Manawa owns and operates 25 hydro schemes with generation capacity of 500MW and has 1200MW of secured development options in wind and solar.
Major shareholders Infratil, with 51%, and Tauranga Energy Consumer Trust, 26.8%, are supporting the scheme of arrangement. Infratil, up 14c to $12.19, told the market it will receive $186m from the sale and have a 9.5% stake in Contact.
Infratil said integrating Manawa’s hydro assets with Contact’s diversified energy portfolio will create a more resilient and flexible generation platform.
Contact was down 27c or 3.2% to $8.18. Elsewhere in the energy sector, Meridian was up 12.5c or 2.07% to $6.15; Genesis gained 1.5c to $2.25; and Mercury declined 19c or 3.02% to $6.10.
Goodson said the Contact takeover offer was a surprise and “I think the market is still coming to grips with what it all means”.
He said Contact is getting a complementary set of generation assets at a discount to replacement value – “it’s preferable to invest in yourself. But there’s a question mark over the [energy] market concentration which goes over the Electricity Commission’s 20% hurdle.
“But Contact has highlighted its greater ability to offer hedging products to other players in the market.”
Goodson said it was a good deal for Infratil, which has been stuck with a historical shareholding position in Manawa. “Still, there’s a lot of water to pass under the bridge with the scheme of arrangement.”
Briscoe Group, unchanged at $4.94, reported record half-year sales of $372.08m, up 0.77%, and a net profit of $33.21m, a decline of 22.31%. Briscoe is paying an unchanged interim dividend of 12.5c a share on October 9.
Homeware sales for the six months ending July 28 were up 0.28% to $230.03m and sporting goods increased 1.58% to $142.05m. Online sales reached 18.77% and gross profit margin declined 76 basis points to 42.97%.
Briscoe remained cautious about the retail environment – “we are hopeful the lower Official Cash Rate will mark the beginning of improved consumer confidence” – and warned it will not repeat last year’s net profit of $84.2m.
Goodson said Briscoe is an outstanding retailer but the tough economic conditions reflect the latest results.
KMD Brands declined 3c or 5.77% to 49c following a weaker trading update from Australian clothing retailer Premier.
Market leader Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was up 12c to a new all-time high of $37.55, beating its previous best close of $36.85 on August 1, 2020.
Freightways increased 13c to $9.53; Chorus was up 19c or 2.12% to $9.16; Ebos Group gained 49c to $35.99; Vulcan Steel improved 16c or 2.03% to $8.05; and AFT Pharmaceuticals added 10c or 3.07% to $3.36.
Restaurant Brands was up 11c or 3% to $3.78; Tower gained a further 4.5c or 3.8% to $1.23; Blackpearl Group added 3c or 2.21% to $1.39; and Burger Fuel increased 1.5c or 5.17% to 30.5c.
When it came to dual-listed banks, ANZ was down 73c or 2.12% to $33.77, and Westpac declined 87c or 2.47% to $34.30. Heartland Group decreased 2c or 1.87% to $1.05.
In the property sector, Vital Healthcare Trust decreased 3.5c or 1.77% to $1.94; Argosy was down 2c or 1.75% to $1.12; Stride shed 2c to $1.39; and Investore declined also declined 2c to $1.22.
Skellerup was down 8c to $4.80; Auckland International Airport decreased 9c to $7.40; Steel & Tube shed 6c or 6.35% to 90c; Move Logistics fell 2c or 7.55% to 24.5c; Green Cross Health declined 4c or 4.76% to 80c; and 2 Cheap Cars was down 2c or 2.41% to 81c.
