Market close: NZ shares end the week on softer note

Global marketer a2 Milk was up a further 15c or 3.61 per cent to $4.30.

The New Zealand sharemarket had a soft ending to the week and investors were holding off waiting to see what Ebos Group has up its sleeve.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index had its second successive fall and closed at 11,176.97, down 53.9 points or 0.48 per cent, though it had a late rise in the matching session. The index finished just ahead for the week and has fallen 2.55 per cent this year.

There were 58 gainers and 63 decliners on the main board, with 43.29 million shares worth $117.1 million changing hands.

ANZ Research has removed its prediction of a further official cash rate hike in February and is now expecting the Reserve Bank to keep its rate on hold for all next year, with a cut in February 2025.

ANZ said recent economic data has been a little mixed but overall has gone the Reserve Bank’s way (particularly the key labour market).

“The market is itching to price in cuts more aggressively. But cuts remain a distant prospect; indeed, we’ve pushed out our estimate of when they will occur by one quarter,” said ANZ.

Shane Solly, portfolio manager with Harbour Asset Management, said there was some wariness on the local market, and investors may be getting ready for a capital raising from Ebos in the next week or so.

Ebos, the leading Australasian medical products distributor, is in a trading halt on speculation it is lining up Australian pet care and veterinary company Greencross, which operates Animates in New Zealand and has an overall valuation of $3.5 billion.

Solly said “clearly Ebos is working through something and we’ll have to wait and see. But investors are building up cash in case things need to be done.”

Ebos, no doubt, is looking for another worthwhile transaction to replace the lost $2 billion Chemist Warehouse supply contract.

Global marketer a2 Milk was up a further 15c or 3.61 per cent to $4.30 on trade worth $13.05m after providing a positive trading outlook, and is launching an upgraded infant milk formula product in China backed by a strong marketing campaign in December and January.

Developer Winton Land rose 12c or 5.26 per cent to $2.40 after the Macquarie group increased its shareholding to 22.347 per cent, from 17.347 per cent.

Infratil declined 17c to $10. In its six-months result, the utilities investor said there were increased earnings at all key businesses it has invested in - particularly CDC Data Centres, which is experiencing unprecedented demand for cloud and artificial intelligence operations. CDC is bringing forward 223MW of development.

Online travel provider Serko fell 12c or 2.72 per cent to $4.29 after revising its full-year revenue to $67m-$74m, from $63m-$70m.

Auckland International Airport was down 7c to $7.73 on its latest operating figures, which showed a year-on-year rise of 26 per cent in total passengers to 1.483 million in September, 90 per cent of pre-Covid levels.

Total passengers in October were 1.542 million, an increase of 20 per cent compared with the same month last year and 86 per cent of pre-Covid levels.

Other decliners were Spark decreasing 7.5c to $5.025; Freightways down 17c or 2.13 per cent to $7.81; Fletcher Building shedding 6c to $4.50; Napier Port falling 10c or 4.17 per cent to $2.30; and Tourism Holdings also down 10c or 2.86 per cent to $3.40.

Delegat Group fell 15c or 2.04 per cent to $7.20 following its sales and earnings downgrade, Foley Wines declined 3c or 21.5 per cent to $1.17; and Sky TV shed 5c or 1.82 per cent to $2.70.

Argosy, up 2c or 1.8 per cent to $1.13, is selling an industrial property in Auckland’s East Tamaki for $38m, 7.3 per cent above the March book value. Vulcan Steel gained 24c or 3.06 per cent to $8.08.

Medicinal cannabis company Cannasouth was up 0.009c or 5.59 per cent to 17c. Cannasouth is making a one-for-eight rights issue to raise $5.6m, and expects full-year revenue of $6m-$10m.