the day 14.71 points or 0.54 per cent lower at 2733.85, while the NZSX all capital index ended 4.49 points lower at 922.15.

Total turnover for the day was worth $97.46 million and there were 50 rises and 59 falls among the 152 stocks traded.

Goldman Sachs JB Were institutional adviser Joe Gallagher said the volume of information distributed during reporting season took time to work through, and trading activity slowed as a result.

He also said some companies had seen their share price slip even after posting good results.

"For some results there seems to be too much expectation built in even if the numbers have beaten the analysts forecasts."

Market heavyweight Telecom led the market lower today, losing 8c to 590.

Across other top stocks, Carter Holt Harvey was down 3c to 211 and Contact Energy was off 4c to 590.

Fletcher Building continued to succumb to profit taking, losing 4c to 524 following last week's surge on its well received profit result and good outlook for this year.

NZOG, which has jumped this week on news of an oil find, fell back 3c today to 79c.

Financial services company AMP ended the session 28c lower at 672 after reporting its net profit was A$378 million ($409 million) for the six months to June 30, compared with a loss of A$2.16 billion in the year-earlier period.

Spirits company 42 Below rose a cent to 51 after telling shareholders at the its inaugural annual meeting today that sales were rocketing ahead and the company expected to break even during the current financial year.

In a statement to the stock exchange ahead of the meeting chairman Grant Baker predicted revenue would double in the March 2005 year from the $5.9 million in the March 2004 year.

Elsewhere Pacific Retail Group announced it had satisfied the conditions on the sale of its New Zealand retail assets to Australia's Retail Investment Group. Pacific Retail Group shares ended the session 2c lower at 201.

Clothing retailer Postie Plus rose 3c to 102 after reporting sales of $108.2 million for the year ended July 31, up slightly on sales projections in the company's prospectus of $107.2 million.

Other stocks to move included BayCorp Advantage up 3c to 313, Blue Chip up 12c to 130, Dorchester Pacific down 5c to 285, Fisher & Paykel Appliances down 5c to 420, Indepenedent Newspapers up 4c to 472, Infratil up 5c to 310, Michael Hill down 5c to 625, Port of Tauranga up 10c to 520, Promina up 6c to 430, Skellmax down 7c to 122, Sky City up 4c to 462, Smiths City down 2c to 71, Steel & Tube Holdings down 8c to 446, Taylors down 13c to 272 and TrustPower up 5c to 470.

- NZPA