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Ebos Group, Australasia’s largest distributor of healthcare and medical products, energised the New Zealand sharemarket as it moves into the prestigious MSCI world index.
The S&P/NZX 50 Index traded cautiously but rallied late in the day after the news came through that Ebos, up 90c or 2.07 per cent to $44.45, will be added to the MSCI World Large Cap Index at the end of this month, moving from the small cap index.
The NZX index closed at 12,178.76, up 60.09 points or 0.5 per cent, and finished the week almost flat.
There were 62 gainers and 71 decliners over the whole market on volume of 31.2 million shares worth $131.39 million. The trading was dominated by Ebos with $27.22m worth of its shares changing hands.
Shane Solly, portfolio manager with Harbour Asset Management, said the MSCI inclusion means Ebos will likely attract increased activity from global investment funds.
“Ebos did spike at $46.30 [on January 17] and the inclusion may have been anticipated by some but it doesn’t go into the index until after the close of trading on February 28.”
The MSCI large cap index has 675 constituents representing 23 global markets and covers 70 per cent of market capitalisation in each country. Ebos joins the likes of Fisher and Paykel Healthcare, Auckland International Airport, Spark, Meridian and Mercury Energy in the index.
Argosy Property, down 1c to $1.13, will be removed from the MSCI Small Cap Index, but Precinct Properties survived the cull and it jumped 7c or 5.6 per cent to $1.32.
Solly said the local market was a little cautious just before the latest reporting season, and one of the first points of interest next week will be how Vulcan Steel, Fletcher Building, Steel & Tube and to a lesser extent Skellerup Holdings are handling the slowdown in consumer activity.
Retirement village operators had a positive day, with Ryman Healthcare up 8c to $6.33; Summerset Group gaining 16c to $9.98; and Arvida Group increasing 2c or 1.75 per cent to $1.16.
Solly said there have been reports that unit sales are holding up better than expected and though settlements are slower, they are not any worse than before.
“People are still driven by the need and requirement to have care and this is not stopping them moving into retirement villages,” he said.
Mainfreight was up 40c to $75; Contact Energy gained 6c to $7.78; Vector picked up 5c to $4.30; Freightways increased 18c or 1.91 per cent to $9.60; Skellerup added 9c to $5.44; Chorus collected 11c to $8.56; and Serko climbed 8c or 2.99 per cent to $2.76.
Other gainers were Tourism Holdings up 6c to $3.93; Bremworth increasing 2c or 4 per cent to 52c; Task Group adding 1.5c or 4 per cent to 38.5c; and Marlin Global fund improving 3c or 3.13 per cent to 99c.
New Zealand King Salmon Investments was up 2c or 9.52 per cent to 23c after achieving a lift in its seasonal harvest to 750 metric tonnes (MT) at the Queen Charlotte Ruakaka farm. NZ King had expected 500 MT and is now planning 5750-6000 MT for the full year.
NZ King has revised its 2023 full-year earnings to a loss of $3m-$5m, instead of the previous guidance of $8m-$12m.
Restaurant Brands was down 19c or 2.95 per cent to $6.26; Vulcan Steel declined 19c or 1.92 per cent to $9.71; Ventia Services decreased 7c or 2.55 per cent to $2.67; MHM Automation shed 2c or 2.22 per cent to 88c; Cooks Coffee gave up 1.5c or 4.11 per cent to 35c; and ikeGPS was down 4c or 3.96 per cent to 97c.
South Port NZ was unchanged at $8.20, a day after reporting a 12 per cent fall in net profit on revenue of $25.4m, up 6 per cent, for the six months ending December. It is paying an interim dividend of 7.5c a share on March 7.
The Bluff-based port company said the slow start to the year resulted from a fall-off in log exports and fertiliser volumes and increased financing costs. Total cargo was 1.732 million tonnes compared with 1.745 million in the previous corresponding period.
Booster Innovation Fund, edging ahead 0.001c to $1.45, has added start-up Captivate Technology, which captures carbon dioxide, to its portfolio with a cash investment of $150,000. Booster now has a portfolio of 31 early-stage companies with a net asset value of nearly $14m.
Hospitality group Savor, down 1c or 2.33 to 42c, has released the offer document for its five for 34 (shares held) renounceable issue to raise up to $3.25m.
New Talisman Gold Mines, slipping 0.004c or 14.29 per cent to 2.4c, has completed its one for 10 share consolidation, with 319.8 million shares now on issue.